This information is 100% stolen from trendwatching.com

Here are some conversations that have been collected from twitter where big brands are monitoring the conversation and responding in real time to customer service issues.

Five years ago if your company had world class customer service that meant you had some good information on your website and customers could call your toll free number 24/7

Today? you can no longer afford to wait for customers to bring their complaints to you.  If you are waiting to solve problems you are losing customers. You must be proactive about listening to the conversations and responding in real time. Twitter is an amazing tool for this. Here are some awesome examples from big brands.

Let me just qualify that and say I am throwing in the big brands thing to show that this behavior is now mainstream not that you need a big budget.  We have clients doing this way better than the big boys with micro brands and micro budgets.  check out zarbees on twitter.

Chances are your company or cause is much smaller than these. Can you really afford not to be part of the conversation?

Electronic Arts hired 20 people for the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles to stand outside the trade show and protest their new video game Dante’s Inferno.”

EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood says the stunt was arranged by a viral marketing agency hired by EA. However, the “protest” was still covered by local newspapers and The LA Times.

The new game, Dante’s Inferno is loosely based on Dante Aligheri’s poem “Divine Comedy,” The fake protesters were “upset” about the game because it glorified eternal damnation. The protesters passed out pamphlets and held up picket signs saying “Hell is not a Video Game” and “Trade in Your PlayStation for a PrayStation.”

Some critics have been saying this might not have been the best move for EA. Why would you build negative buzz about your own product?

We think it was a perfect thing for EA. As people were walking into the trade show, they already had interest in the game. Not only that, they received free publicity in local newspapers, which then made it’s way onto the internet. And now that the coverage is on the internet, their clelver stunt will reach much farther than a trade show in LA.

You could also applaud EA for creating fake negative buzz themselves so nobody else can. Now that it’s already been done, no one would take real protesters seriously. Way to dodge that bullet, EA!

Gillette has been building buzz the last month with how-to online
videos. The videos show men how to shave everywhere except their face,
also known as “manscaping.”

There has been tons buzz around the videos. By last Friday, Gillette’s Youtube site had more than 300,000 views in about a month.

The videos are very clever and humorous, which is different from the
approach they usually take in their advertising and marketing. Each
light-hearted video shows a cartoon demonstrating how to manscape
different areas of the body.

Before the videos were posted, Gillette tested them on both men and
women with little negative feedback. Through their research, Gillette
also found that one-third of men shave hair from their body other than
their faces.

“Our goal was to engage guys in a dialogue on the whys and how-to’s, and to do it comfortably and reassure them in a funny and entertaining way,” said Tim Williams a Gillette marketing official.

I think Gillette did a really great job with these videos. Not only are
they funny and perfect to reach 20-something men, but there is actually
research to back their approach.

Although we can’t leave without saying that they are ripping off the Phillips Norelco Shave Everywhere site from a few years ago.

Creativity Online recently featured Nomis for their unique approach to promoting their soccer cleats. The market has already been inundated with big brands like Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma, etc., so Nomis had to find a way to differentiate themselves.

Their approach is all about demo. Nomis came up with Vanguards, which essentially are portable stores. They show up at soccer practices and let players try the shoes for themselves. The vans are driven by ex-players and coaches. Then “players use their body as the ultimate testing tool” to find the right shoe for them.

While their Vanguard idea is great, Nomis really differentiating themselves by treating their customers how the “other brands only treat their stars.” Each player can have personal time with professionals and find their perfect shoe. And now they have some online buzz to accompany their offline conversations.

Check it out.

The numbers are in. We’ve followed all the buzz, read all the reviews and now the moment of truth.

The opening weekend numbers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine …. $87 million

The opening weekend numbers for Star Trek ….. $76 million

After hearing all the great reviews and positive buzz about Star Trek, it would make sense for it to make more money at the box office. Despite the claim that the movie wasn’t just for Trekkies, Star Trek still couldn’t overcome the stigma associated with their niche market.

Wolverine still didn’t reach the $100 million expectation opening weekend, but $87 million isn’t too shabby considering all the negative buzz and bad reviews.

Now it’s official; Mutants beat Trekkies.