The Twitter feed isn't much, but the chatter there may entice you to jump onto their website for a look at what's going on with SF street food. The interactive map is almost as addictive as a Kung Fu Taco!
SF boutique Doe-SF isn't too aggressive with their merchandising; from a quick run through their website it would seem that half their categories are without product.
But if you're good at playfully beguiling the public about what you do have in stock, your irregular inventory issues might not be such a big deal. Doe-SF are a great example of how to use Twitter for small retail businesses. Have fun, get involved, don't just talk about yourself, and occasionally blow the whistle to your followers for a Twitter-exclusive 2-hour only 30% off sale.
In Safeway this week I was engaged in one of my more depressing shopping tasks: Looking for an edible breakfast cereal.
It's difficult. To my taste, most cereals are so bland and overprocessed that I can't ever finish a whole box. But I need a day-starter of some kind, so there I was again, dully surveying the aisle where I have been burned so many times before, when my eye was drawn to a bizarre apparition: an all-black box adorned with the glowering face of NBA star Kevin Garnett, illuminated with police lineup lighting effects and positioned over the logo of one of America's oldest breakfast food brands: Wheaties.
A box of Wheaties Fuel was before me, standing out among the vast palette of beige, white and primary-colored boxes in the breakfast aisle like Snoop Dogg on the Martha Stewart show. I stood there an blinked for a few seconds trying to fathom the concept. This cereal is supposed to be wholesome, American, jock-y and very, very orange. And now: "Wheaties – Breakfast of Gangstas"? Whoa. My hand reached for the box like the root of a plant seeking water.
As I hefted the slimline cardboard packaging I said to myself: I have to have this cereal. Partly to eat it (maybe), and partly because every instinct in me told me that there was some relentless social marketing push for this re-branding, and I was burning to know about it.
The Kevin Smith Twitter / Southwest Airlines online catfight got crazy out of hand yesterday. If you missed it, you were probably A) in solitary confinement or jury duty for the last few days, or B) weren't at all interested, and get a gold star for focusing on more important things in the world.
The story: Kevin Smith, a comedic director/character actor of large physical stature, was asked by a crew member of a Southwest Airlines route to leave the plane because he was too big to occupy a single seat on a full flight. Smith raised a ruckus on his Twitter account, and Southwest responded by doing damage control through their PR and social networks.
You have to feel for the poor PR department at Southwest for inheriting this absolute social media nightmare. Customer service is difficult enough when it's dealing with an irate you or me. But when you're trying to appease a celebrity who boasts a Twitter following of over 7 figures and has a lust for self-promotion that makes Ryan Seacrest look like a shrinking violet, it's almost impossible to come out clean.
Found a great sharing tool called AddToAny. There's now an AddToAny icon bar located at the bottom of each post. One reason I use it is for it's simple interface that lets readers share this content over a wide range of social networks, if anyone is so inclined.
If you roll over the bar and expand the list, you'll see another reason. It gives me a handy list of every content sharing and social network on Planet Earth. I think.
Have been going through a dozen or so articles from StorefrontBacktalk, an e-com news and opinion site founded by veteran marcom exec and journalist Evan Schulman. It's pretty e-com tech focused, but the writing is sharp and manages to be a more intriguing read than a lot of straight e-marketing blogs/sites. Some good pieces there like what a crappy job the Obama's new Cyber Coordinator has, tales of breaches in the security of your favorite retail websites, and a bizarre article about the growing trend for spoiled kids to bring their parents to interviews when they are vying for entry-level tech jobs.
