Corporate Twitter rises as new PR strategy

Industry

Published: 28 Mar. 2010, 22:05

Corporate Twitter rises as new PR strategy

트위터 담당자들이 각 기업의 트위터 계정이 씌어 있는 팻말을 들고 서 있다. 윗줄 왼쪽부터 시계 방향으로 기형준(iMBC)·양성수(기업은행)·정태민(이마트)·정주호(동원F&B)·조주환(KT)·고미라(팬택)·윤미선(미스터피자)·임진희(대한 항공)·김은호(매일유업)씨. [김성룡 기자]

At “Twestival,” a charity event organized by Twitter members in Korea last Thursday, an opportunity to have dinner with Doosan Corp. CEO Park Yong-maan was auctioned off for 4.2 million won ($3,687).

The successful bidder was Go Jong-wuk, the president of a smartphone application company called Fobikr. The money will be used to provide educational opportunities for children in developing countries.

“I am just treating my ‘tweet’ friend as a thank-you gesture for participating in a good cause,” Park wrote on his Twitter Web page, referring to status updates - also known as tweets ?- sent using the social networking service.

Doosan Corp. is one of a growing number of Korean companies using Twitter to help enhance their corporate image. Nine local corporate giants recently gathered at a forum for companies that use the Twitter service to communicate with consumers to talk about and share their experiences with the technology. The firms that participated were a diverse bunch that included the likes of KT, the Industrial Bank of Korea, Korean Air, E-Mart and Dongwon F&B.

The companies opened their corporate Twitter accounts sometime between late last year and early this year, when the smartphone boom swept across Korea. The rise of the high-tech phones led to a surge in Twitter members across the country, who use the devices to send updates about whatever is on their minds. Industry sources say there are about 100 companies operating Twitter accounts, while the number of members stands somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000.

“The image of our bank wasn’t young and energetic, but we believe our corporate Twitter account has helped us develop such an image,” Yang Seong-su, a manager of the channel planning team at the Industrial Bank of Korea, said at the forum.

Aside for communicating with customers, it’s also a way to get a grip on clients’ needs, awareness and satisfaction levels as well as correct misconceptions and even issue apologies, forum participants said.

“We wanted to find out what people thought of our tuna products,” said Jeong Ju-ho with the food brand team of Dongwon F&B. “As incentives, we gave out tuna gift sets to those who put up notable tweets about our goods.”

Participants at the forum plan to continue the event and expand the agenda to include other social networking services.

By Park Hye-min [hkim@joongang.co.kr]

Related Korean Article

기업 PR 2.0 시대

“박용만 ㈜두산 회장과의 만찬이 ‘트웨스티벌(트위터 페스티벌)’에서 420만원에 낙찰됐대요.” (iMBC 기형준 매니저)

“사실 기업은행 이미지가 그리 젊다는 느낌은 아니었잖아요. 기업 트위터를 시작하면서 젊은이들이 호감을 더 갖는 것 같아요.” (기업은행 양성수 과장)

서울 을지로2가 기업은행 본점 3층에서 26일 열린 ‘트위터(twitter) 운영자 포럼’에서 나온 얘기들이다. 이날 포럼에는 기업은행·미스터피자를 비롯해 KT·이마트·매일유업·iMBC·팬택·동원F&B·대한항공 9개사의 트위터 담당자가 참석했다. KT 조주환 매니저의 ‘기업 소셜미디어의 성공전략’ 주제발표에 이어 토론회가 진행됐다. 전날 열린 트웨스티벌 소식이 단연 화제였다. 기업에 대해 이윤만 밝히는 존재라는 이미지를 지녔던 젊은 세대가 트위터로 마음을 열곤 한다는 이야기가 많았다.

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