Fans of AMC?s massively popular series The Walking Dead are not the only ones who have been readily anticipating its Season 7 premiere: brands were also joining in on the conversation on social media. 

A number of brands, including Best Buy, Journeys and Microsoft?s Xbox, rang in the occasion of Sunday?s premiere with responses on Twitter, including shareable content such as memes and live Tweeting. And by latching on to official hashtags such as #TheWalkingDead, the companies involved themselves in the conversation in a manner that they hope seamlessly integrated their own brand identities with the users they try to court.

"Is anyone to going to be convinced to shop at at Best Buy or Journeys based on the brands' 'fire tweets?'" said James McNally, director of digital strategy at TDT New York. "Of course, that's unlikely. 

"However, one of the tried and true tactics of mainstream marketing is simply staking out mindshare in any way possible," he said. "For Journeys and Best Buy, there is some benefit to latching onto the conversation, simply to further code their brand identities into the content streams we're all interacting with. 

"You may not like Best Buy's tweets about The Walking Dead, but you're thinking about Best Buy, and that means something."

Many of the Tweets fired off by brands were similar to the impassioned reactions from users to the developments of the premiere. The episode itself generated an incredible amount of traction on social media, in part due to the cliffhanger that the series left its viewers at in the end of Season 6.

Shoe brand Journeys? reaction was an emphatic denial, punctuated by a GIF of comedian Tracy Morgan cut from the film Cop Out. The Tweet was the brand?s second-most retweeted Tweet of the month.

Electronics retailer Best Buy was more qualified in its reaction to the premiere, posting a tweet designed to illicit conversation about a character?s fate. The Tweet was also accompanied by a GIF, although this image was sourced from the show itself. 

Best Buy?s Tweet was one of its most shared and liked Tweets of the past month, trailing behind another which also latched on to viral news: the much-awaited release of Nintendo?s new console, the Nintendo Switch. 

The Twitter account for Microsoft?s Xbox gaming system fully leaned in into the festivities, promoting a live Tweeting session hosted by the account for Dead Rising, a popular? and similarly themed? survival horror game series that is one of Xbox?s flagships. The series became a Microsoft-exclusive property in its third installment, and the live Twitter session was done in the voice of series protagonist Frank West.

Leveraging the conversation around The Walking Dead? which is generally reaches peak buzz at around the season premiere? is not unprecedented. The series has been a favorite for brands due to its massive following and the typically social outlets said following tends to use as an outlet.

Korean car manufacturer Hyundai can be said to have struck gold early in this sense. The company had a longstanding? and much-parodied? product placement deal with the series, with a kiwi-green Hyundai Tucson displayed front and center for a number of seasons.

Brands are increasingly looking to social channels to augment their reach in traditional advertising models. Recently E! News built upon its recent advancements in mobile-first content with a new live streaming slate set to showcase original series on its Facebook Live platform, capitalizing on consumers' growing proclivity toward second-screen engagement (see story). 

And the USA Network looked to a comprehensive mobile marketing plan to hype up the second season of thriller series Mr. Robot, tapping into one of the show?s main themes ? technology ? with an on-screen QR code and an emoji keyboard (see story). 

"Brands take a risk when they take part in social conversations around pop culture? even when the conversation is directly about them (case in point, Red Lobster's response to Beyonce's shout out, which was widely seen as a corporate social media fail)," Mr. McNally said. "A primary risk in this tactic is that brands can be seen as trying too hard to enter our personal conversations in a non-authentic way, which comes off as tacky. 

"However, it can definitely be argued that some brands (such Journeys and Best Buy) truly do not care if their contributions to the discussion are welcome," he said. "Twitter users aren't interested in Best Buy's comments on The Walking Dead, and Best Buy probably knows this, but thinks the pros outweigh the cons.  

"It's far from perfect marketing, but it's certainly effective in its own way."