The beginning of a pandemic? Not ideal for a movie premiere. This was the dilemma Universal Pictures faced with the launch of “Trolls World Tour.” But it knew the show must go on. In an industry-first, it released directly to premium video-on-demand and hosted a live watch party on Twitter. Universal and its partner agency Essence took to Twitter to spread the word and celebrate the film’s release, using all the movie’s star power they could. And it worked. “Trolls World Tour” became the biggest Universal digital release ever, bringing joy to families tuning in from around the world.

Paying it forward, a simple, beautiful concept that Verizon acted upon in 2020. With partner agencies R/GA and VM1, they brought back a sense of community with #PayItForwardLIVE. Verizon live-streamed concerts and gaming events on Twitter for eight weeks, entertaining fans while also helping small businesses affected by the pandemic. Their first live stream featuring Dave Matthews Band gained a 100% net positive brand sentiment — the highest ever for a Twitter live stream by or from a brand.¹  Fans and small businesses were happy. And Verizon was more than happy to pay it forward.

Leading up to the premiere of “Westworld” Season 3, HBO’s in-house creative team worked with Hearts & Science to give fans in Mexico, Brazil, and the US a proper #Welcometo2058. When a fan liked a @WestworldHBO Tweet for a premiere reminder, a Twitter app connected to the show’s handle communicated with IBM’s Watson™ Personality Insights service. After analyzing the fan’s most recent Tweets, the app then assigned their fate in 2058, matching them based on personality type to old and new characters alike. How cool is that?

Blockbusters around the world have essentially become extinct — all but one. When Airbnb decided to offer us the opportunity to spend the night at this one last store, they turned to Twitter. More specifically, to a single Tweet from the iconic video store itself (and its first in six years). People on Twitter went wild. At a time when we all needed an escape, Airbnb gave us the best blast-from-the-past place to do it. A beautiful example of being kind and letting us rewind.

Walking the stage to accept your diploma is a big moment. Unfortunately, the pandemic had other plans. So Chase asked the collective graduating class of 2020 to #ShowMeYourWalk. This consisted of a two-part graduation event live-streamed on Twitter, one for high school and college grads, and another for historically Black colleges and universities. #ShowMeYourWalk got 44 times more views live-streaming on Twitter than any other social video platform, uniting students in a way no physical stage could.

“We are struggling. This isn’t a joke. Support your fav deli for dinner tonight. Thx” was what Dan Raskin Tweeted to his followers when his family business began to feel the repercussions of COVID-19. With help from Fresh Content Society, Manny’s Deli took an honest approach. They asked their neighbors to show some neighborly love. And it worked. With a single Tweet, they drove a 1,500% increase in sales, 20 million media impressions, and 500,000 engagements across all channels and media pickup.² Proof that a little noshing and a little Tweeting can go a long way.

The US Census Bureau spent over a year carefully planning the launch of the census survey. Then 2020 came along. So they pivoted with the help of their agencies Reingold and Culture One World. For the #2020Census launch, they used Twitter’s takeover products to drive awareness and own the coveted top place on the timeline for 24 hours. They also got influencers on board to speak to young people and those in underrepresented communities. In a year where knowledge was more important than ever, the US Census Bureau went to the place where the important conversations were happening — Twitter.