Central Park Peacock
A couple of days ago a beautiful peacock escaped from the Central Park Zoo and found refuge on the window ledge of a 5th Avenue apartment. Good taste or what? Just like the escapees before like the Central Park peahen and of course the now infamous Bronx Zoo Cobra, this peacock captured a lot of attention here in New York. And then tried to ignite a social media frenzy.
But nobody could create a social media frenzy like @bronxzoocobra. She became an instant hit on Twitter as she reported on her travels around Manhattan with a very witty sense of humor. It caught on like wild fire and was very entertaining to watch. She even got a real name from her "tour": Mia for "missing in action." She had well over 200,000 followers on Twitter and a Facebook page to host SNL. Quite the social media impact in a few very short days.
And now others are trying. When the peahen escaped from the Central Park Zoo there was little fanfare. Our little peacock tried as well but it just didn't catch on. Only 2,000 follower on Twitter, although it was a regular feature on local news. It's now back at the zoo (flew there by itself, maybe it knew no one was following!?).
Lesson learned here? An orginal creative idea will capture a lot of attention, but if you are going to try to replicate it again then there has to be something original and creative added to the second generation. Sort of like when a brand tries to add a a line extension or a number two player tries to copy the market leader.
It was a nice try. But I guess you always remember your first.
What's your experience? Jim.
Jim Joseph
President of Lippe Taylor
Author of The Experience Effect