Tyler Florence - Macy's Culinary Council

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing yet another way businesses are using social media to improve their relationships with the public. As an intern at Everywhere in Atlanta, Ga, I was in charge of blogger outreach for Macy’s Culinary Council. The featured chef was Food Network Star, Tyler Florence. In addition to this event being a "Foodies" dream, I had some "meet and greet" time with Tyler.

During the "meet and greet" Tyler asked everyone about their blog and some of their likes and dislikes of social media. It was great to see that Tyler understood the power of bloggers and social media. Some of the bloggers asked what blogs does Tyler follow. He said he likes to read Yelp in order to understand what people think about his restaurant and to gain insight into their dining experience. Before restaurant service, he lines up his team and reads off the customer comments. After reading all the posts, he then point out the places where everyone, himself included, could improve. I thought was pretty powerful because it creates a better brand and shows the importance of feedback, regardless if it is positive or negative. So next time someone tells me how social media is a waste of time, I will gladly share this story.

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@TylerFlorence
@CulinaryCouncil
@BeEverywhere
@Yelp

What Really Grinds My Gears: Social Media Edition

I’ve had so much to say and no time to post!  I promised a fellow PRSA colleague that I would write this,  so here it is.  If you are a Family Guy fan you know exactly where this is heading.   So what grinds my gears?   People/organizations who leap on to social networking sites and then complain social media is a waste of time and/or doesn’t work.  Whether it makes sense or not, virtually every organization has a Facebook page or a Twitter.  While I commend organizations for no longer wanting to be tardy for the social media party, it's pointless just to show up.

Someone please share with me, are there any professions that allow you to waste the budget by  "winging"something?  Sure there are few instances where hunches lead to million dollar plans but most likely, a deep understanding of demographics and trends are an essential component to success. Just like a lawyer would not go to trial without a plan. NO ONE should start a Twitter initiative without a strategy or a plan.  I recently attended OMMA Social and listened to Joseph Jaffe author of Flip the Funnel speak about how so many of us get social media wrong!  In his presentation he had a woman talking to a shoe.   Ridiculous right?  That picture represented an organization shamelessly bombarding the consumer with a message and NOT partaking in two-way communication.

So for those of you still confused about this social media "thing," I will break it down for you.


Social media is like something shiny - It looks cool in the sun but it is NOT that special

• Yes, I said something very taboo.
• Yes, I know you don't have control over what is said about your organization.
• Yes, I know random teens can create fan pages for products that are bigger than the official one you created.  

Get over that! Focus on what you can do.

• Who is your audience? 
•  What do they want from you?  Give it to them!
• Look at the competition but don't be quick yo copy.  (They may be missing the mark as well)
• Keep at it!  Do not jump into my network and fade away.  Think of social media as dating the consumer.  No one likes a flake.  
• Lastly, many "old media" rules still apply.  Just like you research target media, what your audience likes to talk about, and anything. 

Please share any additional thoughts!  

Social Media: Double Edged Sword or Lifesaver?

Yes, I know what your thinking, not another blog post about the BP oil spill.  I promise not to be redundant or go on a rant.  Like many people around the globe, I've experienced a surge of emotions  in regards to the spill.  Some people have critiqued BP's social media response while others have praised it.  Whatever your opinion, you have to agree this disaster spread further than the ocean.  It traveled into our inboxes, RSS feeds, trending topics, Twitter, just to name a few.  I'm simply thinking about the BP disaster from a social media stand point.  Social media arguably was an accelerant in spreading both the news of the oil spill and capturing public outrage.  While things look grim for the oil giant, within the turmoil there is an opportunity for BP to listen to their audience and engage them positively.  


Here's Some Info:

On April 22nd there was an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico causing the biggest oil spill in recorded history.  A recent USA Today report shared that an investigative report uncovered that BP officials decided to take a riskier route in order to save time and money.  

Popular Responses via Social Media:
Unfortunately, there are currently more fans on the unofficial BP Facebook Fanpage that the official one. There are also a lot of BP parody names on Twitter.  This is every organization's nightmare.  Social media can be scary because it is unpredictable.  Unlike previous BP spills, the whole word seems to be passing along a live account of EVERYTHING BP is doing and has done. Thanks to tools like YouTube there is coverage of the spill and the aftermath .  These images are embedded on YouTube pages which people can share to their network through e-mail, a personal blog, a Facebook page and any other social media sites.  

Opportunity: The Silver Lining
Within the gooey mess of oil in the Gulf there is a opportunity for BP to clean up the mess both literally and socially.  Thanks to a recent partnership with CNN and science buff, Bill Nye The Science Guy, people are sharing and creating videos on how to clean up the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  Social media promotes two-way communication so BP needs to go into overdrive and use it.  A tactic like this could get the public to channel their outrage into helping BP solve this mess.  This could not only increase the likelihood of a solution it could show gas consumers everywhere that BP does care about fixing the predicament in the Gulf of Mexico.  



Adrienne S.

***View my upcoming article on BP in the June Issue of the  International Society of Business, Economics, and Ethics  (ISBEE) Newsletter!***