Edelman’s Tweetlevel Tool To Help MTV And Zync From American Express Find MTV’s First-Ever TJ ‘Twitter Jockey’
Monday, 28 June 2010 10:48 | 
New competition powered by Edelman’s TweetLevel
Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm, has been selected by MTV to help the network and ZYNC from American Express find the first MTV TJ ‘Twitter Jockey’. One lucky candidate will be hired to become a brand-new face and voice for MTV across social media platforms, including MTV.com, to expand the two-way dialogue between MTV and its global audience. MTV and ZYNC from American Express will launch “Follow Me: The Search for the First MTV TJ”, in which 20 social media enthusiasts compete head-to-head in Twitter challenges for the ultimate dream job in New York as MTV’s first TJ. Edelman’s TweetLevel – which measures an individual’s influence on Twitter – will be used as the valuation tool to assess the contestants in the search for MTV’s top tweeter. Fans of the show will be able to follow the contestants’ progress on the customized TweetLevel site at zync.mtv.com. The seven week cross-platform program, which launches today, will feature 20 job candidates -- 18 pre-selected candidates announced on zync.mtv.com and two candidates chosen by the public via the ZYNCSM Card Facebook page (www.facebook.com/zync) -- competing in a series of Twitter challenges.
TweetLevel will rank each contestant’s performance based on his or her influence, popularity, engagement and trust. Based on these rankings, candidates will advance to the live on-air finale on August 8, where the MTV audience will vote for the first MTV TJ.
Dave Sirulnick, MTV Executive Vice President of Multiplatform Production, News and Music said: “MTV selected Edelman’s TweetLevel as our measurement tool because the four criteria it uses to evaluate people – influence, popularity, engagement and trust – are the same principles we believe our first-ever TJ needs to have. TweetLevel also gives people handy tips for improving their scores, so we expect the rivalries to be fierce as the contestants compete against each other.”
Jonny Bentwood, Edelman’s Head of Strategic Analysis who created the algorithm, said: “TweetLevel will provide MTV with the science to help them find their first TJ. The top tweeters are not necessarily those with the most followers. The quality of their tweets, how they engage with fellow tweeters and whether others trust them are all important factors in determining their level of influence.”
TweetLevel uses a unique algorithm of more than 30 metrics which take into account:
• Influence – what you say is interesting and many people listen to it
• Popularity – how many people follow you
• Engagement – how actively you participate within your community
• Trust – do people believe what you say
For more information about TweetLevel, visit http://tweetlevel.edelman.com/.
About Edelman
Edelman is the world’s largest independent public relations firm, with 3,200 employees in 52 offices worldwide. Edelman was named Advertising Age’s top-ranked PR firm of the decade; Adweek’s “2009 Agency of the Year”; PRWeek’s “2009 Agency of the Year” and “UK Consultancy of the Year”; and Holmes Report’s “Agency of the Decade,” “2009 Best Large Agency to Work For” and “2009 Asia Pacific Consultancy of the Year.” Edelman owns specialty firms Blue (advertising), StrategyOne (research), BioScience Communications (medical education and publishing), and MATTER (sports and entertainment). Visit www.edelman.com for more information.
About MTV
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 28 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries -- giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24 and P12-34. Online, MTV.com averaged 24.5 million monthly unique visitors during the first quarter of 2010 -- up +8% from Q4/2009 and up +13% year-over-year. Average video streams for the first quarter of 2010 increased +8% from the Q4/2009 and is up +6% over the same time period last year. And MTV’s successful sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving young males, music fans, and college students like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in… www.mtvpress.com.
About ZYNC from American Express
ZYNC from American Express is the newest pay-in-full Charge Card. Cardmembers can customize the ZYNC Card by adding optional bundles of benefits called Packs, which offer rewards and benefits in specific lifestyle areas, such as music, giving back, fashion, food, travel and more. The ZYNC Card is available for an annual fee of $25 and Packs vary in price from no additional cost to $25 per year. ZYNC Cardmembers are enrolled in the Membership Rewards Express® program and get one Membership Rewards point for every eligible dollar of spending, valuable retail and travel protections, and award-winning customer service. For more information, please visit www.zynccard.com.
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For further information contact:
Latraviette Smith
212-704-4530
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm, has been selected by MTV to help the network and ZYNC from American Express find the first MTV TJ ‘Twitter Jockey’. One lucky candidate will be hired to become a brand-new face and voice for MTV across social media platforms, including MTV.com, to expand the two-way dialogue between MTV and its global audience. MTV and ZYNC from American Express will launch “Follow Me: The Search for the First MTV TJ”, in which 20 social media enthusiasts compete head-to-head in Twitter challenges for the ultimate dream job in New York as MTV’s first TJ. Edelman’s TweetLevel – which measures an individual’s influence on Twitter – will be used as the valuation tool to assess the contestants in the search for MTV’s top tweeter. Fans of the show will be able to follow the contestants’ progress on the customized TweetLevel site at zync.mtv.com. The seven week cross-platform program, which launches today, will feature 20 job candidates -- 18 pre-selected candidates announced on zync.mtv.com and two candidates chosen by the public via the ZYNCSM Card Facebook page (www.facebook.com/zync) -- competing in a series of Twitter challenges.
TweetLevel will rank each contestant’s performance based on his or her influence, popularity, engagement and trust. Based on these rankings, candidates will advance to the live on-air finale on August 8, where the MTV audience will vote for the first MTV TJ.
Dave Sirulnick, MTV Executive Vice President of Multiplatform Production, News and Music said: “MTV selected Edelman’s TweetLevel as our measurement tool because the four criteria it uses to evaluate people – influence, popularity, engagement and trust – are the same principles we believe our first-ever TJ needs to have. TweetLevel also gives people handy tips for improving their scores, so we expect the rivalries to be fierce as the contestants compete against each other.”
Jonny Bentwood, Edelman’s Head of Strategic Analysis who created the algorithm, said: “TweetLevel will provide MTV with the science to help them find their first TJ. The top tweeters are not necessarily those with the most followers. The quality of their tweets, how they engage with fellow tweeters and whether others trust them are all important factors in determining their level of influence.”
TweetLevel uses a unique algorithm of more than 30 metrics which take into account:
• Influence – what you say is interesting and many people listen to it
• Popularity – how many people follow you
• Engagement – how actively you participate within your community
• Trust – do people believe what you say
For more information about TweetLevel, visit http://tweetlevel.edelman.com/.
About Edelman
Edelman is the world’s largest independent public relations firm, with 3,200 employees in 52 offices worldwide. Edelman was named Advertising Age’s top-ranked PR firm of the decade; Adweek’s “2009 Agency of the Year”; PRWeek’s “2009 Agency of the Year” and “UK Consultancy of the Year”; and Holmes Report’s “Agency of the Decade,” “2009 Best Large Agency to Work For” and “2009 Asia Pacific Consultancy of the Year.” Edelman owns specialty firms Blue (advertising), StrategyOne (research), BioScience Communications (medical education and publishing), and MATTER (sports and entertainment). Visit www.edelman.com for more information.
About MTV
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 28 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries -- giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24 and P12-34. Online, MTV.com averaged 24.5 million monthly unique visitors during the first quarter of 2010 -- up +8% from Q4/2009 and up +13% year-over-year. Average video streams for the first quarter of 2010 increased +8% from the Q4/2009 and is up +6% over the same time period last year. And MTV’s successful sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving young males, music fans, and college students like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in… www.mtvpress.com.
About ZYNC from American Express
ZYNC from American Express is the newest pay-in-full Charge Card. Cardmembers can customize the ZYNC Card by adding optional bundles of benefits called Packs, which offer rewards and benefits in specific lifestyle areas, such as music, giving back, fashion, food, travel and more. The ZYNC Card is available for an annual fee of $25 and Packs vary in price from no additional cost to $25 per year. ZYNC Cardmembers are enrolled in the Membership Rewards Express® program and get one Membership Rewards point for every eligible dollar of spending, valuable retail and travel protections, and award-winning customer service. For more information, please visit www.zynccard.com.
-------- ## ----------
For further information contact:
Latraviette Smith
212-704-4530
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
