Halloween is here, and it's almost November. Tim Cook took a stand acknowledging his sexuality, and let's face it, 2014 is almost over. It's been a crazy busy news week, and at Brandwatch we analyzed data on a few of these top stories to see what insights we could gain from these relevant social conversations.
IBM and Twitter Join Forces
IBM has announced a new partnership with Twitter that will help the tech goliath turn social data from Twitter into information for smarter business decision-making.
There are over 5,000 mentions of the hashtag #IBMandTwitter since IBM made the news public on Wednesday. The most mentioned Tweeters around this hashtag are as expected, including top execs at both Twitter and IBM leading the conversation, like Dick Costolo and Jon Iwata. But also... Kevin Spacey is included in the top 10 most mentioned Tweeters (he Tweeted a post commenting on the larger impact this partnership has on the tech industry).
This is a significant move in the social media industry and in the tech business world. With such a prominent brand as IBM embracing the business importance of Twitter social data, it sends a direct message to companies both large and small about the benefits of listening and analyzing social data.
Circus Peanuts are the new grams
In the few days since this week's "Sugar" episode of "Last Week with John Oliver" aired, #showmeyourpeanuts has received over 8,500 online mentions.
This food health awareness Halloween campaign, sparked by Oliver himself, calls to action consumers. He's encouraging everyone to Tweet using the hashtag directly to food manufacturers.
The ask? Show us the amount of sugar and added sugar in food and beverage products by a new unit of measurement - Circus Peanuts.
Consumers have taken to Twitter calling out specific companies and the media is tracking the story pretty closely.
It's more than just a Halloween-timed social campaign that calls out big brands in the food and bev industry. It's a fun yet relevant issue. Health concerns and food ingredients have dominated social media conversations in recent years as consumers become more aware and alter their eating habits to be healthier.
Below, we've also included a look at the Top Hashtags on Twitter around this conversation. The gender split is also interesting, with 58% of the conversation dominated by men.
#TealPumpkinProject for the allergy-prone kids
Food allergies, gluten-free living, health conscious neighbors. They've flooded the mainstream consumer mindset this year. And this Halloween, the Teal Pumpkin Project is supposed to make trick or treating a little easier for families concerned about food allergies. The Food Allergy and Research Foundation (FARE) started this campaign. The main idea is to provide non-food items such as coloring books, temporary tattoos, etc.
The campaign kicked off on October 6 when FARE announced the Teal Pumpkin Project, and has received 3,400 mentions online. Without the high visibility of other food awareness campaigns this Halloween, such as John Oliver's #ShowUsYourPeanuts campaign, the Teal Pumpkin Project has steadily received mentions throughout the month but not at the same velocity that FARE would probably have hoped for.
From the topic cloud of most mentioned phrases and words within the online conversation, what's coming through is FARE's main goal with the campaign - to increase awareness and educate consumers about food allergies. Halloween, so synonymous with food and candy, is a strategic time to educate via a social campaign especially ahead of the holiday season when parties and events with a high focus on food are imminent.
Women lead mentions of this conversation, with 82% of the Twitter mentions.
Tim Cook's Open Letter
Tim Cook's open letter in Bloomberg Businessweek acknowledging and discussing his sexual orientation has garnered over 64,000 mentions online.
Top hashtags and most mentioned topics of this story show that his personal declaration affects the LGBT community. Cook's column "Tim Cook Speaks Up" comes on the heels of his recent challenge to his home state of Alabama to increase LGBT awareness efforts.
As expected, the majority of the conversation is coming from the US, but others ranging from the UK to Brazil, and from India to Nigeria are getting involved with disseminating and sharing quotes from Cook's piece.
Just two more months left of 2014. Social media, social data, and analytics have exploded and become mainstream (almost). We'll be keeping a close eye on the news stories and share our data on how they're being discussed on social media.