“With more than 500 million tweets a day, Twitter has become the world’s largest focus group, a place where all kinds of topics are discussed,” declared Nathalie Picquot, CEO of Twitter Spain, at a recent session of Desayunos ESADE organised by Esade Alumni in collaboration with CriteriaCaixa. During her talk, entitled “Twitter: The World’s Largest Focus Group”, Ms. Picquot highlighted the platform’s power to fuel movements and provide a megaphone for issues that matter to society, as in the case of the #MeToo movement.

According to Ms. Picquot, Twitter differs from other platforms in that “it is a public conversation site that everyone has access to, whether they use Twitter or not”. She added: “Twitter has become people’s main source of information, which makes it very attractive for brands.”

Conversation analysis and the power of the audience

“What possibilities emerge when you know what’s happening in the world on any given subject?” asked Ms. Picquot. “Conversation analysis on Twitter has unlimited value and can be used for multiple purposes.” Proof of this, she argued, can be seen in people’s use of Twitter to share information about rising water levels during a flood in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. “People’s comments and conversations on Twitter helped to establish priorities and guide the deployment of emergency services,” she explained.

Similarly, companies can use the vast amounts of information created on Twitter to improve their products and services, as well as to innovate and identify new customer needs. “Social listening can help companies identify new trends and carry out customer-service actions, thus improving their results,” commented Ms. Picquot. “When you understand people’s tastes, you can innovate better.”

Business model

On the subject of the platform’s business model, Ms. Picquot explained that “90% of Twitter’s income comes from advertising, while the rest comes from data licensing”. She added: “The platform provides an opportunity to connect customers, brands and advertisers to what is happening. Moreover, thanks to our large and influential audience, Twitter is the best place to launch a new campaign, message or feature. Between 24 and 48 hours after a launch on Twitter, you know whether or not it has been successful. That’s why major companies such as Samsung and Apple use Twitter to communicate and provide information about their new products.”

Ms. Picquot was joined by Juan María Hernández Puértolas, Director of Communication at CriteriaCaixa, and Mario Lara, Director of ESADE Madrid. Desayunos ESADE is organised by ESADE Alumni.