The Lessons of 'Mad Men' on Twitter

For many fans of the hit TV series “Mad Men,” one of the biggest events of 2008 was the sudden emergence of a number of the show’s characters on Twitter.

At first, it seemed as though whoever was posting regular tweets from within the fictionalized 1960s world of the AMC network show was doing so on behalf of the producers. But as is well known now, they were a group of people who had taken on the task themselves, and who quickly found their project shut down. As is equally well known now, a public outcry and some fancy footwork by AMC’s digital marketing agency eventually allowed them to continue, as they do to this day.

On Tuesday at the South by Southwest Interactive festival (SXSWi) here, three of the people involved in the so-called fan fiction appeared on a panel to discuss the experience of Twittering deep from inside the “Mad Men” story line, and to share their thoughts on lessons that producers and marketers alike could learn from the project.

First up to speak was Carri Bugbee, who Twitters as Peggy Olson, one of the leads on the show.

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