The Adventurous Foodie Guide

The adventurous foodie is a guide to various food, wine, beer, restaurants, cooking, culture and nightlife that I experience on my adventure called life.  My objective is to educate and inform the public of the social media world on what I find to be intriguing, desirable and worthwhile to dive into. 

By using social media tools such as twitter, facebook, instagram, and linkedin you can follow me on my travels and experiences.  I love food from pizza to sushi and I will try anything at least once!  Learning the mixology of different drinks and the pairings of wine & beer to compliment the right dish. 

Some issues that I might have are the target audience that I want to engage in.  The target audience that I have in mind can range from 21 and up.  There’s no real set group it really only has to do with people who love food, traveling, and culture or are interested in broadening their horizons.

I want my followers to have the opportunity to try something new or cook a dish they would of never dreamed of doing.  I want them to get inspired to create their own creations and recipes or contribute places they have traveled and food they have eaten.  I want to get out from under the rock and experience all of the options there are out there.  A person can’t have macaroni night on Wednesday for the rest of their life.  Expand the menu!

My strategy is to adventure each week to

·      A new restaurant that offers a different type of culture’s cuisine.

·      Try a new dish and drink.

·      Travel

·      Cook / Create something you have never had.

·      Open your horizons to other people’s way of life.

By writing about my experiences and adventures I hope to draw my audience in and have them contribute their ideas and experiences as well.  I will measure my success by the amount of likes and followers that I receive as well as feedback to show how successful my adventures are.

Buon Appetito!

John Coviello

Skittles' Homepage Gets Out of Hand

User-Generated Content Containing Racial Slurs and Profanity 

Skittles is known to be fun, new, and exciting. Being this as it may, in 2009, Skittles decided to change the content of their homepage through social networking sites.   

The new Skittles homepage became a "verbal gun-shooting" from social network user from Twitter and Facebook, hungry for fame. 

In a search for innovation, Skittles found themselves caught between this aggregation. The campaign became a mockery of the product.

Users were using the word "Skittles" on all of their posts that they wanted posted on the the Skittles homepage, containing racial slurs and profanity. 

They definitely went public!

Objectives: Skittles is searching for a way to connect through social media and engaging others to join in on dialogues. In a journey to become more popular and exciting, they seek business benefits through social media marketing.

Target Audience: Skittles is targeting a young and attractive audience who enjoy the taste of their product. They are seeking feedback and ideas for new and fun flavors. 

Issues / Opportunities: The opportunities area countless from becoming a social networking site. They run everywhere from customer feedback and promotions to customer service. Obviously, some of the issues are that they should not make their site a conversation and dialogue. 

Strategies: Skittles has already been through a rough patch through social media, they should reach out to different approaches to social media like a question and answer program.

Tactics: Keeping in mind that interactivity should be a main priority of social media networking is their tactic.

Measurements: An effective way to measure is to count their website visits, their followers, their tweets, retweets, replies, and favorites. 

Although Skittles was very daring and brave to be one of the first websites to go "live", they must take into consideration the reality of social media. They must be aware of interactivity and dialogue. 

 

    

 

Taste The Rainbow!

Follow me on Twitter @MannyLokXo and on My Linked-in page!

J. Crew

I would have to take a guess and say that J. Crew definitely fosters an online presence. Their clothes are very modern, which bring in customers who can be described using the same word.

On the company's official website, there are links for their Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages. This indicates that they put effort into their online presence.

I can't imagine a clothing manufacturer not having a blog or interactive website in this day and age: It is the perfect way to gain feedback and see what's in and what's out.


Why J. Crew Should Partake in Social Media:

1. To see what their customers, new and old, think of their products.

2. To help decide which styles should be continued, and which should be discarded.

3. To enhance and develop customer relationships.

4. To get a possible advantage over competitors.


Who They Are Trying To Target:

• Adults (aged 25-45): J. Crew has a very sophisticated and mature look, which inevitably brings in the older folk who are trying to be as fashionable as possible. 
• Young Adults (aged 18-25): I can speak for myself when I say that J. Crew's popularity with the younger crowd is rising. During high school, when I began generating my own income I was turned onto J. Crew's sophisticated style and simple look. And through college I've seen more and more of my pupils adopting the J. Crew look.
• These two groups of customers are the same types of people buying smartphones and adjusting their lives to the internet boom that we are currently experiencing.

Opportunities:

I think J. Crew needs to take advantage of what is going on around them. It seems to me like the clothing industry is not doing enough to reach out to their consumers through the web. This could be a ticket to increase the company's awareness as well as pursuing current customers relations.

Facebook - A consistent leader in the social media world, a Facebook page is crucial to spreading the word about any company. By updating this page weekly, at least, J. Crew could inform many of their consumers and possible customers about events within the company.

Twitter - Much like Facebook, this website is becoming increasingly popular with companies. They can use this device to share information as well as assessing customer's opinions.

Tumblr - Seeing as this website is based on the posting of pictures, it is important that a clothing company like J. Crew gets involved. This would give the audience a quick look at some of the things the company is producing, for visual effect.

J. Crew Aficionada - This is a blog made by an obsessive fan of the company, but can surely help spread the word about the company. Although the company itself is not involved, it is a beneficial way for common customers to interact and share news


Strategy - Using all of the above resources, as well as the company's own website, J. Crew should do its best to get their products on the internet and viewed by as many people in their target audience. Once this has been established, the company can then explore alternatives and variables, such as expanding their target audience and signature style.


With social media on the internet, it is easy to detect logistics such as number of viewers and "likes" or "dislikes", which is a businesses' dream task.

United Breaks Guitars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

“United breaks guitars.”  This three-word chorus line sung by Canadian musician Dave Carroll got the attention of over 8 million viewers.  Traveling is always a hassle especially when it comes to being a musician.  They carry special cargo also known as a “Guitar’’ wherever they go.  Dave Carroll had an incident back in July 2009 where the neck of his Taylor guitar was snapped due to careless employees.  United wouldn’t compensate him since it wasn’t within the “24 hour” period of time but his viral video sparked a blaze that destroyed more than one guitar.

·      180 Million dollars of shareholders money declined.

·      Stock plunged by 10%

·      Biggest decline in 3 years.

·      Compensated him $3,000 for the $3,500 guitar.

Today there is over 12 million youtube video views and at one point had reached the number one spot on itunes.  This video hurt the business of United Airlines displaying poor costumer service and care.  But on the other hand boosted the business of Taylor guitars who gladly gave Dave Carroll two brand new Taylors.  

Untied Airlines objective is to provide better customer service and satisfaction to make sure that all their customers are satisfied and taken care of.  This incident caused a large decline in sales and image due to social media.  The target audience for United Airlines is the anyone who is a current customer between the ages of 18-50.  Also, anyone part of the music community will second guess flying United Airlines after this problem, so they should market and reassure that their valuables are safe with this airline. 

With this problem Untied can use this as an opportunity to show that they care and boost their company's compassion and customer satisfaction.  They can use the tactic of making sure their employees attend to the concerns of all their passengers and not take any incident lightly so that their business will not be further damaged.  Lastly, they need to measure their worth of loss that could occur to the problem or situation and look at the damages that could happen in the long run.

John Coviello

So... What's The Plan?

This situation is only temporary... 
I'm climbing up the mountain
COME WITH ME!

These tips that I'll be giving all come from experience and close mentoring.

I want those who follow my blog to know that if I can make it, they also can. I want to say that my readers are college juniors or seniors that really want to be a part of something big.

I am targeting young revolutionaries that want to make it BIG. Specifically, I am calling out to college students who are seeking for job opportunities and may be having a hard time having faith.

Here are some social media sites where I can engage with people:

• Twitter: I have opened a twitter page where I will post the most positive quotes on a daily basis. In addition, a series of opportunities that people should take into consideration. Follow me @MannyLokXo   

• Linked-in: Networking with the right people is always important. Join my page and you will find many job opportunities. Lets Connect!

• Facebook: Just like many others, I will have a Facebook page where I'll do similarities from my twitter page, only I will focus more on reaching people at a more personal level. 

My goal is to build relationships with people who might find themselves in stressful times in their lives. 

I will create conversations on how to make connections, how to give good first impressions, or even how approach professionals.

So many people just need a little push in order to go an extra mile. I want to give that little push. 

Social Media Plan for Starbucks.

Starbucks has a big brand presence online.

Starbucks are one of the most engaging companies online with over 705,000 followers on twitter and over 5.428,000 fans on Facebook.

Social Media Strategy match with their brand values , which are honesty , sincerity, and connection with its consumers.

Lets take a look at how they became one of the most engaging brands online and for what price ?

       Objectives: 

• Increase consumer awareness and consumer engagement. 
• Engage customers in the corporate decesion-making process via My Starbucks Idea Site. 
• Create a strong link between customers and employees . Indeed customers are able to decide what kind of arts , book and music will be included in the store. 
• Put a price tag on this kind of engagement , and connection with its consumers.

      Target audience : 

Starbucks' target audience is men and women aged 18 to 40. 

• Adult aged 25 to 40 , tend to be urbanites with relatively big income, professional careers. 
• Young adults , aged 18 to 24 . Starbucks positions as a place college students can hang out and meet people. This category of customers are familiar with Social Media tools.

Starbucks can find his target audience in working place and universities plus Social Media channels. 

    Issue and opportunities : 

Starbucks has an opportunity to stay in touch with the customers through their big presence on Social Media channels. 

The issue for starbucks is the cost of this popularity- the social media marketing budget. 

   The best social media tools for Starbucks: 

My Starbucks Idea site -An interactive place. 

         This site give users the opportunity to share their ideas related to starbucks. 

My starbucks idea blog: Blog written by starbucks employees dealing with what Starbucks is doing with the ideas posted by customers. 

Facbook : an interactive place with videos, blog posts and photos. 

         Starbucks inform their customers and invites fans to events. 

Twitter: Answering questions and re-tweeting what people saying about the brand. 

Youtube: videos dealing with the origins of different coffee blends and Starbuck's history. 

Strategy : Starbucks Social Media strategy is to get people more engaged with the brand and to build a brand equity . 

Tactics : Increase the number of followers by being everywhere on Social Media. 

Measurement : Through the number of followers on Facebook , twitter , blogs and the number of views on youtube. 

HoudaJabli 
http://keansocialmedia.blogspot.com 
@keansocialmedia

Greenpeace 1 - 0 Nestlé

Case 7 from our hand out deals with an alternative use of social media.
Most of the companies use theses tools to promote their goods and services and improve their visibility on the web, others use them for a different purpose: denouncing an issue !

Here is an example of Greenpeace who used Facebook and Youtube to denounce Nestlé's non-ecological practices.

Objectives:
- Use social media to denounce an ecological issue
- Have an impact on consumer's mind by creating a buzz
- Improve Nestlé's practices

Target audience:
Greenpeace targeted Nestlé's Facebook fan pages, which means more than 715 691 persons (2012 figures) and people using Youtube. Since 2010, more than 500 000 persons watched this video on Youtube.

Issues: "Nestlé's practices of using palm oil in areas that threatened rainforests and orangutang populations" (Greenpeace press release)

Opportunities: Nestlé is very famous around the world, so denouncing its practices was not so tough for Greenpeace because they knew the impact could be strong.
Using the Kitkat chocolate bar was also very smart from Greenpeace, because a lot of people consumes it and consequently the target audience could feel very concerned by this issue.

Strategy: Becoming a Nestlé's Facebook friend

Tactics: Creating a striking anti-Nestlé adversiting on Youtube and publish it on Nestlé's Facebook fan page.

Measurement : Greenpeace could measure the consequences of its campaign by looking at the number of viewers, the number and the contents of comments on Nestlé's fan page.

The best measurement of Greenpeace's impact is the fact that after this campaign, Nestlé decided to exclude companies from its supply chain that deal with risk plantations and deforestation.

Well done Greenpeace !

This case teaches two points:
1) Social media can be used for marketing and demarketing reasons
2) When you use a social media, you have to be very cautious ! Be prepared to deal with different point of views.

Charlotte Flomet

The Adventures of LittleAppleTree...

Last week was about my personal brand and the reasons of this curious name "LittleAppleTree".

Now is the time to talk about my social media plan ! 

Objectives:

- Share in real time my experience in America with my relatives

- Create a community of persons who like travelling and discovering foreign cultures

- Interact with people all around the world and share together our experience of travelling
- Give some tips to people who would like to travel to the United States     

Target audience:

- people who like travelling

More specifically :

- future exchange students in the US

- future travellers to the US 

Issues: Talking about my experience in the US could sound really boring so I'm going to do whatever I can to captivate my target audience.

Strategies: Be present anywhere !

• Facebook : LittleAppleTree in America, A part of my target audience will be students so I really need to be present on facebook (most used tool)
• Twitter : @CharlotteFlomet
• LinkedIn: Charlotte Flomet

These two last profiles don't deal yet with my personal brand.

Tactics: I want my followers to laugh or smile when they read my posts so that they want to come back on my personal page !

In order to achieve it, this is what I planned to do...

 

- use a conversational and funny tone

 

- create a discussion at least every two weeks, about a specific subject

Example: "Could you describe a traditional dish from the country where you travel and give us the recipe?"
The aim would be to interact with people from all around the world and discovering new cultures.

 

- experiment an American habbit at least every week.

Example: "This week I went to a traditional football game, and you, did you do something special ?" 

Measurement : Look at the number of followers and comments I have.

 

Charlotte Flomet

LittleAppleTree

 

Next step for (Im) Possible

Personal Social Media Plan for (Im)Possible :

"Nothing is impossible" : This is my motivation for everything I want to do and have already done. 

This sentense full of hope and possibilities that make your dreams a reality. 
Don't hesitate , just do it ! just believe that you can do it.... 


Objectives :

• Create an interactive community . 
• Create a big communication around (Im)Possible.
• Understand how members use social media and what members are saying about (Im)Possible. 
• Increase members base to create a strong network. 

Target Audience: 

• All the people who believe nothing is impossible. 
• All determined and hardworking people who want help people to never giving up. 
• To all the ages and generations around the world. 

The target audience for my brand hang out online on differents social media tools and forums including networking groups and associatives blogs .

A part of my audience who try to change the world are present in many activist blogs fighting for peace, freedom and parity.

The best social media tools I can use to promote my brand:

Facebook: Yes (Im) Possible Facebook page established.                                                               -Content types: Photographs, link to articles and members stories & advices.                                   -Purpose: Increase recognition , increase social engagement, establish online social network.

Twitter: via my personal profile.                                                                                              
-Content types: Link to articles and stories                                                                          
-Purpose: Increase recognition , increase engagement, establish network and brand name.  

Linkedin: via my personal profile . I am looking for people with the same interest to build a professional community.
 -Contente types: Discussions about job opportunities.
 -Purpose:Increase recognition , increase engagement, establish network and brand name .

Blog: Long term project is to create a blog , after I built a strong brand personality.
-Content types: Photographs, expert articles, members post.
-Purpose: Increase recognition , increase engagement and serchability.

The issue for (Im) Possible would be the most incredible stories that I can share with my audience.

Tactics I will use to start promoting my brand is to follow all my competitors.

Strategies I will use for my brand will be connecting a great number of people around the world. Also I would like to create a networking community for my professional career.

Measurement through the number of followers on Facebook page , Twitter , Linkedin and blog.

Call me crazy , call me a dreamer but I really believe that with enough work , determination , we can make our dreams a reality...

@houdajabli
http://keansocialmedia.blogspot.com
@keansocialmedia

Southwest Air Responds to Kevin Smith

Low-Cost Carrier Solves Issues through Twitter

Southwest Airlines have been known as the "low cost carrier with no frills" but in February 2010, Southwest had a huge issue with one of its flyers.
 

After being seated, director and actor Kevin Smith (Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob) was told that he would need to evacuate the full flight because he was a "safety risk" to other passengers, due to his weight.
 
Smith had previously bought two plane tickets when traveling Southwest to be comfortable but never expected to be humiliated and actually kicked off a flight. He immediately took to Twitter, with his 1.6 million followers, and his own personal blog to rant about Southwest.

Post on twitter: Dear @SouthwestAir - I know I'm fat, but was Captian Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?

Southwest immediately responded to Smith acknowleding the humiliating experience.

I've read the tweets all night from @thatkevinsmith - He'll be getting a call at home from our Customer Relations VP tonight.

Objective: Southwest is actively listening to their customers to cut complaints and keep current customers happy. They fully understanding that keeping existing customers is much cheaper than acquiring new ones. By keeping an active presence online through outlets such as Twitter, they are able to listen to complaints and react in real time.

Target Audience:

• Any existing customer who wants to be connected to Southwest via social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, or their blog.
• Their purpose for being connected could be to ask questions or complain about an issue.

Issues/Opportunities: The opportunity that Southwest has by being online is solving problems in real time rather than losing customers to unresolved issues.

Strategies: Since Southwest is known for their low-cost flights with no frills, its imperative that they have a presence online through Twitter to keep an open connection with their customers

Tactics: Shielding themselves from potential tragedy online is Southwest's tactic to keep their customers happy

Measurement: A great measurement for them is to see how many issues have been resolved and how many of those customers continue to fly with Southwest

In this particular case with Southwest, they went above and beyond to make sure they made this situation better. They not only placed Smith on a later flight at no cost but also gave him a $100 voucher when he landed.

Also, due to the overwhelming outrage on Twitter, they went as far as posting a personal apology to Kevin Smith on their personal blog. All of this could not be possible if they did not have the real time connection to their customers.

Lesson Learned: Monitoring and managing online presence is a crucial ingredient for excellent customer service!

Stefy x0x
@stefyyleon