Each week, Digiday pesters a busy industry executive to explain how he or she uses Twitter and to share his or her Twitter must-follows. Last week, Ogilvy’s Brandon Berger suggested we all follow, among others, Consigliere’s Mike Duda. To keep the chain going, we asked Mike about his must-follows. Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeDuda.
Duda:
“How do you use Twitter?” It seems like such an easy question. I’ll write a draft, bust open a thesaurus to unleash a few 30-plus point “Words with Friends” words, send to a couple PR friends who will edit 85 percent of the content and — Yahtzee! — I score a byline that makes me look smartish.
But, oh, Twitter, if only I could describe you so easily. You are my breaking news that Bin Laden was killed or that there is an earthquake nearby. My uber daily newspaper where the curated editorial includes passionate experts as much as journalists themselves. My lifeline into Syracuse basketball games when I’m inexcusably not watching them. And, Twitter, you supply me with the zen-like @DalaiLama guidance — mere millimeters away from the unique wisdom of American great @HomerJSimpson. Twitter is an incredible storytelling platform, and as such, here are some of the great storytellers from the worlds of advertising, VC and whatnot that I follow:
Chris Dixon, investor (@cdixon): Chris is popular in the startup and investing world for his straightforward, harshly truthful point of view. He is a must-follow to all the ad folk who are writing naive bylines on why agencies need to behave more like startups.
Diego Zambrano, founder, Bondsy (@workforfood): Dennis Crowley is the best storytelling CEO on “the Twitter.” This native Brazilian jumped from Ogilvy to gain a prestigious Techstars NYC apprenticeship might give him a run in the future.
Lee Clow’s Beard (@leeclowsbeard): God Bless Twitter for having the guts to greenlight this handle to showcase the musings of one of the great agency creative minds of the past 50 years.
Liz Gumbinner, Mom-101 (@Mom101): She’s an advertising creative director, powerful blogger in the Mommy world and a go-to expert recently seen on Martha Stewart and The Today Show. Her Tweets exemplify her passion, expertise and humor.
Phin Barnes, Partner, First Round Capital (@phineasb): He’s a creative director turned Whartonite turned VC. This NYC-based exec has a relentless passion for design and creativity.
More in Media
Amazon expands media footprint with iHeart sales deal and new TV outcome tool
Amazon is deepening its role in streaming advertising with an expanded iHeartMedia sales deal and outcome-based TV buying technology.
Media Briefing: Inside publishers’ real Cannes agenda – AI money vs agentic hype
For publishers, Cannes this year isn’t just about showing up for clients and sponsors. It’s a mid‑year checkpoint on two hard questions: who is going to pay for the open web in an AI world, and whether agentic media buying is a real fix or just a freshly branded ad‑tech tax.
Forbes tests a creator-led audience play to grow off-platform reach
Forbes is yet another publisher tapping creators and their audiences to drive off-platform growth – with a slightly different structure.