So what’s the verdict here, did Kim #BreaktheInternet? Well no, not really, but she certainly took full reign of it considering her racy Paper Magazine photos were hard to avoid last week. Top tier news outlets, blogs, social media channels flooded with chatter on the topic and, as always – marketers couldn’t resist joining in on the conversation.

In our fast-paced digital world, real-time marketing (RTM) has become extremely popular among brands. Though, as the conversations brands spring to participate in start to become more and more controversial (like, say, a nude photo shoot with Kim Kardashian), there marks a fine line between this risky tactic being effective and simply being embarrassing.

Last week, many brands took to Twitter (a leading channel for RTM) to join in on the #BreaktheInternet conversation. Here are some of our favorites:

JCLeRoux

SW

Nissan

Quiznos

 

Photos sourced from Twitter.com

New York ad agency The Terri & Sandi Solution launched a campaign for Peeps earlier this year called “Everyday is a Holiday.” The Peeps brand has strong commercial ties to Easter, as this holiday brings in over 70% of its revenue.

In an effort to expand the product’s reach and transform it from it a seasonal confection to a year-round treat, the ad agency has been developing images of Peeps that relate to obscure holidays like “Make Someone Laugh Day.” They even created a commercial for Take Your Pants For a Walk Day with the tagline “Express your Peepsonality” at the end. The company recently got in the Halloween spirit by sharing some spooky and silly drawings to promote their ghost and pumpkin Peep Minis.

This clever, low-cost positioning strategy had one simple goal: persuade consumers to broaden their ideas about what the Peep brand represents. The images are cartoonish and funny, and perfectly capture the personality of their target audience.

The only set back? The images seemed to be shared only on Facebook, when they could have been used across all social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest. The good news is that these social graphics, or “sharables”, seemed to garner some strong engagement for the brand.

We’ve compiled some of our favorite images from the brand’s Facebook page:

Caps Lock Dayblogg

Halloweenblogg1

National Candy Dayblogg2

Crazy Dayblogg3

Wear Something Gaudy Dayblogg4