With the restaurant industry facing its worst downturn in decades, dozens of independent and chain eateries are turning to Twitter to generate cheap brand buzz. Short messages, aka Tweets, tease diners with instant freebies, discounted dining events and menu makeovers.
“The Internet is a crowd of people where everyone is yelling, and to be heard is a matter of who has got the biggest megaphone,” said Shah, who recently spoke to the Orange County Restaurant Association about the power of Twitter.
In June, Twitter had 21 million unique visitors, a 1,928 percent jump from the same month last year, according to Nielsen Ratings. Restaurants are also taking advantage of Facebook, which allows businesses to create “fan” pages.
Both social media sites are revolutionizing the way diners consume information — and chains are scurrying to make themselves heard.
“Twitter allows El Pollo Loco to build relationships with consumers through direct two-way conversations, with contests, idea sharing and deal opportunities,” said Julie Weeks, spokeswoman for Costa Mesa-based El Pollo Loco.
Since joining Twitter in late March, El Pollo Loco (@elpollolocoinc) has gained 2,000 followers. Weeks uses Twitter to highlight El Pollo Loco trivia, as well as host contests, where winners get the ultimate reward: free food.
The result: fans closely watch El Pollo Loco’s updates — creating instant brand buzz.
Other local restaurants and chains using Twitter include Taco Bell, Bogart’s in Seal Beach, BJ’s Restaurants, Wienerschnitzel, Kean Coffee, Baja Fresh, Johnny Rockets and Sprinkles Cupcakes in Corona del Mar. (LIST: Rating Restaurants on Twitter)
Like El Pollo Loco, Sprinkles uses Twitter to promote new menu items and freebies. The cupcake chain’s “whisper” Tweets have become especially viral. About twice a week, Sprinkles will post a code word on Twitter such as “raspberry” or “peanut butter.” Customers (typically the first 25 in the door) are instructed to whisper the secret word to get a free cupcake.
Twitter is “very efficient because it provides immediate results. Within a minute of posting, we get people in our store redeeming our promotions,” Sprinkles Cupcakes said in a statement.
via Local eateries Tweet like crazy, but does it work? - Life - OCRegister.com.
Discovered this on the web, thought it was an interesting marketing idea. Not entirely sure how you’d measure the ROI, but I like the concept…
We bring together advertisers and the people willing to give up the shirt off their back to get out a message.
TShirtAds offers a low-cost marketing alternative where advertisers can target specific geographies and demographics in a simple and effective manner. Whether you require 50 people for an event, 5,000 for a national campaign, or just one person walking around the city, TShirtAds has the right people for any ad budget.
via TShirtAds - Home.
I’m all about innovation, but this just seems silly to me…
When some readers of Entertainment Weekly open their magazines next month, they will discover characters from US television programmes speaking to them from a wafer-thin video screen built into the page.
The marketing experiment – which is being conducted by CBS, the US broadcaster, and Pepsi, the soft drinks maker – recalls the fantasy newspapers of the Harry Potter films and works much like a singing greetings card, with the video starting once a reader turns the appropriate page.
The cost of the full-motion video ad was not disclosed, but it will be far more expensive than traditional print ads, according to executives familiar with the technology, developed by a US company called Americhip.
The willingness to spend on such a promotion highlights the radical means marketers are employing to reach consumers at a time when a growing number of people are using new technologies such as digital video recorders to avoid ads.
via FT.com / Media - CBS and Pepsi bring video ads to printed page.
For a while now, I’ve wanted to revamp my personal site, www.SethResler.com. When you work in the arts and entertainment arena, you want a multi-media site to properly showcase your skills. How do I properly display my radio airchecks, my event producing, my graphic design and social media marketing?
Here’s how I did it:
First, I set up a WordPress website hosted on 1and1.com. I installed the Streamline template from StudioPress. This is my favorite template, but StudioPress has a number of clean, easy-to-use templates available for only $60.
Then I installed a number of plugins on the site, including WordPress Stats (so I know when you come to visit), Constant Contact (so you can sign up for my email newsletters), and the NextGEN Photo Gallery (so I can show off my artwork). I also added Twitter’s widget, so my Tweets appear on my page. And I embedded the ShareThis widget at the top of my site.
After that, there was some minor graphic customization using Photoshop. A lot of the HTML needed to be tweaked on the backend, too. I am not a programmer, but I’ve picked up enough to make these revisions myself.
Then I integrated the audio and video. I used two of my favorite video tools: Animoto, which makes it easy to make professional-looking slideshows and Embedr, which allows you to create video playlists (see here).
Finally, I linked everything to my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and I was done. All told, the work took me a couple of days. (The fact that I have previous experience with this template definitely helps.) But it just goes to show you that you can make a professional-looking website for very little cost and without a lot of labor just by using the tools that are out there on the web!
I received this via email:
Summer is ending with a bang as Live Nation’s No Service Fee Wednesday promotion goes deep discount and all-in, bringing fans $10 lawn tickets and $15 reserved seats with absolutely no service fees. Let the movies wait and put down the remote control, for 24 hours only, on August 12th at 12:01AM at LiveNation.com, live music fans can purchase tickets at the absolute lowest price of the summer season. The special All-In pricing means fans pay zero fees and can save up to 60% on summer concert tickets for shows by artists such as Creed, Motley Crue, Allman Brothers, Rascal Flatts and Kings of Leon.
“In these tough economic times we have been offering fans deep discounts all summer long, from no service fee tickets, to all-in pricing, half-priced tickets and more with an overwhelmingly positive response from fans week after week,” said Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation. “This week’s final blow-out sale is our biggest and best value offering yet. With these unprecedented low prices, we want everyone to have the opportunity to see their favorite artist in their local amphitheater, before the end of summer.”
For a full list of concerts included in the one day ticket sale, please visit www.LiveNation.com.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinnner? The official #RIWorldofFlavors Restaurant List is released… http://ping.fm/8USAg
We’ve been hard at work recruiting restaurants to compete in the first ever Rhode Island World of Flavors Competition, and we’ve assembled a damn fine list of restauarants if I do say so myself. All the credit goes to my partner, Jordan Monstrelis, who’s been dilligently following up with all of the restauranteurs.
We’ve divided the restaurants into four categories: Americana, Asian & Indian, European & Mediterranean, and South of the Border. (If you are surprised by some of the categorizations, its because the restaurants have chosen to do a specialty dish.) One winner in each category will win part of the $15,000 prize package. The best part is that you get to decide the winner! Tickets are $50, but since you are one of only two people in the whole world who read my blog, I’ll give you a $10 discount. Just use the code word “Blog” when you order tickets online.
So here’s the official list:
Americana
- Aqua and Bluefin Grille
- Blaze Eastside
- The Capital Grille
- Cortland Place
- DeWolf Tavern
- Hemenway’s Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar
- Jolly Roger Cafe
- Temple Downtown
- Texas Roadhouse
- United BBQ
Asian and Indian
- 3 Steeple Street Bistro and Bar
- Ebisu
- India
- Kabob and Curry
- Ken Wok
- MuMu Cuisine
- Twist
- Waterplace Restaurant and Lounge
European and Mediterranean
- Café Paragon
- CAV
- Efendi’s Mediterranean Grill and Bar
- Federal Hill Pizza
- La Creperie
- North End Cafe
- RiRa the Irish Pub
- Rosinha’s
- The Melting Pot
South of the Border
Pretty good, eh? So go buy your tickets now!
Rhode Island Monthly magazine has sent me a lovely invitation in the mail to their Best Of 2009 gala on July 23rd. Apparently I’ve won an award…the catch, of course, is that they won’t tell me what the award is until I show up. This has left me thoroughly baffled.
I noticed via a Facebook status update that Iris Monroe of Cutie Pies received a similar invitation. The difference, of course, is that she can reasonably assume that her award has something to do with the pies that she bakes. I, on the other hand, have no idea what my award could possibly be because I don’t DO anything.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but I am really confused, because I don’t do anything that can be easily categorized. I produce events, of course, such as the New England Nightclub and Bar Expo that was at Twin River last fall, or the DiscoverYou: Holistic & Wellness Expo that was at Twin River this Spring. But these were done in conjunction with other people who deserve far more credit than I do for their success.
I have produced a series of mixology events here in Rhode Island, maybe it’s that. I blog from time to time, but there are some far better local bloggers out there than me (I should know - I steal, er, link to their content all the time). Plus, I’m pretty sure that you are the only one who reads my blog. I tweet, I compose a bartender newsletter, I send out a weekly events newsletter, I run an event-listing website and I do a few other things, but to be honest, I haven’t got the slightest idea which of these things anyone would consider the best in its category.
Once upon a time, I ran a pretty good radio station, but since I haven’t died recently, I assume they’re not acknowledging me for anything that goes that far back.
So you are invited to join me at Rhode Island Monthly’s 2009 Best of Rhode Island Party on Thursday, July 23rd, to find out what the hell I’m so damn good at. I promise to keep my acceptance speech short and generic (”I never imagined I’d actually be standing here. I’d like to thank God and my mom. Peace in the Middle East.” Cue tears and orchestral music.)
By the way, if you’d like a $10 discount on tickets, use the code RIMVIP (I presume it stands for “Rhode Island Monthly Very Important Person”) when you buy them online at www.RIMonthly.com or 421-ARTS. It’s like saying, “Yo, I’m with Seth.” (Tell them you’re with somebody more important, like Iris Monroe of Cutie Pies, and maybe you can get in for free.)
Oh, and thank you for all your support of whatever it is that I do. I wouldn’t be here without you.
Tons of new restaurants have entered the #RIWorldofFlavors Competition on July 12th! http://ping.fm/ULfmI
Cats, (De)Wolf and the #RIWorldofFlavors… http://ping.fm/IoTZQ