When it comes to brand building, there are basically two schools of thought: "Build it and they will come" and "brainwash the masses."
The latter is based on the belief that any publicity is good publicity. If you get your name out there, the rest will fall in to place. A good example of this philosophy is GoldenPalace.com, which recently bought Justin Bieber's hair, and in the past has purchased William Shatner's kidney stone for the free publicity.
At the moment, Internships.com fits the latter category as well. If you've heard of the brand, it's most likely due to a single effective marketing campaign: An e ndorsement by Charlie Sheen via Twitter.
Internships.com, Charlie Sheen & Ad.ly
When Sheen joined Twitter on March 1, it's safe to say he wasn't a great fit with a lot of brands. Sheen had just had a major falling out with Chuck Lorre, the producer of Sheen's hit show Two and a Half Men and gave a series of bizarre interviews. It was clear that the star was something of a train wreck, and, to many, a fascinating one at that. Sheen became a trending topic on Twitter and, when he joined, set the Guinness World Record by getting 1 million followers in about 25 hours.
That combination of public pariah and social media star had appeal for a brand that was chiefly concerned with creating awareness. But Internships.com and Sheen needed a matchmaker.
That's where Ad.ly came in. Founded in 2009 by Sean Rad, Ad.ly sought to link celebrities with social media endorsements. The firm first came on a lot of people's radars when i t arranged for client Kim Kardashian to receive $10,000...
