Online Bragging: from Pepsi's AMP App to Lufthansa’s MySkyStatus

These days it seems Internet is no longer just an information seeking and displaying platform. Slowly but surely, the World Wide Web is turning into a mass bragging tool. The vanity exhibited on the Internet can be overwhelming at times – whatever people feel too shy to brag about in real life, gets bragged about shamelessly online.

I mean, would you ever approach a stranger to say “Getting a new iPhone tomorrow. Super hyped!” But, you would Tweet like that, wouldn't you? And, if it was not for all the photo tagging on Facebook, your friends would have never found out just how cool that five-star hotel that you stayed in on your vacation to Mexico was.

Internet markets recognize that, and now it seems more and more web applications cater to the user’s desire to satisfy their need for online bragging.

For example, Pepsi’s newly released AMP Up Before You Score iPhone app lets male users helps men “score” with women and then brag about it on Twitter or Facebook. The controversial app caused quite a bit of uproar in the online community upon its release. Some even called the app distasteful, prompting an apology from Pepsi. Ironically, Pepsi apologized for their app blooper via Twitter, using #pepsifail as a hashtag.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa released an app that seems to be all about letting people brag online as well. It is not anyone's secret that flying Lufthansa is something not everyone can afford. It is a luxury airline that has a reputation for good service and safety. And, it charges accordingly. And, if you are using Lufthansa, you might as well be given an opportunity to brag about it online. 

So, to cash in on people's love of online bragging, marketers at Lufthansa created MySkyStatus -- an app that sends altitude, location, departure and arrival updates automatically to Facebook and Twitter pages. And although the app can be used by people flying on any airline, all updates will say "powered by Lufthansa." Evidently, the marketers hope that having "Lufthansa" mentioned in flight tracking updates will leverage the brand to convey the status of a user. Of course, mentioning Lufthansa brand in so many Tweets around the world can be tremendous marketing for Lufthansa itself.