Greg Swan

Posts Tagged ‘Punxsutawney Phil’

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Punxsutawney Phil celebrates his fourth year on Twitter, does interview with Mashable

In Armchair Marketing, In the News, Social Media on February 7, 2012 at 3:38 pm

I am the voice of Punxsutawney Phil on Twitter. I didn’t plan it this way, but I’m accepting it now.

As I neared the fourth year authoring the Punxsutawney Phil Twitter account (@GroundhogPhil), I cut my losses on attempts to hand the account over to the Groundhog Club and just went for it.

Read previous year’s posts and subsequent coverage here:

For 2012, it is clear the growing interest in animal based Twitter accounts (see @BronxZooCobra and @NYTChicken) amplified the general public’s interest in chatting with a forecasting rodent via 140 characters or less.

Building on three years of prognostication-related tweets, this year’s momentum was strong and resulted in even more big name coverage of Phil’s tweets. Like doing an interview with Mashable in character, for starters.

Again this year, The Huffington Post, The National Post, local media and weather sites again retweeted and/or referred to @GroundhogPhil’s tweets.

And the data was just tremendous. The RT’s were flying!!

In the spirit of good faith, I again offer up the account to the top-hatted groundhog bunch. However, given they’ve ignored this offer and opportunity for four years now, I’ve decided I’m happy to keep it until Phil predicts Twitter is a relevant audience for their event.

Long live @groundhogphil!

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A big day for @groundhogphil

In Me Being Stupid, Social Media on February 2, 2011 at 1:20 pm

I’m tweeting as Punxsutawney Phil yet again this year. See previous years here.

LINK: Interview I did with Ogilvy about @groundhogphil.

I’ll say it again this year:
I will glad turn over the account to the PP folks in PA. Let me know if you guys want it!

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Huffington Post, Good Morning America, National Geographic, Urlesque and more pick up @groundhogphil

In In the News, Me Being Stupid on February 2, 2010 at 5:28 pm

It’s safe to say this year’s tweeting as Punxsutawney Phil greatly eclipsed last year’s experience.

With a dramatic increase in followers, more than 1300 retweets and some major news pick-up, I’m pretty thrilled with the response to me posting sarcastic tweets on behalf of a groundhog this year.

Here’s some of the media coverage:

HUFFINGTON POST

Huffington Post wrote about my beloved @GroundhogPhil yesterday afternoon, Punxsutawney Phil: Groundhog Day STAR Shines On Social Networks:

There is also plenty of Twitter activity. Some unofficial Punxsutawney Phil Twitter accounts can be entertaining, such as @GroundhogPhil, who tweeted just moments ago, “You try forecasting underground while asleep, chump,” in response to this tweet: “Prognosticating PunxsutawneyPhil has only been correct 39% since 1887.”

GOOD MORNING AMERICA

And this morning, Good Morning America retweeted the tweet we were all waiting for (to its 1.7 million followers):

Eek! A horrifying shadow! I’m going back to bed. Guess that’s 6 more weeks of winter, chumps!

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

National Geographic Daily wrote Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil Sees Shadow–And Long WinterThis year “immortal” Punxsutawney Phil—supposedly born no later than the 19th century—broadcast his Groundhog Day prediction in some decidedly 21st-century ways…

People interested in Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction also had the option of receiving his forecast by text message or through Twitter.

URLESQUE

Urlesque wrote Meet the Internet’s Social Network-Savvy Groundhogs:

When Minneapolis blogger Greg Swan noticed that Pennsylvania’s most famous rodent doesn’t broadcast his prediction on Twitter, he set up the GroundhogPhil account to help the little guy out. Greg’s since learned that despite a cushy life, Phil is a bit of a curmudgeon:
“Lots of folks think Phil is a cuddly, happy woodland creature, but in actuality, he’s a grumpy, sarcastic little woodchuck who doesn’t appreciate humans pestering him out of his warm burrow. As @groundhogphil’s tweets indicate, life isn’t all grasshoppers and grubs up on Gobbler’s Knob. And that Al Roker better stop talking smack, or he’s going to find himself a Groundhog Day’s surprise.”

PHOENIX NEW TIMES

The Phoenix New Times wrote Punxsutawney Phil “Tweets” About Seeing His Shadow; For Phoenix That’s Probably a Good Thing:

Normally we would rely on morning shows like Good Morning America to broadcast Phil’s findings but this year the groundhog took his message mainstream — he “tweets.”

“Eek! A horrifying shadow! I’m going back to bed,” Punxsutawney Phil “writes” on his Twitter page. “Guess that’s 6 more weeks of winter, chumps!”

Joke’s on you, Phil, you’re only a “chump” if you don’t live in Phoenix.

What a fun run, but I’ll admit I’m glad it’s over. Here’s hoping my alarm clock doesn’t play “I Got You Babe” tomorrow, and we do this day over.

NOTE: If you represent Punxsutawney Phil and/or Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I will gladly turn over the Twitter account to you. I’m just having some fun, so please shoot me a note.

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Punxsutawney Phil’s on Twitter, just in time for Groundhog Day

In digital reputation management, Me Being Stupid on January 28, 2010 at 11:40 pm

Do you follow @GroundhogPhil on Twitter yet?

Punxsutawney Phil on Twitter @groundhogphil

Last year around this time I realized there was a huge missed opportunity for promoting Groundhog Day in social media.

So I went ahead and set Phil up with a Twitter account. @PunxsutawneyPhil was one character longer than Twitter allows, so I went for @GroundhogPhil.

To be fair, at the end of last year’s Groundhog Day, I wrote, “If you represent Punxsutawney Phil and/or Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I will glady turn over the Twitter account to you. I’m just having some fun, so please shoot me a note.” But I never heard from anyone.

This year I’d forgotten about the account until I got a new follower e-mail notification indicating Laura Fitton (@pistachio) was following @GroundhogPhil.

This is hilarious for a couple reason: 1) no one had followed Phil for nearly a year; 2) at SXSW a couple years ago, my friend Nathan and I (virtually) stole Laura’s shoe, and she ended up slapping Nathan; 3) Laura is a Twitter expert and who knows what she thinks of character Twitter accounts.

So I busted out the password reset and started tweeting for Phil again this year. Here are some of my favs so far:

Hugo Chavez reportedly accusing US of testing weapon of mass de-sunshine in Punx, PA to mess with my prediction.6:48 PM Jan 22nd from UberTwitter

Mustache guy just stuck a hose in my burrow attached to his jeep’s exhaust pipe. I think the stress is getting to him.3:24 PM Jan 22nd from web

They say we’re young and we don’t know, We won’t find out until we grow… Babe…I got you babe.. #musicmonday
10:18 AM Jan 19th from web

Winter! I just love hats, coats, mittens AND sniffles! Let’s do this the rest of the year.
8:05 AM Jan 19th from UberTwitter

Moustache guy just dropped off a Snuggie and Mad Men on Blu-Ray. I aint coming out for months.
8:35 PM Jan 18th from UberTwitter

And…. still winter. In your face, people.
8:49 AM Jan 18th from UberTwitter

My prediction: Chuck Norris will get sick of winter and roundhouse kick the earth to tilt its axis and make it summer.
8:30 PM Jan 16th from UberTwitter

Saturday night, and I’m about to prognosticate up some pizza rolls.
4:59 PM Jan 16th from mobile web

A week ago, the tourism folks at VisitPA.com have moved Phil into the 21st century with a sweet text campaign:

Sign up to get a text of Punxsutawney Phil’s Febuary 2, 2010 Weather prognostication from Gobblers Knob via your moble device by texting “Groundhog” to 247365 between now and Groundhog Day.

They have a Facebook Page and @visitpa Twitter account, too. However, they’re both overtly tourism focused and don’t follow through on the social character personality promise of the text campaign.

So I’ve continued tweeting as Phil. Yesterday, on the same day as Apple’s iPad announcement, PETA suggested Phil be replaced by a robot.

So Phil had some fun with it:

@PETA The idea that a robot could predict weather better than a rodent living beneath the ground is simply foolish. #iPhil
about 10 hours ago from web

Moustache guy is pretty shook up about this PETA robot thing. I’m getting a burrow makeover, complete with HDTV and a Wii!
5:08 PM Jan 27th from UberTwitter

Instead of a robotic groundhog to replace me, how about PETA sends over naked Pam Anderson from those anti-fur ads?
9:49 AM Jan 27th from web

And it was a surprise to get an @-reply from @peta!

@GroundhogPhil How lovely 2 hear from u Phil. Hope u get that holiday u deserve! http://ow.ly/11r38
about 11 hours ago from HootSuite in reply to GroundhogPhil

There have actually been quite a few interesting people to strike up conversations with Phil this year. See some of the better ones here.


Okay, so I’m in year two of brandjacking Punxsutawney Phil. As I said last year, this is yet another example of why it’s critical companies, brands and individuals proactively stake out their online reputation.

Meanwhile, I’m not clever or entrepreneurial enough to keep this up. I’m hoping someone will respond to the note below and take it from here. Otherwise, who knows? Perhaps Phil will start speaking Spanish next year.

NOTE: If you represent Punxsutawney Phil and/or Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I will glady turn over the Twitter account to you. I’m just having some fun, so please shoot me a note.

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Punxsutawney Phil on Twitter: a lost opportunity?

In digital reputation management, Social Media on February 2, 2009 at 1:21 pm

groundhog_phil

First thing this morning I heard (via Twitter, mind you) that Punxsutawney Phil had not seen his shadow. I realized today was Groundhog Day, and that the annual mock-holiday had been entirely eclipsed by the Super Bowl this year. I hadn’t heard one peep about Groundhog Day last week, and was struck by the missed opportunity for Phil to leverage social media to get the word out about his big day.

GroundHog.org, The Official Site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, has no social media tools — no countdown widget, no blog, no live stream, nothing.

Phil does have a Facebook Fan Page, but other than a handful of user photos and comments, it’s been dormant for over a year. What a lost opportunity!

So I went ahead and set Phil up with a Twitter account. @PunxsutawneyPhil was one character too long, so I went for @groundhogphil.

Here are a handful of his tweets today:

An analysis of weather data and yearly groundhog predictions reveals I’m way smarter than Lilburn’s Gen. Beauregard Lee http://is.gd/i66E about 2 hours ago from web
Matt Lauer keeps calling me a prairie dog, and it’s pissing me off. about 2 hours ago from web
Punxsutawney Phil is the only true weather forecasting groundhog. The others are just impostors. It’s like lip syncing at the Super Bowl. about 2 hours ago from web
Aaauuhh… my head is pounding from the party last night! Go Steelers! I think I set a car on fire last night… Steelers!! Woo!! about 3 hours ago from web
The economy sucks, I’m going back in my hole until you humans figure it outabout 3 hours ago from web
Now if only the guy with the freaky mustache would put me back in my cage.about 3 hours ago from web
I saw my shadow! about 3 hours ago from web

After sending a few tweets, I discovered over in Lilburn, GA, Phil’s competition, Gen. Beauregard Lee, has a Twitter account (@gameranch) with 14 updates and 47 followers.

Coincidentally, Phil tweeted this:
gameranch

I wish I’d thought of this last week. Instead, I’m a bit late to the party, but was able to quickly brandjack Punxsutawney Phil. Yet another example of why it’s critical companies, brands and individuals proactively stake out their online reputation.

NOTE: If you represent Punxsutawney Phil and/or Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I will glady turn over the Twitter account to you. I’m just having some fun, so please shoot me a note.

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