04.03.14

It was the #selfie shot heard all around Red Sox Nation. Turns out it was part of a marketing ploy by a smartphone manufacturer.  When David “Big Papi” Ortiz [@DavidOrtiz] posed for a selfie with President Barack Obama, baseball fans and political junkies rejoiced and retweeted [and some Democrats from Boston nearly spontaneously combusted!].  The image quickly surpassed 40,000 retweets, re-demonstrating the power of social media as an information moving and sharing tool.

But the iconic moment also revealed savvy new ways manufacturers are leveraging social media channels to move their products.  Ortiz has a deal to provide social media content for smartphone manufacturer – who quickly tweeted his selfie on its own social media channels.  While Ortiz created his own personal public relations dust-up with the action – he insists the presidential selfie wasn’t planned – the manufacturer has received plenty of exposure for its product.  Celebrity deals like Ortiz’ abound; we’re sure to see more of this kind of marketing soon.