The early bird catches the worm is a phrase that should not be underestimated. Recently, Kanye West’s new album: Yeezus was leaked and people on Twitter were talking about it like crazy. It was not long before #Yeezus was trending on Twitter as well as other social networks.
Lexus jumped on the opportunity to market their stereo system using this trending topic hashtag. Within a few hours of this topic becoming a trend, they posted a picture playing off of the leaked album. With several retweets and favorites their marketing ploy worked well to their advantage!
Was this a good move for Lexus to make? It could have been twisted that they encouraged illegal downloading of music (since “Yeezus” was not legally available to download yet), yet the opportunity to capitalize on the social media buzz was too good to pass up. Lexus also has a history of being a preferred automotive brand of the Hip-Hop community, so for them it made sense.
Take this lesson out of their playbook and add it to yours. Keep in mind a few things in order to make sure it works best. You want to make sure it is appropriate to use. Be sure that the topic is relevant to your company and what ever you are promoting. Last and most importantly, make sure it is done well and in a short amount of time to maximize your exposure.