Many restaurants are using social media to enhance an age-old marketing technique: Making customers and their experiences the face of their brand.

Let’s YO Yogurt, which launched its first franchise location in Marlboro, N.J., and has about 30 more units sold and preparing to open in New Jersey, New York and Florida, is using social media as a main driver to grow the business. Owner Eric Casaburi, who also founded the RetroFitness franchise, said social media is the best way for a brand to truly connect with customers.  The Let’s YO logo is in the form of a text message, while a 48-foot billboard in Monmouth County, N.J., reads, “Like Us on Facebook,” and “Make ur own ;-)”

“You know that smiley face, you’ve typed it a thousand times. I’ve now connected with you on a social level,” Casaburi said. “I feel I have to make sure people have the most creative way to hear about our brand. In today’s world, the most creative way to talk about branding and getting your customers engaged … is social media.”

Continue reading . . .

When people are trying to decide where to go for a meal, coffee or drinks, increasingly they are likely to base their decisions on what they find on Facebook, in an email or text blast, at a website, or from a photo on Flickr.

As social media permeate the business world, restaurants in Springfield continue to use no- or low-cost online networks as vehicles for promotion, in many cases outpacing the use of conventional marketing. This trend benefits customers in many ways, giving them more information, access, and, to a certain extent, power.

Owners and marketers of two Springfield start-ups (Brown Egg and Boca Mocha) and two established venues (Gem of India and Parlor 88) shared social media strategies based on budget and stage of development. Everyone emphasized the imperative of using free social media to promote their businesses, engage customers and control costs.

Continue reading . . .

It used to be that a restaurant would serve a grand opening feast to show off its menu to newspaper and TV reporters. The mayor might even get an invite to cut a ribbon off the front door.

But the VIP’s this night at the Anthony’s on McMullen Booth Road were bloggers and influential Twitter scribes who, with a single post, could reach tens of thousands of followers reading along about the meal on their laptops, iPads and smartphones.

Increasingly, restaurants and other food businesses are schmoozing with the social media elite to spread the word as part of their marketing strategies. For operators with small budgets, harnessing the electronic word of mouth at “tweetups” (a Twitter hybrid of tweeting and meet-up) is a less-expensive way to reach the masses than traditional advertising and marketing.

Continue reading . . .

Expion, a social media management company, has been working for over a year with three of the ten largest Applebee’s franchisees, managing and monitoring hundreds of local restaurant Facebook pages. From Expion’s one social media management system (SMMS), The Rose Group, Apple American Group LLC and Apple Gold Group are able to analyze, publish, govern and share postings in real time across their many locations, allowing them to take advantage of true local advocacy and community interest.

“When companies localize social media efforts, they see an increase in consumer engagement of nearly 10 to 50 times,” said Peter Heffring, CEO, Expion. “Expion’s SMMS platform is the perfect solution for franchisees like Applebee’s with numerous locations and busy restaurant managers, allowing them to create localized customer engagement quickly and efficiently.”

In addition to the many local store locations, Expion is currently being used by Applebee’s corporate to manage and monitor its corporate brand page and all of its 243 company-owned restaurants. “With Expion’s SMMS, we’re engaging guests where they live and work, generating increased brand awareness in their neighborhoods,” said Scott Gulbransen, director of social media & digital content, Applebee’s Services, Inc. “We’re also better able to collaborate on new initiatives, promotions and menu items, strengthening the connection between corporate and our franchisees.”

Franchise partner Elizabeth McGee, CFO for The Apple Gold Group which currently owns 86 Applebee’s restaurants, wanted a one-stop solution that would allow all of her restaurants to have their own pages on Facebook, while aligning with company parameters to protect the online brand. “We knew that we wanted all of our individual restaurants to have their own local pages, rather than one corporate Apple Gold page, but we also knew that we couldn’t handle managing that many separate pages,” said McGee. McGee also wanted an easy-to-use system that could be done with current staff, requiring very little effort from busy local restaurant managers. “My goal was a system that required less than ten minutes of my local managers’ time,” she said. “Expion’s scheduling, alerts and pre-packaged content make it incredibly fast and easy to update and monitor our pages.”

Using Expion’s SMMS, The Apple Gold Group’s restaurants have also become much more responsive to customer service issues. Using Expion’s built-in control and notification features, managers are able to get social media update emails as comments are made, photos are posted and links are shared. Responses that might previously have taken days are now done within minutes, allowing The Apple Gold Group to appropriately address guest experiences.

“Without Expion, we would never have become this involved in Facebook,” said McGee. “Expion has allowed us to fully support our restaurants having a local presence to interact at the community level with our guests.”

The Rose Group is an Applebee’s franchisee with 59 restaurants throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. Cathi Chuck, director of marketing, needed to find a way to incorporate all of the local restaurant Facebook pages under one umbrella. “As we developed these local pages, we knew there was no feasible way to monitor all of them manually,” explained Chuck. The Rose Group turned to Expion to help manage their social media needs, testing the SMMS platform in five locations in 2010 and eventually rolling out the system to all of its locations in 2011.

Expion worked with The Rose Group to add specific features to the SMMS platform, including a spell-check function that’s saved managers’ time and potential embarrassment. The content library, which includes a catalog of approved posts, provides staff with fresh topics and ideas for posts, and the post scheduler enables staff to plan posts in advance.

Apple American Group, the largest of the Applebee’s franchisees, has 270 restaurants in 11 states, with the Expion platform currently in use at 170 of those locations. For marketing partner Diann Banaszek, Expion helped alleviate fears over allowing that many restaurants to have unique pages. “The thought of hundreds of locations all managing their own Facebook accounts is one that certainly kept me up at night,” said Banaszek. “With Expion, it’s a win-win situation — we retain control over messaging and content while reaping the benefits of engaging customers at the local, community level.”

According to Banaszek, Expion has allowed Apple American’s managers and operators to fully embrace Facebook as a marketing and customer service tool. “Our operators really took to the Expion platform, and were incredibly pleased with how easy it is to use and how responsive Expion’s customer service team is,” she said.

Expion is currently managing over 2500 Facebook pages, both at the brand and local level, for a variety of clients in restaurant, retail and other industries. For more information about Expion’s SMMS platform or to schedule a demo, please visit http://expion.com.

Dennis Maloney, vice president multimedia marketing at Domino’s, told the ANA social media conference in New York about how the pizza chain reinvented itself. 

Maloney said that while the fix included fixing the crust, sauce and cheese, the company had to alter — fundamentally — how it presented itself to the public. In short, it had to integrate with social media; the company based its reinvention on transparency.

The PR was great, including one mention by Stephen Colbert, where he tries the new pizza and says: “Is that pizza or did an angel just give birth in my mouth?”

Continue reading . . .

Call it a symptom of the new dining culture in Toronto, where a little bit of hype goes a long way. Restaurants once had the luxury of opening quietly and working out the kinks, but with an online cottage industry of restaurant news and previews gaining more and more traction, spots with any modicum of buzz are typically overrun within the first few days.

Where restaurants once had to wait for the first major review to come out before picking up steam, the popularization of social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, and Foursquare, along with amateur forums like Chowhound and Urbanspoon, have provided plenty of outlets for average diners to lodge criticism instantly, often as early as opening night.

Continue reading . . .

Tweeting about eating may seem like Internet noise to some, but the folks at Louisville-based Yum! Brands’ KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, as well as Papa John’s International, increasingly are talking back.

Reading and reacting to the daily blizzard of tweets, Facebook posts and other social media traffic has increasingly become an integral part of the restaurant industry.

All have staff who read and respond to what people say about the brands online. Most post specials and coupons, too, like the regular Facebook promotions local pizza chain BoomBozz offers to Facebook fans. Just as important, companies say, is to act or talk back to what consumers are saying about their brands.

Continue reading . . .

by Mark Smith

Technology has changed the way people communicate with each other. These advances have made the world a smaller place. Information in every form can be held right in your pocket and social media services are on the front line of this massive information push.

According to Packaged Facts, a leading market research publisher, 31% of frequent diners use computers to place their orders, while another 21% use their cellphones or other portable device.

But many restaurants today are still left sitting at the cutting board trying to figure out a successful recipe for social marketing, while the early adopters are reaping the rewards of a lucrative, successful social media push. It can be the icing on the cake if it is handled correctly, and it can leave a bad taste in your mouth if your social media recipe lacks the flavor it needs to spread like a nice cream cheese.

People are hungry and they are hungry for much more than food. They want to feel connected and social media allows them to feel as if they are a part of the whole restaurant family. It makes things much more personal and it does it faster than instant coffee.

Giving people what they want is just the first step to a successful social marketing recipe. The days of newspaper ads and restaurants sponsoring local sports teams as a means to advertise their name and brand are slowly crumbling and becoming stale. Keeping things fresh and spicy are a key ingredient.

Social Media Services

There are many popular social media services available today, and they each offer a different kind of customer base. Many restaurants fail to see this. Free services like Twitter and Facebook don’t simply reside on a personal computer at home, they also have apps that can be used on smart phones, allowing real time communication between friends and family members who can, and will be customers, but only if the restaurant has a social media presence.

Facebook users are typically more engaged in everything that they do. They are also always on the go and they like to tell their friends and family where they  are and what they are doing, and that includes dining out.

Users can “check-in” with their mobiles phones and all of their friends and family are instantly aware of their location. One customer can quickly grow into several instantly and that is just the appetizer.  The full course comes when a user tells all of his friends and family just how good the service and food was.

Facebook users are foodies and it only makes sense for restaurants to be serving up hot fresh content to hungry Facebook users, but none of this can happen if the restaurant chooses to deny this great source of potential.

Twitter offers the same benefits to people and restaurants that choose to use it, but Twitter is even more popular amongst Asian, Hispanic and African American cultures.

On Twitter, conversations happen quickly and they can spread like a media wild fire. If the topic of conversation happens to be the current meal, then others will be wanting to take part in the conversation and the meal. Good news travels fast and in the social media world it is instant.

Using social media to grow a restaurants customer base

Traditional advertising methods still work in the social media world, they are just applied a little differently. It is about creating a connection with the customer, and this can be done in several ways.

For example, Scottsdale restaurant owner Dean Slover hired a social media manager to implement a Twitter and Facebook campaign to build buzz about his soon to open RnR Restaurant and Bar.  The campaign was a success, and now Slover has over 3,800 Facebook fans and 640 followers on Twitter that he connects with to announce wine tastings, breakfast specials and menu announcements.

Discounts are the most common method of creating brand name and getting a potential social foodie into the door. Many successful social media campaigns will send out frequent discounts to special events, as well as current food specials. Hungry Facebook and Twitter users are notified instantly and in the restaurant industry that is extremely powerful. If these updates can be scheduled at the right times, they can catch people while they’re hungry and this can greatly influence their dining destination.

Some restaurants have learned that they can grow their Facebook base, and their marketing base, by offering freebies.  Del Taco, for example, has offered free shrimp taco and Big Fat Crispy Chicken Taco coupons to those on Facebook who ‘like’ them.  From that point on, the Facebook fan will be notified when Del Taco updates their information or offers a promotion.  Further, the Facebook fan’s friends will also likely be made aware of the connection.  Currently, over 215,600 people like Del Taco’s Facebook page.

Social media is much more than a simple discount

Discounts are just the tip of the iceberg. Social media is a free doorway to not only market food and special events, but to also ask customers directly what it is that they do or do not like.

In the Summer of 2010, Pizza Hut did just that. Using Facebook, Pizza Hut asked its customers to vote on whether or not they should keep their $10 Any Pizza deal. An amazing 98% of the people said yes. That is one example of the power of social media being used in the restaurant industry. Give hungry people what they want and they will be happy to gorge themselves on the offerings.

Other restaurants have been making things a bit more personal by giving chefs the social media spotlight. Chefs can talk freely about themselves and what inspires them to create such magnificent food. They can even go into extreme details of how the food is prepared and how it is cooked. This particular example is pre-selling at its best. By describing the way the food is created, the chef has just made that reader hungry for more and given them a direct invitation to join them for dinner. This simple yet effective social marketing technique can quickly spread and fill a restaurant.

This has been a huge success. It puts things on a much more personal level. Relationships are grown and the chef is now a friend that has the power to persuade hungry people to come in and have a bite to  eat. Ideas like this make it beneficial for social media users to follow a restaurant’s social media campaign. It makes them want to be a part of it and it creates long lasting relationships.

Social media for disaster recovery

Taco Bell recently put the power of social media to work for them during the short-lived lawsuit over the quality of their beef.  As news of the lawsuit began to gain traction, Taco Bell effectively used Facebook to give their side of the story, thank their fans and customers for supporting them and offer up a coupon for a free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco.

Problems happen in every line of business and they happen more frequently for restaurants. Social media can be used to stop potential problems quickly and effectively, but it must be handled correctly. This is where getting personal can make things much worse. Emotional responses not only look bad, but they can turn away customers faster than a rotten egg.

If the restaurant is at fault, then there is no harm in admitting it, in fact this is exactly what should be done. People make mistakes and do stupid things, but when those things create a negative online buzz, a restaurant can live or die by the keyboard.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House learned this earlier in the year when a manager made a racist comment in response to an email reservation.  The email was accidentally forwarded back to the customer, and Ruth’s suddenly found itself in the midst of an online firestorm which included a Facebook boycott page.  Ruth’s responded quickly and appropriately, terminating the manager and releasing a statement addressing the problem. 

Serving up social media connections a smart move

While many restaurants today are leveraging the huge benefits that social media brings to the table, there are still  many who are not.  The National Restaurant Association reports that eight out of ten restaurant operators believe that social media will continue to develop as an important marketing tool. 

According to C.W. Craig Reed, Convention Chair for the Association’s 2011 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, “Social media savvy consumers dine out more often and show a higher level of engagement in the restaurant community than other consumers, so building a strong social media marketing strategy is a smart move for restaurateurs.”

When Dean Slover and his business partners were preparing to open RnR Restaurant and Bar, they debated over whether to hire someone to manage the business’ social-media aspect.

Nearly 14 months after the doors opened last March, the continued buzz and steady stream of patrons let Slover know the investment is paying off for his Scottsdale restaurant.

RnR has more than 600 Twitter followers and more than 3,700 fans on its Facebook page. Slover uses the page to post passwords that inform followers of specials, which has helped increase the restaurant’s visibility as customers share these deals with friends.

Continue reading . . .

Operators are smart to embrace the concepts of Twitter and Facebook and most – 8 out of 10, according to the National Restaurant Association– expect to do so this year. But many chains continue to outsource this work rather than hire a social media expert in-house.

A survey done in late November by MustHaveMenus, a provider of restaurant menu templates, polled 1,300 operators and found that while almost half of restaurants invest in social media, only 12 percent actually hire someone specifically to manage their social media presence.

While large chains such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Dunkin’ Donuts are able to put a solid social team into place, it’s a fairly recent trend. The Golden Arches didn’t dedicate a department to social media efforts until early 2010.

Continue reading . . .

On December 11, Genghis Grill marked the beginning of the first ever social media-driven music tour, Genghis Live. Local band Don’t Wake Aislin and local artist Bernadette “Dette” Buentipo battled their talents to see who could get the most Twitter Tweets and Facebook Posts for the tour. The winner that won $500 and had the most social media buzz was Don’t Wake Aislin, with about 75 Facebook Posts and Twitter Tweets, with Dette Buentipo having 53 Facebook Posts and Twitter Tweets. Genghis Grill’s Fan Page and Twitter Page gained about 300 followers Saturday afternoon.

“I think this is a very cool idea and It’s great to reach out to fans through a different platform, and we’re really excited to be a part of Genghis Live,” said Brandon Brown, guitarist for Don’t Wake Aislin.

The first stop was in Dallas, TX at the Genghis Grill in the Uptown area off Lemmon Ave. where they also donated 15% of the event’s sales to the North Texas Food Bank, making sure that those in need during the holiday season will have a meal to enjoy.

Three more stops for the Genghis Live tour will be held in Houston, Atlanta and the final stop, Austin, TX, which will be held during the legendary South By Southwest Tour. Bands that will be performing in these markets will be announced on GenghisGrillTV.com.

GenghisGrillTV.com was created by Genghis Grill to provide another avenue for their loyal fans to socially interact. At GenghisGrillTV.com fans can upload photos, videos and submit their stories that relate to the Genghis Grill experience.

Genghis Grill, the largest Mongolian Grill in the US, is well-known for its fresh, hot and healthy food, and for its style of fun service. It offers a Heart Healthy dining option along with an array of recipes to choose from KHAN’S KITCHEN (food bar) where one can “build your own bowl” from 14 proteins, 12 seasonings, 30 veggies, 15 sauces, and 6 starches.

Today, Genghis Grill is a segment leader when it comes to Mongolian Barbecue, with 55 units in 16 states. Genghis Grill has been ranked #2 on the Fast Casual Top 100 Movers and Shakers and ranked #6 on the Future 50 list by Restaurant Business magazine.

For more information on www.GenghisGrillTV.com, Genghis Live and tour dates, please contact Chiara Granado at chiara@genghisgrill.com or call 214-774-4240×233.

For more information on band, Don’t Wake Aislin, and artist, Dette Buentipo, visit http://www.facebook.com/dontwakeaislin and http://www.facebook.com/dettebuentipo.

Social media certainly has its benefits for those who love dining and drinking. From free drinks for Foursquare checkins, to Twitter notifications about happy hours, to Facebook messages about free food, there’s always something tasty happening online.

But the social web offers a lot more than just discounts and deals when it comes to drinking and dining. Restaurants and bars are giving social media users a backstage pass to the food and the people who make it. Chefs and restaurateurs are using social media to reveal how their dishes are made, generate familiarity with chefs and provide a means for diners to share feedback.

While customers go to lower end restaurants looking for value and discounts, higher-end restaurants think that “discounts cheapen the experience,” says Tom O’Keefe, a Boston-based restaurant tweeter and social media-focused marketer.

Continue reading . . .

UFood Restaurant Group, Inc. (OTCBB: UFFC) announced today that it is expanding its social media efforts and online presence to better engage with UFood Grill consumers and shareholders through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media applications. Additionally, the Company will pursue opportunities for expansion on military bases and to the military community.

UFood Grill retained The Castle Group (www.thecastlegrp.com), an agency with a unique blend of restaurant, social media and military experience, to develop closer relationships with consumers and the investor public by engaging with customers, creating and sharing content, and building a dialogue around healthy lifestyles and nutrition. 

In addition to expanding the Company’s social media efforts, The Castle Group will also oversee the introduction of potential franchise and company-owned retail locations at military installations across the U.S. 

“Social media has become the dominant vehicle for businesses and consumers to communicate and we want to evolve with it,” said Charlie Cocotas, COO of UFood Grill. “UFood Grill wants to extend its shareholder communications and customer service beyond our retail locations. UFood Grill has a great story to tell and The Castle Group will dramatically improve our exposure and reach additional shareholders and consumers for better communication and interest in our brand. Additionally, we believe that our better-for-you fast casual concept is a natural complement to the fitness-focused military lifestyle, and we are excited about the potential to grow in that area.”

A recent survey by MustHaveMenus a provider of restaurant menu templates, revealed that nearly half of the 1,300 restaurant owners, managers and caterers that were polled, do not use social media to attract customers to their eateries. While social media usage among restaurateurs is growing, a large percentage of eating establishments are social media holdouts.

Here are some of the key findings from the study:

• 42% of restaurant owners and managers invest in social media efforts (including blog participation, and managing their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
• 12% of restaurants and caterers hire someone to manage their social media presence.
• 23% of respondents do not believe that they need to use social media as a marketing tool.
• 23% of respondents believe that they don’t have time to devote to social media, along with all their other restaurant management duties.

Continue reading . . .

Recently, Montrealer John Hartupee and his girlfriend headed to New York City for a foodie week-end.

“Burger King in the airport waiting for my flight to NYC. I’ll consider this my amuse-bouche for Eleven Madison Park!” he tweeted.

When he got to Eleven Madison Park (has four stars from the New York Times), they sent out extra amuse bouches under silver domes. Each had mini lamb burgers on them. “We hope these are better than the one you had at the airport,” the server smiled. Is it stalking?

Nope. It’s what Twitter-happy restaurateurs would call personalized service. If your birth date is on Facebook, don’t be alarmed if a hostess wishes you a Happy Birthday! On the other hand, if you forgot the name of the wine you liked at a restaurant, well, tweet and ask.

Continue reading . . .

Twitter, people keep telling me, has become a vitally important tool for restaurants to keep in touch with their fans, their friends and their regulars. I follow maybe 50 different local restaurants on Twitter. 50 or 60, plus some of the bigger out-of-state operations, a few from back in Denver, and a couple chefs who have feeds of their own. I check in not religiously, but probably four or five times a week, looking specifically for restaurant news, interesting happenings, updates and what-have-you. I would maybe check a little bit more often, except for one thing.

No restaurant ever has anything interesting to say on Twitter.

Or almost never, anyway.

Until now.

Continue reading . . .

Whether you’re feeling happy, daring, funny or sunny, the iconic, retro cool Mr. Men and Little Miss characters from the 70s have a way of capturing your mood.  Arby’s is bringing these lovable characters, including Mr. Happy and Little Miss Sunshine, into the digital age with a brand new web application. Visitors to Arby’s Facebook page will be able to choose a character and find out which Arby’s Value Menu items best suit their moods.  

Here’s how the Mr. Men app works:

• Access the Arby’s Mr. Men application free at facebook.com/arbys
• Click on any of the following options:
  • See The Mood Of The Web — Find out what people across the Internet are feeling at that exact moment. The proprietary code scans blog comments for up-to-the-minute sentiment or “mood”
  • Share Your Mood – Pick a Mr. Men or Little Miss character that matches your mood and then share with friends via email, Facebook and Twitter
  • Find the Value Menu Item that Best Suits Your Mood — Pick a Mr. Men or Little Miss character that matches your mood and find out which Arby’s Value Menu items suit you best

The Mr. Men app is a social media application that was created by the Innovations group at Initiative, a media and marketing agency that works with Arby’s.

“We’re very excited to bring these nostalgic and lovable characters to Arby’s fans through digital channels as well as in-store,” said Kristina Jonathan, VP of Digital & Social Media, Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc.

With the introduction of this app, Arby’s continues to expand its social media presence.  In July 2010, Arby’s launched its first social media application called Arby’s Juniorize. This app enables people to interact with Arby’s icon, Arby’s Junior, have him send preset or customized audio/video messages and morph themselves or friends into their own version of Arby’s Junior, 10-gallon hat and all.

Arby’s Value Menu, which launched earlier this year, offers many of Arby’s signature items, including oven-roasted, freshly sliced Roast Beef sandwiches, Curly Fries and Jamocha Shakes, for prices starting at just $1.

To get the Mr. Men app, visit http://www.facebook.com/arbys.  Make sure to follow @Arbys on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Arbys.

If you’re going out for dinner, you might want to check your computer or mobile device before you leave to see what the specials are for your favorite restaurant.

Restaurants have been taking advantage of the various social media to showcase their menus. It is not enough just to have good food to survive in today’s economy and local restaurants are engaging with their customers to not only make sure they give them a try, but to guarantee they are repeat customers. By using the different tools that are available to them, they are able to make connections with the people who visit.

“The initial fear,” said Steve Haweeli, president of Word Hampton Public Relations, “was that customers would post about a bad experience. Owners quickly realized that you have a chance to make good in public. You see how things work. It is a great opportunity for customer service best practices.”

Continue reading . . .

When Carmel Ruggeri opened the doors of her new Sydney restaurant yesterday, the Twittersphere almost certainly lit up. After all, almost unbelievably, the restaurateur has built her entire business on the back of it.

From wine suppliers to website designers, photographers, and even tweets from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, Ruggeri has built the business in 140-character instalments.

“It’s quite funny when I really start to think about it how many people I’ve found on here,” she says, referring to suppliers, supporters and followers who have already booked for tables via Twitter. “It’s mind-boggling. I don’t think people realise the true power of Twitter.”

Continue reading . . .

Pizza Hut's Big Italy Pizza

Pizza lovers who believe bigger is better will say bravissimo! to the launch of Pizza Hut’s new Big Italy Pizza – which measures nearly 2 feet long and is bigger than two medium Pizza Hut pizzas. To kick off the launch of the Big Italy Pizza in a big way, Pizza Hut is giving away 1,000 $15 Pizza Hut gift cards to Pizza Hut’s loyal Facebook fans (Facebook.com/PizzaHut) with the Big Italy Pizza Big Giveaway.

“The launch of the Big Italy Pizza calls for a big celebration,” said Brian Niccol, Chief Marketing Officer at Pizza Hut. “That’s why we’re giving away 1,000 pizzas to our loyal Facebook family. When it comes to feeding a hungry crowd, it doesn’t get better – or bigger – than our new Big Italy Pizza.”

The Big Italy Pizza features Italian spices baked into Pizza Hut’s signature Hand-Tossed Style crust – a delicious base for any pizza fan’s favorite toppings from Pizza Hut. The oval-shaped pizza has 18 slices – enough for the whole family – and is just $12 for up to three toppings. The Big Italy Pizza is a limited time offer.

What’s Cooking in the Social Media Kitchen

Pizza Hut fans who are hungry for more information about what’s going on Under the Roof at Pizza Hut now have one place to go for all of the latest news, http://social.PizzaHut.com. For the first time ever, Pizza Hut will provide fans, followers and friends with the latest and greatest from Pizza Hut social media in one place. The hub will host all updates, photo sharing and deals for Pizza Hut fans. With the launch of Under the Roof, social-savvy Pizza Hut aficionados will never miss out on an exclusive mayorship deal or a first peek at news.  

How to Enter the Big Italy Pizza Big Giveaway

Pizza lovers can enter the Big Italy Pizza Big Giveaway by visiting Facebook.com/PizzaHut, becoming a fan of Pizza Hut and submitting to become an instant winner on the Win Big Italy tab. Fans can enter one time per day and winners will be notified instantly. The giveaway runs Sept. 7-16, 2010. Official rules are available on the Win Big Italy tab at Facebook.com/PizzaHut.

Big Italy Pizza Big Giveaway Prize

1,000 pizza fans will win free Big Italy pizzas (in the form of a $15 Pizza Hut gift cards). 100 gift cards will be given away each day from Sept. 7-16, 2010.

For more information on Pizza Hut, visit PizzaHut.com or interact with Pizza Hut at social.PizzaHut.com.

A colleague of mine who raves about Ottawa’s Play Food and Wine recently tweeted to her followers that she was looking forward to her Friday night dinner reservation. Much to her surprise, just minutes after settling in, a restaurant manager she had never met came to the table to thank her for always tweeting such kind words about the popular spot.

She was delighted.

Over the past year the marketing world has seen some incredible PR campaigns strategically harness the power of social media – it is an important tool that can be used by businesses big and small.

Well-known Ottawa restaurateur Stephen Beckta opened Play in January, 2009. Grayson McDiarmid, Play’s wine director and service manager, decided it would be fun to sign-up for Facebook and Twitter about 10 months ago. At the time of this column, Play had almost 500 Twitter followers and about 665 Facebook fans.

Continue reading . . .

Tony Crolla has won plaudits and prizes for the quality of his log fired pizzeria, La Favorita and for the Italian cuisine on offer Vittoria on Leith Walk and Vittoria on the  Bridge.

Now he is ensuring the dining experience extends well beyond the three venues by become the first Italian restaurants to interact with customers on their favourite online venues.

Tony has launched both Twitter and Facebook pages for La Favorita and Vittoria, giving his customers the chance to keep up to date with the latest restaurant news, events and offers.

The social media sites also give his customers a platform where they can express their views on the restaurant, inviting them to make suggestions and improvements, ensuring that they get the ultimate dining experience.

Continue reading . . .

Report from the Department of Inevitabilities: Michael McCarty, the 57-year-old owner of the eponymous New York City restaurant that feeds $36 Cobb salads to the expense-account-fortified media elite, is getting into the content generation business.

This year, he launched a blog and a YouTube channel that airs, for instance, videos with the sommelier. Like any who’s who in media, Mr. McCarty has started contributing to the Huffington Post. A recent entry described a dinner party he cooked for his son’s college buddies. (His son called him, said, “Wassup this Saturday?” and Mr. McCarty served wild salmon and white wine to a crew more used to Taco Bell and Budweiser.)

Continue reading . . .

“We’re pretty small and nimble. Up until [four] weeks ago, I was a one-man show for our digital marketing efforts,” said Natalie Bass, Houlihan’s digital marketing manager. Last month, it brought in a contract worker to assist.

With 100 restaurants, Houlihan’s competes with the likes of Applebee’s, which has more than 2,000 restaurants, and T.G.I. Friday’s, which has more than 900 restaurants – and presumably bigger marketing budgets.

Developing a digital marketing strategy at Houlihan’s has meant making tough choices. Houlihan’s did not plunge into developing a branded Facebook page or Twitter account – it just launched @houlihans and plans to roll out a national Houlihan’s page on Facebook in the coming week. The company’s initial social efforts centered on an invite-only online community, called HQ, established in January 2008. And a year later, Houlihan’s expanded into mobile promotions with its Foody Call Club.

Continue reading . . .

An organic burger restaurant in midtown Manhattan is using social networking for menu development, marketing, entertainment and even social change. Its delicious plans suggest ways that businesses of all kinds can transform themselves by “crowdsourcing” not only marketing, but product development as well.

When the 4food eatery opens its doors at the corner of 40th and Madison on July 6, it just might usher in a new era in the integration of social networking with the real world.

A 240-square-foot monitor in the restaurant will constantly stream Foursquare check-ins, tweets from Twitter, and restaurant information. In other words, the restaurant itself will be a social networking application.

Continue reading . . .

Social media continues to gain ground for those in the restaurant business during the 91st annual National Restaurant Association (NRA) show running Saturday to Tuesday in Chicago. There were video screens on the show floor with live Twitter feeds, and educational sessions designed to help educate restaurateurs and vendors on capitalizing the different digital marketing options.

Social media isn’t just a marketing strategy for full-service restaurant operators. Quick-serve restaurants are increasingly tapping into new media strategies to drive traffic and loyalty. 24 percent of adults surveyed by the NRA in November 2009 say they would likely sign up for email notifications of daily specials, and 17 percent are likely to sign up for text message notifications.

Quick-serve restaurateurs are listening. More than half of quick-serve operators plan on adding a Facebook page in the next two years, and 38 percent plan on launching blogs about their restaurants, according to the NRA.

Continue reading . . .

On May 17, the Charlotte Observer published a story about North Carolina-based pizza chain, Brixx and its firing of an employee who insulted a customer on her Facebook page while invoking the company name. Since then, the Associated Press and Huffington Post have recirculated the story, which has since gotten thousands of comments and tweets.
 
If it’s suffocation of free speech that has people buzzing, it’s for naught: In fact, the employee, Ashley Johnson, went against the corporate policy she signed when first hired, according to concept owner Jeff Van Dyke.
 
Van Dyke said the social media dictate is part of the regular policies and procedures of working with the chain. It states that employees shouldn’t give the impression that they represent Brixx as a company on their personal online outlets, nor say negative things concerning the chain in this realm.
 
“And in this particular instance, this server didn’t get as big a tip as she had hoped, even though they tipped her 17 percent,” he said. “And she posted some very negative stuff on Facebook and on a discussion page, and somehow that was sent back to a store, and it was a clear violation. She was let go.”

Continue reading . . .

Ashley Johnson had a good job making good money as a waitress at Brixx Pizza on Sixth Street in uptown Charlotte.

But that changed about a week ago, when a couple came in for lunch and stayed for three hours – forcing her to work an hour past her quitting time.

And they left her a tip she thought was pretty measly – $5.

Johnson did what most folks who need a good rant do nowadays. When she got home, she went on Facebook. “Thanks for eating at Brixx,” she wrote, “you cheap piece of —- camper.”

And like a growing number of workers, she found out the hard way that what you say on social networks can be used against you, particularly if you’re in a position of public trust or public service.

Continue reading . . .

Restaurant promotion is going high-tech.

Franchise restaurants have long tried to drum up business on the local level with newspaper ads and with mass mailings of coupons and other promotional offers.

But now franchisers have a host of new ways to drive business to individual stores, thanks largely to the explosion in recent years of technologies that recognize a user’s location.

Among others: Burger King Holdings Inc. is test-marketing an iPhone application that helps users find its restaurants and view local deals, and Quizno’s Corp. and Applebee’s International Inc. are readying similar apps.

Mooyah, a regional burger franchise in Texas, is offering location-specific giveaways and specials to its followers on Twitter, while Papa Murphy’s International Inc., a pizza franchise based in Vancouver, Wash., with restaurants across the country, plans to offer location-specific deals to customers nationwide by using technology that recognizes the whereabouts of visitors to the company’s website.

“It’s like modern-day ZIP Code marketing,” says Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a food-industry research firm in Chicago.

Continue reading . . .