Humor me for a second. We all know about the “bromance,” right? Think Adam and Blake, Justin and Jay-Z, George and Brad. Well, I want to discuss the viral version of this sensation that I have seen taking over Twitter.
I bring you the “comance.” Get it? Like romance, but with companies. Like I said — humor me.
I define a comance as an instance in which two brands interact with each other in a positive, friendly way online, especially if they don’t typically do so in the real world. So often we see competition among businesses, so this type of interaction is refreshing.
For example, let’s take this back and forth between Old Spice and Taco Bell. This exchange showed that both companies are willing to have fun with social media. They don’t take themselves too seriously, and they understand that Twitter thrives on snarky, sarcastic content.
Kit-Kat and Oreo also had fun with Twitter by playing a virtual game of tic-tac-toe. Well, Kit-Kat played. Oreo had the last word, beating Kit-Kat at its own game. Oreo knew that they could make more of a statement with their clever retort, but they did so in a way that ultimately praised Kit-Kat.
Recently, two North Carolina-based brands — Bojangles’ and Krispy Kreme— had a little comance of their own, and I was thrilled to be part of it. After 40+ days with no fried foods, I tweeted at both brands and asked which of these Tar Heel delicacies should be my first post-Lent meal. Not only did both brands respond and engage with me; they took it one step further and engaged with one another. Someone on the Bojangles’ team went so far as to Photoshop an image of Bojangles’ chicken in between two Krispy Kreme donuts. That’s one glorious sandwich.
Most marketing efforts — as off-the-cuff as they may seem — are the result of months of planning and preparation. Ad copy is picked over with a fine-tooth comb. Shades of blue are discussed and debated. Every decision is made deliberately, based on market research and consumer polls.
Twitter forces companies to abandon this calculated way of thinking. It gives them an opportunity to show off their brand in a raw, candid manner, and their followers love it. And, when Bojangles’ tweets about Krispy Kreme and vice versa, it exposes the brands to double the followers, and everyone wins.
As brands continue to become more comfortable with Twitter, I’m hoping we’ll see more of these interactions. It adds a human component to the brands that we already love and gives us one more reason to connect with them.
