December 4, 2009
Shaquille O’Neal completed another of his Random Acts of Shaqness this morning when he hid an autographed Sports Illustrated magazine at the West Side Market in Cleveland, and tweeted it’s location to more than 2.5 million followers. It took a fan five minutes to find the signed copy of SI, and 30 minutes for local media such as Clevelander.com to cover the story. For the complete story, visit http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2009/12/shaquille_oneal_autographed_sp.html.
Background: A fan had been tweeting under Shaquille O’Neal’s name on Twitter, yet because this was occurring prior to Twitter’s rollout of a verification process for celebrities, Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t publicly disprove the credibility of his impostor. Not only that, but if Shaquille O’Neal did create an account on Twitter, how would he humanize his mega-celebrity status in order to thrive in a social networking environment like Twitter?
Approach: Digital Royalty trained the basketball superstar, @The_Real_Shaq, how to tweet both strategically and tactically on his “ShaqBerry” (as he likes to call it) so that he could tweet himself; authentically. Most importantly, to turn followers of Shaquille into friends and brand loyalists, Digital Royalty developed the concept of Random Acts of Shaqness. The idea behind Random Acts of Shaqness was that not only would followers get to interact with a virtual friend in a tangible, real-world way, but followers of Shaquille would be rewarded for following Shaquille and for how closely they followed his tweets.
Results: Shaquille O’Neal is currently ranked among Twitter’s top 10 celebrity users according to WeFollow.com. In addition to having a well-established presence, 2.5 million followers strong, the threat of imposters have been abolished. Not only is Shaquille regarded as an early adopter, but his tweets often become news – a testament to his credibility in the space. Additionally, Shaquille is a groundbreaker for furthering the idea that celebrities on social networking sites can be active participants of a community—engaging, responding and meeting followers. And since pioneering Random Acts of Shaqness, the concept has been adopted by celebrities of all types on Twitter who include Ellen DeGeneres, UFC’s Dana White, Lenny Kravitz and Chad Ocho Cinco.
November 1, 2009
In the 160-character bio on Shaquille O’Neal’s Twitter lies the six-world phrase ‘I perform Random Acts of Shaqness.’ Eighty-nine thousand, seven hundred results are yielded in a simple Google search of ‘Random Acts of Shaqness.’ But what exactly are Random Acts of Shaqness? And how did they originate?
It was one day with client Shaquille O’Neal that Digital Royalty (dR) founder Amy Martin thought-up the concept for her greater than seven-foot friend, with an equally as large personality. The strategy included performing spur-of-the-moment giveaways, phone calls to fans and general acts of kindness which converged the virtual world with the physical more-tangible world. And so was born Random Acts of Shaqness.
Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, Arizona and a 5’ & Diner in Phoenix were just two of the original locations to fall victim to Shaq’s Twitter-savvy self. Stops across the country along his NBA road trip path also became historic Random Acts of Shaqness landmarks.
Shaq’s followers not only enjoyed the idea in the 2008-2009 NBA season, but also embraced them. In some instances, the time between Shaq revealing his location on Twitter and followers showing up to meet the NBA-star was a mere five minutes.
Two million plus followers and a season later, Random Acts of Shaqness have become a namesake of Shaq’s Twitter presence. And appropriately, Shaq’s first act of the 2009-2010 season took place in his new home Cleveland underneath the iconic Lebron James “Witness” outdoor sign.
Since its birth, celebrities have adopted the concept of Random Acts of Shaqness and embraced its suitability to Twitter. Celebrities and musicians who include Ellen DeGeneres, UFC’s Dana White, Lenny Kravitz and Chad Ocho Cinco.
For more Random Acts of Shaqness be sure to follow @The_Real_Shaq.
