Everything Social

The wait is finally over.. Chipotle has released their queso! It took so long for Chipotle to come out with this because most restaurants queso have flavor enhancing additives and preservatives, and that goes against Chipotle's core values. Chipotle is known for having fresh ingredients, so it took a while for them to perfect the recipe. If you haven't tried it yet, you might want to ask someone before wasting your money. Everyone I've asked or heard from hasn't had anything good to say. This morning I saw an Instagram sponsored post for a Chipotle "Queso Cup Social Media" Contest. It's a week long contest Monday through Friday completely through Instagram and the winner gets a year of free queso. This is a good way for Chipotle to market the new product and get customers involved, but it's not getting very good feedback. "Please improve your recipe!" "It tastes like the instant mac n cheese powder that was mixed with wat...

Like we learned in class, companies in the consumer packaged goods industry don't spend a whole lot of advertising money because they rely on retailers to do that work. Retailers and CPG companies have started to take advantage of a cheap alternative of advertising by using Facebook videos to market directly to consumers. I'm sure you've seen all the Tasty videos on Facebook showing a birds eye view of how to make a recipe. These videos are visually appealing, is usually less than a minute long, and grab people's attention so they'll tag their friends and make the recipe themselves. The old way that brands would market their products was somewhat of the same idea. On their packages they would include recipes you could use that specific product to make, but now brands have hopped on this trend to market their own products through videos. Brands like Pillsbury create their own short video on how to make something, while marketing their biscuits, and other produc...

Most people have a little bit of an idea of what bloggers do and what they're used for.. businesses use blogs to connect with customers, while there are also some bloggers who use it as a hobby. There are a variety of bloggers such as lifestyle, fitness, sports, fashion etc. Fashion bloggers have had a HUGE influence on women, especially in their 20's. They have their own blog pages, as well as Instagram pages to get additional exposure.  These fashion bloggers are used as a way for stores to market to people. For women, there are bloggers who post on their Instagram and tag "@liketoknow.it". This is an app that allows you to "shop your screenshots" where you screenshot a bloggers picture and upload it to find out where they got their outfit from. Liketoknow.it pulls up every item in the picture, down to the nail polish color. People are able to see what store/ brand each item is, its price, and a direct link to the website.  This makes it so muc...

Instagram has changed the way stores bring in traffic today. Both online stores and local retail stores are taking advantage of a new tactic using "influencers". Girls, say you're scrolling on your Instagram feed or popular page and see a cute outfit.. the first thing that comes to my mind is "where did they get that?!" This is where the influencers come into play. They are given a discount for clothes with the agreement that they'll tag the store they got their outfit from. This increases interest and directs traffic directly to the stores Instagram page. So many stores in Athens are using this and I am definitely on board with it. For these stores in Athens, its a cheap way to expose customers to new clothes, jewelry, and shoes, as well as reaching their target market of college students.