Weigh in on Branded Avatars for Twitter

I think it becomes subjective on the brand, what their focus is, and how many people are utilizing the profile.

Personally, I feel that logos are fine for brands, big or small, so long they interact and connect with their community. On the flip though, I’m probably even more open to those that I actually see a face for. Doesn’t mean their avatars must have their face on it. I’ve seen brands that have one or multiple tweeters that show their personal pictures on their Twitter backgrounds, helping us put a face to their brand’s logo. Those brands integrate best of both worlds IMO.

It’s a tough question to answer.

The major issue I see with using a personal picture is that it makes it look like a personal account tied to a brand, rather than a brand account tied to a person. Too much focus on the person representing the brand rather than the brand itself, might be less effective.

One option is to have a number of accounts. A good example is seesmic, where both Loic, and Yama have personal accounts, but there is also the seesmic account and the askseesmic account which uses the seesmic logo.

At the very least, you should have the logo on your personal picture, in my opinion, because you are representing the brand, and you have to make that clear. You can stay personal while using a logo…it’s about how you communicate.

Rambling…

Interested to hear others’ thoughts on this.

@Scribnia
David Spinks´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at

You’ve just given me my blog post for tomorrow. There’s a simple solution to this.

Think of the main corporate twitter account as the receiving funnel. Questions,inquiries and initial engagement probably happen here… But then whomever manages that account can redirect/triage these touches based on need. If a tweet is customer service related, the response can be “hang tight. Let me hook you up with @KeithJones in our cust. service dept.” 5 minutes later, the person who sent the complaint or question gets a tweet from @KeithJones, whose avatar has both a face and a logo. This is where the personal touch happens.

See how the structure of an emerging SM layer embedded in an org starts to work?
olivier blanchard´s last blog ..My Twitter 20 Interview with Jason Baer

Incidentally, if the co. is worried about losing contacts if one of its key tweeps leaves, the role can become the account. Say… @BrandXYZcs1 or @BrandXYZCMO. As the role changes hands, the profile and avatar can be updated accordingly.
olivier blanchard´s last blog ..My Twitter 20 Interview with Jason Baer

One problem with having a person in the avatar is that person may be responsible for multiple brands. I’ve worked at an ad agency and was in charge of multiple brands twitter accounts. Seeing my face for 2 different brands may be confusing to users. Using the logo as the avatar sets it apart.
Although it is still important for the brand representative to twitter like a person, and not a machine.

Teresa,

Why not have the agency’s logo on your avatar? Or does that not work with the role you play for these clients?
olivier blanchard´s last blog ..My Twitter 20 Interview with Jason Baer

Wow, lots and lots of great comments.

@Sonny, great points. I think your POV is important. I think the question is probably how the individual perceives the account. What if it’s a brand you don’t know? I might follow @BestBuy, but a logo I have no clue about…maybe not.

@David, Your right…it is a hard question to answer.

@Olivier, you have a solution to everything I love your passion and the way your gears turn! Great comment and I am looing forward to your blog post.

@Teresa, I think it’s a bit different from the agency angle. I personally dont think the agency should actually be doing the tweeting for the company it reps. It’s the agency job to define strategy and educate.

I agree with Olivier about appropriate hand-off and having MANY people from a company tweet (or talk on Facebook, wherever) instead of just one only.

I have no problem with logo branded avatars, but as you point out Keith, the quality of the tweets and interaction with others is essential. I have people on Twitter I speak to constantly whose faces I have never seen (some are individuals, some are companies.) It is via constant communication that they become “fleshed out” to me as a person.

I also like to use character-based avatars when I can. My We Heart Studios account features the female character from my branding and for Itch Agency we have our “Giant Head” which is something that lives in our office. (I’m having issues with the We Heart account at Twitter so the right avatar is not there, but you can see Itch at http://twitter.com/itchagency)

I think, but am not totally sure, that these characters lend some “person”ality to the accounts. I hope they do at least. In the case of Itch Agency, we will have multiple people tweeting from it and will likely refer to our individual team members as needed like Olivier suggests.
Kris Colvin´s last blog ..How Mobile Brands Can Build a Successful App Strategy

While I completely understand the “emphasize the individual, not the brand” approach, I don’t think it’s necessarily the best (or only acceptable) route for all companies that run Twitter accounts. I feel companies that won’t always be spoken for by one specific individual should use a corporate logo rather than a personal picture.

To Teresa’s point, I think you can distinguish between a company account and a personal account and have it work out well for everyone. Though it’s not outright stated, the @Marvel account is typically (but not always) run by Ryan Penagos (@Agent_M). As Agent M, Ryan hit the million follower mark a few weeks ago. He talks about more than Marvel, so if you ONLY wanted to know about your favorite comics/movies/etc., you wouldn’t want to follow @Agent_M (who retweets everything from the @Marvel account but ALSO talks about things like tacos, video games and kittens). In that regard, the corporate (Iron Man logo) account is perfect for connecting with fans that simply want to stay up to date on Marvel info. (Also, the @Marvel account is *usually* very engaged with fans and stays littered with @replies…it’s just not showing so at the moment and is consequently making me look kind of dumb, which isn’t hard to do.)

Also, to Olivier’s point, if @Agent_M ever left Marvel, Marvel’s brand wouldn’t STRICTLY stay tied to him and his followers. Someone else can take over for @Marvel to keep those 40,000 followers engaged and informed. This has happened at times when Ryan’s out sick or on vacation and things still roll along smoothly.

I agree with your first two points entirely, Keith. Those are absolutely essential elements to a corporate Twitter account of any kind. I just think there’s still plenty of value in an account represented by a logo that speaks for the entire brand itself and doesn’t only use the voice of one individual.

*Disclaimer: I in no way whatsoever work for Marvel Entertainment. I’m just a comic book nerd (if that wasn’t obvious) who is consistently impressed with the company’s social media efforts.
Mike Billeter´s last blog ..Pepsi To Cease All Advertising… Now What?

And, because I failed to emphasize it in that novel I just posted, I think what Scott and Olivier do is a fantastic solution if you want to show that you are representing a brand. If Scott leaves Ford tomorrow, he’s still the Scott Monty that 30,000 Twitterers follow and both he and Ford survive without too much disruption. Definitely a good way to go if you’re in that position and the brand you represent is comfortable with it.
Mike Billeter´s last blog ..Pepsi To Cease All Advertising… Now What?

I like to see someone’s picture. You feel a personal connection that way. It helps build a relationship that Social Media is built upon.

Olivier, I think you have in fact hit on the perfect solution. That’s an ideal combination of personal and brand and a good analog for how large companies can balance the larger issue in social media.
David B. Thomas´s last blog ..Convincing your boss of the value of social media

I am blown away by all the great comments.

@Kris – great points. I wasn’t able to get through to the itchagency account?

@Mike – Great Points as well! I learned ton from your comment. Thank you for adding the valuable comment. Everyone needs to look at the accounts that mike is referring too.

@Sue – I agree, but as we see here it’s not always possible.

@David – You have a lot of experience here. It’s odd that we are even talking about the subject but it always leads back to branding and perception.

Great question Keith.

In the end I think it’s different strokes for different folks. I love what Scott’s done at Ford, humanizing a brand and giving customers (and potential customers) a person to talk with at a very large organization. This approach does makes separation down the road a bit easier for the person (and the brand). But I also respect what people like Michael Brito (@Britopian & @IntelScoop) choose to do in maintaining two accounts. Depending on the role, industry, and corporate culture it might make sense to limit some of the personal tweets (the good stuff a lot of the time) to a personal account… one not tied to a brand/logo.

In my experience with The Community Roundtable, my partner Rachel (@rhappe) and I found that aggregating tweets for community managers made sense under a branded account (@TheCR). We jointly manage the account and do our best to fill the stream with valuable links and nuggets specifically for community managers. We use our personal accounts for a mix of business and personal, hopefully helping to build personal connections with people along the way (I agree with Sue that it’s a big part of why people use social media).

But again, our approach is not appropriate in some cases.

Thanks for starting a good conversation!

Jim | @jimstorer
Jim Storer´s last blog ..@TheCR Quick Chat w/ Diane Hessan

Keith, I’ve had to struggle with this very issue as I am just beginning to work within the social media realm. I work for a small travel destination hotel/resort and am responsible for their new media initiatives.

At first I just did the brand only thing. Using a photo of our property I created the account name using our hotel name and filled in the bio info just with brand company info. The first couple of weeks I actually changed that data a few times back and forth between a combination of brand and personal data and brand only data.

Was it me or the brand listening and conversing with everyone?

My decision came down to this: As a representative of the company I act accordingly as I would in any social engagement. I introduce myself using my name and that I work for xxxx company. The conversations are that ensue are a combination of me talking and the company talking depending on the subject.

1) Twitter account is our brand name

2) Bio name is our brand name with my name appended (can be changed without losing brand recognition)

3) Avatar is a brand photo – people recognize the property and look for a brand connection – they are not looking for my face, no-one would know who I am (I have a personal twitter account and other social media accounts/blogs where people can learn more about me away from the company brand)

4) I sign comments with my personal name but list the company brand web site just as I would in any social engagement involving business

To sum up – it’s a combination with our brand being 100% of the visuals 80% of the conversation and me contributing 20% of the conversation.

Keith – love this discussion and the points of view shared. KG

Notice, by the way, that my Wordpress avatar of three years ago is still in here. I need to get around to it, and update with my mugshot. (Not a logo.) KG

Good post Keith, made me think about that, I think if someone is going to tweet for a company they should have the logo of the company within the avatar, like Scott Monty. Whether it’s photo-shopped in or on the person, like a patch or uniform or something. But I would still like to see a face. Have a good one. Oh yea, any meet-ups in Buffalo this weekend, I’ll be there for a couple of days. Take care.

Can’t keep up with the great comments and discussion tonight!

@Bruce – you are learning quickly! You should email me if you ever want to chat one on one about some of the issues you are facing. Be glad to help. I have a few ninja tricks in my satchel

@Kelly – you rock! We always have great discussions. Your a leader. Thank you for the comments. Pic is great!

@Scott I am with you there! I like teh face, but not always possible I guess
keithburtis´s last blog ..Weigh in on Branded Avatars for Twitter

Great post Keith – I touched on that topic today with a few small business owners who were struggling with the question of whether they should be promoting their company brand or themselves as a individual within the company and behind the logo.

I think Scott has done a great thing with Ford; but this may be less effective with less well known logos. Ford is a very distinct brand (and Scott’s relationship with the company is quite widely known).

Zappos does a wonderful job at using their Twitter account with multiple users. They have broken the stigma of a logo “not being personable”, by consistently demonstrating that Zappos people are happy helpful people. If they were to change avatars with each new person, I would definitely not notice their tweets as often – the zappos logo now means “helpful human being” in my mind.

As I think about the brands I follow on twitter – there are a few that use logos that evoke a similar sentiment as Zappos. @BaskinRobbin and @starbucks are both logos, but they are both very obviously humans behind the scenes.

I think it all boils down to what goes on behind the picture… A logo that behaves like a caring human being is far more valuable than a human being that might as well be an inanimate piece of corporate branding.

Oh Neil, awesome, awesome comment at the end of your remarks:

“I think it all boils down to what goes on behind the picture… A logo that behaves like a caring human being is far more valuable than a human being that might as well be an inanimate piece of corporate branding.”

Everyone getting on Twitter to do business or market something needs to read that!
Kris Colvin´s last blog ..How Mobile Brands Can Build a Successful App Strategy

Great discussion here Keith. Not sure I can add much that hasn’t already been said.

I believe the answer depends on the brand and how personalized the interaction is between the person behind it – whether they’re on the logo or not isn’t the main factor. I lead the Social Media efforts for the regional HQ of a very recognizable national brand. Our followers first came to us mostly by searching for us on Twitter or by finding us through Re-Tweets (we didn’t advertise our Twitter presence at all) before we were told to make our account private by our national office – long story, and not happy about it. (I’ll give details if anyone’s interested but it’s a bit off topic for here)

Now that we are private, we get most of our followers via links off our email campaigns and Website. But I think this also emphasizes they are following because they know the brand and believe in it and what we have to say. They don’t need to put a face to the name/account, but it probably wouldn’t hurt either. I like the idea @CoTweet has of indicating who from the brand is sending the Tweet and allowing the follower to see more info about them on their Twitter page. (As of now it’s just me, so that’s not really needed yet)

Now the trick is to keep them engaged so they’d want to stay

Here you go, Keith – My answer to your question:

http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/how-to-manage-an-enterprise-twitter-presence-avatars-account-structure-and-response-methodology/
olivier blanchard´s last blog ..How To manage an enterprise Twitter presence: Avatars, account structure and response methodology

Hey Keith, great subject. Personally, first impression is extremely important to me; a logo is very impersonal. A good profile might get me past this; however, not likely. I use social media, specifically Twitter, to connect with people. My time is extremely limited and I feel like I can’t provide adequate value and feedback to the several thousand folks I already mutually follow. If I can’t provide value and feedback to the folks I already follow, it seems mute point to follow, reach-out, or grow the community I’m already part of… expecially an impersonal logo I feel no connection with. Funny, I just followed @theideasblog and the avatar is a logo – lol. However, this is @jimconnolly new Twitter account and someone I trust and know. Thanks for getting me thinking this AM!
Mark Harai´s last blog ..Capitalism, The Digital Age and Freedom

Yes Twitter is a human connection, but the brand is an important part of formula.It’s a balance.

In the case of Oddpodz twitter account, our back ground page shows the real people (Keith and Moi), the tweets come from people who also have personal accounts with their mugs on em. As long as you are not abusing twitter and force feeding your readers with meaningless selling content, your brand logo deserves and should have a visible presence on your tweets.

Karen
The Brandingdiva®

As other people have pointed out, I think it depends on the situation. Our Twitter account at Bing uses ^tags to differentiate between the different people, since several people contribute to the account. They all have their own separate Twitter accounts, also. I think it’s important for both the brand to have a voice (though not impersonal) and for the individual voices behind that brand to have personality. Great food for thought!
Mark Johnson´s last blog ..The Feedback Lacuna

You aren’t alone Keith. I am totally turned off by businesses that only tweet about themselves… or anyone who doesn’t INTERACT with their followers.

I think the avatar discussion is quite simple – Just like Olivier said – It’s easy to use the comp. logo on the twitter account for questions or info about the biz – but I think it is IMPERATIVE that there is a personal touch somewhere! (like a separate account) But I think the best solution is an avatar with a face and a small logo on the avatar like @TheBrandBuilder and @ScottMonty

Mainly because when I go to an event or conference I want to be able to look for people that look familiar from Twitter avatars. I’m less likely to approach a person in a Best Buy T-Shirt bc they are most likely NOT the person I’ve been tweeting with…

GREAT post Keith and GREAT comments!!
CharissaCowart´s last blog ..Michael Kors Fall Fashion Show – Sneak Peek

Keith – The challenge with branding is that there’s just not enough space in an avatar. My Twitter background is branded, but only 50% of Twitter users never look at backgrounds… In the end, I think the relationships you create, the connections you deepen make (or break) the “brand”.
John Haydon´s last blog ..Stay Raw

Keith what a great post! I can’t believe I didn’t see this earlier. Being a corporate tweeter I have struggled with the “personal” face of a brand. This above comments have been invaluable in helping me to get my arms around this topic. Critical Mass is an interactive agency and that has added a human side to their twitter profile pic while keeping it fairly annonymous. Thanks again and look forward to catching up with you so on.