One of the biggest challenges for corporations in the past two-plus

years has been dealing with the notion of evolve or die. Now we are not talking Darwinian evolution, but rather changing the way that we look at customers. The driving factor of this has been the soapbox that social media offers consumers.

Complaints and praise are front and center and companies have to react to these mentions from people. Its hard work and there are plenty of companies that are doing a great job. You can see examples of the folks on the frontlines for these companies in any social media book.

Despite all of these case studies, there is one company doing great things that often gets over looked that you would never guess. So who is this mystery company rocking the social media world?

Sesame Street.

Yes that Sesame Street, complete with Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Oscar and the Count. Instead of trying to build up a new persona, the company stuck with what kids of all ages associate with – Education + Fun x Silly².

Their accounts on Twitter and Facebook allow parents to check out upcoming content before its aired. It also allows those without children to reconnect with a long-lost part of their childhood.

For me the Tweets generally make my day as they make me at least smirk during stressful or annoyed times behind the keyboard. With that I must say thank you to Steve Garfield for putting me onto the Twitter account a few months back.  The company also utilized YouTube as a platform to have their videos with celebrities go viral.

Now like many companies in the social space, the folks behind the Sesame Street accounts were met with a controversy of sorts. Their issue revolved around singer Katy Perry and her song with Elmo (click here to see the video). The video of the scantily clad Perry and a less-clothed Elmo enraged parents so the show never aired the clip. Instead of putting their heads in the sand, the company posted a response on their Facebook account and directed traffic to it via Twitter.

To me this is truly impressive as many companies with larger egos and brands have been silent for less. The address explained why they do skits with celebrities, but also addressed their base‘s concerns. Much like the show itself, this action served as a learning tool. Not just for the networks that air the show, but to companies active across the social Web.

Do you think that companies could learn a thing or two from Big Bird and company?

One of the biggest challenges for corporations in the past two-plus

years has been dealing with the notion of evolve or die. Now we are not talking Darwinian evolution, but rather changing the way that we look at customers. The driving factor of this has been the soapbox that social media offers consumers.

Complaints and praise are front and center and companies have to react to these mentions from people. Its hard work and there are plenty of companies that are doing a great job. You can see examples of the folks on the frontlines for these companies in any social media book.

Despite all of these case studies, there is one company doing great things that often gets over looked that you would never guess. So who is this mystery company rocking the social media world?

Sesame Street.

Yes that Sesame Street, complete with Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Oscar and the Count. Instead of trying to build up a new persona, the company stuck with what kids of all ages associate with – Education + Fun x Silly².

Their accounts on Twitter and Facebook allow parents to check out upcoming content before its aired. It also allows those without children to reconnect with a long-lost part of their childhood.

For me the Tweets generally make my day as they make me at least smirk during stressful or annoyed times behind the keyboard. With that I must say thank you to Steve Garfield for putting me onto the Twitter account a few months back.  The company also utilized YouTube as a platform to have their videos with celebrities go viral.

Now like many companies in the social space, the folks behind the Sesame Street accounts were met with a controversy of sorts. Their issue revolved around singer Katy Perry and her song with Elmo (click here to see the video). The video of the scantily clad Perry and a less-clothed Elmo enraged parents so the show never aired the clip. Instead of putting their heads in the sand, the company posted a response on their Facebook account and directed traffic to it via Twitter.

To me this is truly impressive as many companies with larger egos and brands have been silent for less. The address explained why they do skits with celebrities, but also addressed their base‘s concerns. Much like the show itself, this action served as a learning tool. Not just for the networks that air the show, but to companies active across the social Web.

Do you think that companies could learn a thing or two from Big Bird and company?

One of the biggest challenges for corporations in the past two-plus

years has been dealing with the notion of evolve or die. Now we are not talking Darwinian evolution, but rather changing the way that we look at customers. The driving factor of this has been the soapbox that social media offers consumers.

Complaints and praise are front and center and companies have to react to these mentions from people. Its hard work and there are plenty of companies that are doing a great job. You can see examples of the folks on the frontlines for these companies in any social media book.

Despite all of these case studies, there is one company doing great things that often gets over looked that you would never guess. So who is this mystery company rocking the social media world?

Sesame Street.

Yes that Sesame Street, complete with Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Oscar and the Count. Instead of trying to build up a new persona, the company stuck with what kids of all ages associate with – Education + Fun x Silly².

Their accounts on Twitter and Facebook allow parents to check out upcoming content before its aired. It also allows those without children to reconnect with a long-lost part of their childhood.

For me the Tweets generally make my day as they make me at least smirk during stressful or annoyed times behind the keyboard. With that I must say thank you to Steve Garfield for putting me onto the Twitter account a few months back.  The company also utilized YouTube as a platform to have their videos with celebrities go viral.

Now like many companies in the social space, the folks behind the Sesame Street accounts were met with a controversy of sorts. Their issue revolved around singer Katy Perry and her song with Elmo (click here to see the video). The video of the scantily clad Perry and a less-clothed Elmo enraged parents so the show never aired the clip. Instead of putting their heads in the sand, the company posted a response on their Facebook account and directed traffic to it via Twitter.

To me this is truly impressive as many companies with larger egos and brands have been silent for less. The address explained why they do skits with celebrities, but also addressed their base‘s concerns. Much like the show itself, this action served as a learning tool. Not just for the networks that air the show, but to companies active across the social Web.

Do you think that companies could learn a thing or two from Big Bird and company?

One of the biggest challenges for corporations in the past two-plus

years has been dealing with the notion of evolve or die. Now we are not talking Darwinian evolution, but rather changing the way that we look at customers. The driving factor of this has been the soapbox that social media offers consumers.

Complaints and praise are front and center and companies have to react to these mentions from people. Its hard work and there are plenty of companies that are doing a great job. You can see examples of the folks on the frontlines for these companies in any social media book.

Despite all of these case studies, there is one company doing great things that often gets over looked that you would never guess. So who is this mystery company rocking the social media world?

Sesame Street.

Yes that Sesame Street, complete with Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Oscar and the Count. Instead of trying to build up a new persona, the company stuck with what kids of all ages associate with – Education + Fun x Silly².

Their accounts on Twitter and Facebook allow parents to check out upcoming content before its aired. It also allows those without children to reconnect with a long-lost part of their childhood.

For me the Tweets generally make my day as they make me at least smirk during stressful or annoyed times behind the keyboard. With that I must say thank you to Steve Garfield for putting me onto the Twitter account a few months back.  The company also utilized YouTube as a platform to have their videos with celebrities go viral.

Now like many companies in the social space, the folks behind the Sesame Street accounts were met with a controversy of sorts. Their issue revolved around singer Katy Perry and her song with Elmo (click here to see the video). The video of the scantily clad Perry and a less-clothed Elmo enraged parents so the show never aired the clip. Instead of putting their heads in the sand, the company posted a response on their Facebook account and directed traffic to it via Twitter.

To me this is truly impressive as many companies with larger egos and brands have been silent for less. The address explained why they do skits with celebrities, but also addressed their base‘s concerns. Much like the show itself, this action served as a learning tool. Not just for the networks that air the show, but to companies active across the social Web.

Do you think that companies could learn a thing or two from Big Bird and company?