182 THE POWER OF VISUAL STORYTELLING tweeted this spot-lit picture of a cookie with the caption, “You can still dunk in the dark.” The tweet instantly went viral, with nearly 15,000 retweets and 20,000 likes on Facebook.5 Oreo had captured a moment in cultural history and made it their own, to the delight of the millions of people who were sharing that moment on social media. Though impressive, RTM has the potential to inform every part of a marketing strategy, not just grab headlines with clever comments and creative responses to current events. Too many brands are trying to repli- cate Oreo’s success; the outpouring of material around the 2013 Academy Awards shows how many companies wanted to piggyback on the event’s large Twitter audience, but most failed to understand what RTM is really about. RTM is really not new at all. For as long as marketers According to GolinHarris, there have wanted to get the right message to the right person was a 14% increase in the at the right time and place, there has been a need for a number of people who would strategy capable of supporting this. What is new are the try or buy from the brand, and channels we have at our disposal to reach an unprece- an incredible 18% increase dented number of people and the data we have at our following exposure to real-time fingertips for an intelligent approach. marketing in the number of There is clearly a demand for a strategy that provides people who would recommend this intelligent approach. In a 2012 survey sponsored by the brand to others. Aprimo, a marketing automation software company, more than half (54%) of marketing professionals said that engag- ing their customers was a marketing challenge, and 52% cited the issue of competing for their customers’ attention 6 amid increasing noise. Real-time marketing is a way for brands to cut through that noise and reach out to customers. But we have to do it right. At one end of the spectrum are the brands initiating conversations and responding creatively to the zeitgeist—even informing it. At the other end are the companies who are more reminis- cent of the school dork running around after the cool kids, eager to get his two cents in, trying way too hard. So which one are you?