There is still a lot of confusion in the use of social media in the food industry; why do we need to do it? I have a number of clients who use our social media management services on subscription and we frequently update on the impact they are getting – the re-tweets and increase in followers – it is all for the sake of brand building – “don’t expect direct sales”, I always say. Producers are keeping their customers updated on a basic level but there is a lot more that they could be doing. It has done wonders for the small guys though – a simple way to communicate and create hype.
Innocent have been brilliant in their use of social media, which is not surprisingly really, they are bloody brilliant at… everything! Their brand really captures the style and aspirations of our generation. Simple, Healthy, Convenience, Adventurous, Innocent have really set the tone for a lot of new food products to come. They are a huge company, but appear small, and we love them for it. Before them, food brands were dominated by the big guys only, and the idea of a boutique food business with named founders was very new. Now, ten years on, its incredible what they have achieved and they really set the tone for the next generation of food producers. They made working in food products cool, and began the trend for caring about the food brands that we consume. It’s not just a smoothie that we want, it’s an Innocent smoothie.
This week, Innocent are offering shoppers discount when they tweet about their brand. Its a 4 week campaign called Tweet and Eat. if you use the hash tag #tweetandeat you get sent vouchers for discounts. The more tweets they generate as a whole, the bigger the discount gets and at some point it will be that you can get it for free (although naturally there will be limits per person). This is a brilliant campaign – in its first five days it generated 2,500 tweets while the tweet and eat page on their website received 20,000 hits! I reckon a lot of brands will follow suit in a campaign similar to this. It really is genius.
As a huge fan of Innocent’s brand, I plan to interview the founders in a follow-up blog, so watch this space!
Bonnie Bites 