The ultimate branding awareness test

I have an iPhone and I frequently tweet from it. When I’m at @target or @oinkadoodlemoo or when I am drinking a @jonessodaco green apple soda, I’ll tweet using their twitter accounts because I know them. But when I am at #kroger or #acehardware, I am not really sure what their twitter accounts are, so I just hashtag them and move on. There is no elegant way to look up companies or brands using mobile apps, especially with the pokey AT&T 3G. So, I just don’t bother.

I saw this tweet from @alotofnothing come across in my twitter stream tonight:*

and it occurred to me that the test of true brand loyalty and awareness was if a user was able to type in the twitter account of a business or brand flawlessly on a mobile device as part of a natural conversation in twitter. (I would have struggled with @TijuanaFlats and even had I looked it up, they have a Flash site, so iPhone would not have been able to see it. Besides, they only show a Facebook Fan Page.)

Think about that for a moment and realize what awesome power that means for your company or brand, good and bad. Then think about how much you need to brand your twitter account.

*Used with permission.. Thank you Angie!