New Media in Food, Beverage & Hospitality Industry
From Baruchnewmedia
Need for Social Media in the Food and Beverage industry
The Food and Beverage industry is similar to any other industry for the simple fact that it is constantly growing and needs new ways to expand, and in recent years the way for this to happen is to expand into the social media world. This is to adapt web 2.0 applications such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. People sign into Facebook 14 minutes a day, and think about food 44 minutes a day. This just seems if the food industry could combine the two it would greatly increase the revenue potential.
POS Systems
A POS (point of sale) system is a combination of a computer, cash register, and credit card machine. This technology is used by most bars and restaurants in major cities throughout the United States and worldwide. A POS system should most definitely be considered new media because it is a mash-up of the original cash register with a touch-screen computer that has internet connection. This mechanism allows retailers to operate every facet of their business with a single, integrated point of sale system. Basically, it has helped evolve and progress the cash register to enable smoother, more efficient, and more organized transactions.
Dinerware's systems is one example of a POS system that is frequently used in restaurants. This POS system can be customized to fit the needs and offerings of each restaurant. An example of the interface for this particular POS system can be seen below:
Lets walk through the process and some of the amazing features of the POS system at a super market.
Using the POS system is like using a touch screen computer that operates through the internet. The POS system is a software that consists of the menu, the scanning feature, connection with the cash register and the printer. Every POS system at the grocery store has a menu page that consists the list of their products at their store, which makes it easy for the cashier to look up the name of the product in a certain category. For example, if you are looking for apples in the system then you would look up the fruits folder and then locate apple. Now the names of the products can be added/deleted by the user. The user has full authority to edit the product's name/price saved in the system. Moreover, it also has a scanning system that makes the life of the cashier way easier. Every name of the product is entered in the system with the help of the bar code, so when a customer want to buy a certain product, the cashier simply scans the bar code and the system shows the name of the product, it's price and then you can chose the method of payment-either cash or credit. After hitting cash or credit button, the cash drawer open from where you can give the customer their change. Now all these transactions that take place are recorded and this is how they can find out the sales for the whole day. It is also in the user's hand of how they what to show the report. They can either get the report daily or by shift depending on the management.
POS system is advanced, much faster and attractive than the old registers that is used in the super markets. This system saves a lot of time. In other words, it means that being able to take the customers fast and generate more revenue for the company.
Promotional Efforts and Increasing Traffic with New Media
YelpAn online community where consumers can write reviews on various local businesses but focuses largely on restaurant and service industry reviews. A great resource for consumers to find unbiased reviews from real people on businesses they are considering visiting or utilizing.
GoMobo GoMobo enables individuals to store their payment information securely so that they may either place orders online or text in their orders to participating restaurants. In addition, it allows individuals to store their favorites / preferences.
Restaurant.com A website that offers consumers printable gift certificates to restaurants at a discount from face value to help restaurants gain exposure. Each restaurant offers a limited amount of certificates each month and there are certain restrictions that may apply. For example, for a $25 certificate, the restriction may that that it is valid only on a purchase of $35 or more. However, when one can get a $25 gift certificate for a restaurant at their regular price of $10 or oftentimes much less due to their coupon codes / sales, it helps create a significant incentive for individuals to try a new restaurant.
Groupon.com This site features a different deal a day for businesses in the food, beverage,and service industries in your area via a gift certificate or card discounted from face value. Typically, they offer their deals via printable certificates that one may print directly from their account at their convenience. They also recently created an iPhone app and utilize social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook to promote their website and deals.
LivingSocial This site operates very similar to Groupon in that it offers a deal a day in your area for businesses in the food, beverage,and service industries in your area. However, what sets it apart is that it relies largely on its iPhone application.
KGB Deals Another deal a day site that offers a gift certificate / card at a discount from face value. However, the way KGB differs is that its deals often require the individual to wait for a physical certificate / card to be mailed rather than being able to print their certificate immediately or shortly after purchase.
Gilt City This website offers daily deals on food & drink at restaurants and cooking classes in addition to other businesses. Gilt users may purchase these deals for themselves or as a gift for others.
Google Offers Google is going big. Google Offers is yet another website that was launched in 2011. This website offers great deals on a daily basis for areas in food, salon, fitness and much more.
Benefits of having Promotions through New Media
New Media is spreading like a virus. It has not only made an influential impact in the entertainment world, but also in the food industry. Who hasn't heard about Yelp, Groupon and living social these days? There used to be a time when we never really looked to our newsletter in our inbox, but today we always look forward to getting the daily deals in order to save some extra bucks.
Who doesn't like to get an extra $10 when you spent $10 to shop at your favorite food store? Sure, everyone does. Hence, these promotional sites have been expanding rapidly over these years. It not only helps save some extra buck for the consumers but also helps promote the business immensely. For instance, a restaurant decides to give some promotion through these sites. As a result, hundreds of people buy the deal. Just imagine how many people are you reaching out to with that one offer. As a matter of fact, you are not only limited in reaching out to that hundred people; keep in mind that these people are spreading the word with their friends also. In addition to that, there is facebook, twitter and all the other social networking sites where you can share the links from these sites. These sites can be used as one of the the marketing strategies by businesses.
New media has literally made our lives much easier. With the help of new media, ordering pizza is just one click away. As a matter of fact, it's amazing how you can even track online from the point you ordered the pizza to the point when its being delivered.
Moreover, new media has helped people go green. In other words, you do not really need to buy the book to find the best restaurant in your community. There is yelp to help! You find the best restaurants in the town with all the good/bad reviews and price range. When everything is going virtual, you can help the environment go green as well, and thats what new media is doing.
Downsides of having Promotions through New Media
A coin always has it's two sides. Likewise, having promotions through new media also has it's sweet and bitter sides.
The consumers are always better off getting the best deals in their community, but can you imaging how much pressure the company has to live up to? A company has to make a bulk of food in a limited time, pay the employees for the extra time they are devoting, and it is not always profitable for them to give these promotions. Recently there was an article in Business Insider, where a bakery called Need Cake in UK, decided to give out promotions through Groupon. But then they were so pressurized to bake huge amount of cupcakes in a limited time. This did not even help them make profit. So these promotional sites can not make everyone happy all the time.
In addition, when everything is going virtual there is a threat of people being isolated. With the help of new media people are interacting through internet to buy stuff, so they are losing personal contact with each other. Also, when we are talking about yelp, people are posing reviews and commenting about the employees there. When people are writing reviews, they can be really rude at times. They are not aware that they are not just throwing out their emotions to the computer. Writing a comment does hurt the other person and not the computer. People normally do not tend say those same words if they were to comment about the employees face to face. Hence, new media has bought a shield between two people interacting each other.
Fast Food Goes New Media
CKE Restaurants, Inc. is a corporation in the U.S. which consists of three fast food restaurant chains: Carl's Jr., Hardee's, and Green Burrito.[1] For those who live in New York City may be unfamiliar these names, but there are over 2,000 locations throughout America (including Hawaii and Alaska). This corporation, like all others, must file annual reports to show it's revenue, profits, and other operating and financing activities. SEC filings do not typically include advertisement through blogs, social networking websites, and any other new media.
In 2009, CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., Andrew Puzder, added something out of the ordinary to the "Executive Commentary" portion of the corporation's 8-K (specifically regarding Carl's Jr.):
"We just launched a very innovative partnership with YouTube whereby we are utilizing
some of their most popular video stars to produce short videos promoting our burgers. With a
combined following of 3.2 million subscribers, these video bloggers ("vloggers") are
helping us target our customer demographic where they already are. In addition, the media
cost is much lower that with traditional advertising. According to www.mashable.com, the
world's largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news, our sponsored
video content appears to have 'turned out to be a big hit.' In fact, just one of the Carl's
Jr. vloggers created a video that's already received over 2.4 million views across the web.
All of the Carl's Jr. vloggers' videos, combined, have been viewed more than 5.7 million
times." [2]
Apparently YouTube was responsible for the recent profit increases. Perhaps Puzder felt it necessary to mention to dispel any suspicious dealings. After all, this type of advertising is cheaper, so the report must have showed a decrease in expenses and an increase in profit.
Another food corporation, Bob Evans Farms, Inc., is also guilty of mentioning their use of social networking sites (i.e. Facebook and Twitter), a type of new media, in their annual report (2009).
According to these SEC filings, new media has become something worth reporting.
Fast Food Education
There are many tools we can use in new media technology to educate ourselves about healthy food.
WeightWatchers has signed a deal with fast food chain McDonald's to promote a new range of healthy meals.The dieting company have agreed to put their logo on three McDonald's Classics - Chicken McNuggets, the Filet-O-Fish and the Sweet Chilli Seared Chicken wrap.
Is It Ethical?
Major transnational food and softdrink corporations such as McDonald's and Pepsi have been using new media to target children. These corporations set up websites that attract children around the age of four to register and play multiple games in which further exposes these children to more marketing strategies. In return for using the websites, children are given screen savers, avatars, and even coupons. New Media tactics are being used by these companies to promote unhealthy lifestyles when it comes to food choices by targeting a higher susceptible market group of consumers, children. Justin Macmullan, Head of Campaigns at Consumers International, stated that:
In many countries kids already spend more time on the internet than watching TV. That’s why it’s vital we have mandatory regulations that restrict junk food companies from using new media to perform the same old marketing tricks on our children. [3]
New media makes marketing and advertising easy and effective, even in the food industry.
VIdeos
Sites
Rouxbe Is an online cooking school. This is a paid website in which you can literally sit through classes and learn the ins and outs of cooking. IT has over 65 different online classes. Hundreds of instrumental videos, and thousands are added each month. Once you complete you assignment, they are personally commented on by chefs from the program. This is a great way to try and go to a cooking school without ever leaving your house. This way you learn to cook the food, and make sure it comes out the right way all from the comfort of your own kitchen. This all also comes at a much cheaper price then going to a real art school.
Food Network This is the obvious choice, and most people have visited this site when thinking of new recipes. This is a free site in which people can go get recipes and even catch some of their favorite episodes of their shows online. These videos can be paused and replayed with the convenience of the user to ensure they can follow the recopies to the dot. The database for recipes on this site is enormous and can cater to anybodies needs. IT doesn't require any special programs or anything to be downloaded so it is quite easy for people to use. The Food Network is also more reality television and contest-based programming.
Gourmandia IS another site devoted to the cooking world. It is very tailored for the housewive scene because it not only has all different kinds of recipes but at the same time provides themes and table setting ideas for all sorts of occasion. This site provides all sorts of different recipes for each kind of cuisine imaginable as well as different techniques for people to learn in order to cook these things. It is also a free site, and thus everybody can enjoy these great tips for nothing. The site is a little more cluttered then foodnetwork.com But it is still a great website.
Cooking Channel launched almost a year ago and it is owned by Scripps Network, which also owns the Food Network. However, the Cooking Channel differs from the Food Network because it is more instructional-based. A lot of celebrity chefs have their own shows on the Cooking Channel. The Cooking Channel's website features recipes and instructional cooking videos online.
Channels
Vimeoand Youtubeare other sites which have videos dedicated to cooking. These are usually a less professional way of seeing poeple cook, but nonetheless they can learn some great recipes as well as possibly post their own. In addition, there are numerous interviews with some top chefs and things of that nature on these sites.
Youtube has not only taken the ground nationally, but it has also been popular internationally. Who doesn't know about youtube these days? If you ask a question to someone about music, homework and now cooking lessons, they just answer- YOUTUBE IT! Either you want to cook Indian or Brazilian, everything is on youtube. There are videos of cooking lessons from starter chefs to the top notch chefs. New media has really made our lives so much easier. All you need is the computer and there you go. There are cooking lessons of all the nationality.
The cooking lessons that they provide on the new media sites such as [4] are also one of the marketing strategies for their business. Some chefs sell books and some have their shows on the television. Since youtube is so convenient, users can easily view their shows on these new medias and then share it on [5] or [6] if they like and thats how they can market their shows. The chefs also use these social networking sites as to market themselves. They know that every daughter mom and dad in the family uses facebook or twitter. So they use these medias to reach to all the people. The way they use these sites is that they create the fan page and let all the lessons go public and in some cases you need to like the page first to view any content. Some of the ways they can promote themselves is that they give out promotions where you get a certain percentage of discounts to but their book if you like the page. Isn't that amazing?
In addition to that, not only that they can share their pages on facebook or twitter, but also on google+. Google+ is the new social networking site that is run through your gmail account, and with the same gmail account you can now log in to youtube and share your favorite cooking lessons to all your friends.
YouTube can not only be used as a marketing strategy by the top notch chefs, but also by the people who have passion of cooking. It could be used by people who are retired and utilize their time by sharing what they love to do with others. When you search on youtube, there are numerous videos of elderly people posting cooking lessons on YouTube. These people are not posting these lessons for any marketing or anything but they are just posting it because it's their hobby and they want to share it to others. Its not that they want to make profit out of it, but by posting these videos makes them happy. There might be a lot of retired people who do not know what to do, so sharing these videos gives them something to do and you never know sometimes when you do things that have no intentions of making money or anything might open up the doors to something that you never thought of. Your talent could be recognized by some people who would want to hire you. If your views get popular that there might be chances that you might be called up by some shows where you get a chance to explore your talent even more. Moreover, there are also people who share the videos for fun. People love social media, there are also some cute videos of children sharing their cooking lessons on YouTube.
In a nutshell, YouTube has opened up a platform to all those talented people who have a passion in cooking to post their personal videos that has benefited millions of people around the world.
Review Sites
In the past when people wanted to go try a new restaurant or go into a different city they would have to go ask their friends or locals regarding their opinions of the restaurants. But in recent years people are able to go to the internet and look up restaurants in their area or even places they are traveling to and get personal reviews, or even pictures of the cuisine in that restaurant. This is possible form the expansion of the food industry into the new media. More and more sites are coming up giving reviews for restaurateurs, food products, and beverages. Some Examples of these sites include:
Is a site dedicated to the food industry and social media. It has links dedicated to a community, iFoodshow, Jobspot, Forum, etc… it utilizes such web 2.0 applications as Blogs, Tweets, and Buzz. It has a unique interface in which people contribute to the mail site and people see the constant updates to the site as it is happening. In addition to these features it offers a recent articles regarding all different topics regarding food and the food industry. It also offers a community option to allow people to discuss local shops and give reviews.
Is another site dedicated to people giving reviews for restaurants they have visited. It has all of the most popular web 2.0 applications directly integrated into their site. Those being Facebook, Twitter, and RSS Feeds. This site lets users join into the site and really feel like part of a community, because it lets you have your own personal cook book, favorite foods and drinks, and even pictures. Thus it makes it more of a social networking site then just a regular cooking site. In addition to all of these social features, it still has tons of recipes as well as many videos of how to cook special meals. Furthermore the site also has tips and tricks on how to to travel, and where to eat when you stay there. It also has ways to entertain your guests at dinner parties.
Mobile Applications
In the past couple of years, with the explosion of mobile handhelds, many companies in the food and beverage industry have expanded into this category and provided means for people to be able to things at the touch of their hands. Some of these things include ordering lunch through their phone from their favorite restaurants and beat the lines. Other mobile applications help the person to enter any food item into their application and instantly receive the nutritional background. Some other applications provide the person with recipes for various meals and drinks right at their finger tips. Yet others can look up a point of interest that is within walking distance and instantly provide reviews for the place, as well as the menu and prices. This area is an ever increasing place for firms to look into and because of this new mobile applications happen everyday.
Yelp – This mobile application lets you utilize the GPS of your mobile phone and locate nearby point of interests. You can search for the type of cuisine and price range you want. From there you can choose the spot you would like to visit and at the same time read reviews to see if it is indeed a spot that you would like to go to.
Calorie Tracker - Users can look up and track daily caloric, fat, carbohydrate, and protein intake.
The app pulls from LIVESTRONG.com’s Daily Plate nutritional database with over 450,000 food and restaurant items.
Pocket Cocktails – Hundreds of today’s most popular drink recipes, all with Full-Screen Photos.
Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner Pro – All of the favorite recipes from the worlds # 1 recipe site. Easily accessible from the phone with full pictures and access to all of the recipes on the site.
GoMeals - This is a great mobile application to use for individuals who are Diabetic or are seeking healthy eating done easily with the help of this application. Users of the application can track their calorie count as well as carb, protein, and fat intake. Users can write daily logs about what they have consumed everyday.
LoseIt - This mobile application is for individuals who want to lose weight. They can track a calorie budget and count in addition to writing a daily food consumption log.
Marketing to the public via Social Media
Peoples needs and desires change virtually everyday and it is up to the food and beverage industry to keep the person interested and wanting their most current product. Over the past couple of years, it has become imperative that the company stay on top of their game and be ahead of the pact. First and foremost it is important that the site is very user friendly, has all the content a customer can ever need, and be visually attractive. In addition the site has to let the person go onto the site and feel part of the community, have mobile applications for their phones, some sort of social networking aspect to the site, or even provide virtual coupons to attract the customers. Basically the company should be utilizing all of the web 2.0 applications that so many of today's people use every day.
Social Media has added a little to the way marketing happens, it can now be seen that Something you buy leads to, something you trust leads to, something you want leads to, something you prefer leads to,something you love leads to, something you participate in. IT is this last aspect which really portrays the new media aspect because it is things like blogs, tweets, and social networks that let the user participate in the food industry. And it is up to the firm to let the customer do all of these things.
Is an online site which offers virtually all kinds of coupons from local restaurants to everyday grocery items like cereal and milk. It is extremely important that the food industry provide a good amount of coupons for their customers because it gives them a reason to go to the store and purchase items. Once in the store or restaurant they will be more inclined to spend more money. IT is also important that it is easily available on websites such as coupons.com. They could also advertise on popular sites such as facebook and tweeter. Yet another way people could follow the deals would be to let customers follow the products on facebook and twitter, this way they are always updated with the best deals at the time.
Is an online site which lets you search for local restaurants and nightlife. IT is broken down by city for easy search and further broken down to type of eatery/cuisine you would like. Once you get to that point you can establish what price you would like to pay and after that it is just based on your opinions of the reviews. There are constant blogger on this site who update their pages with different places they go to and those posts have their own updates from other people, and even add pictures. Thus it seems to be like an online community in which people contribute their opinions. It is up to the restaurant/ bar to keep up with what people are saying and to make sure the reviews are good and if something isn't up to par they should change it. This way both the customer and the restaurant can utilize the best of the social networking aspect.
Food/Recipe Blogs and Tweets
Blogs are becoming more popular by the day, and they have tons of different topics for each. A lot are devoted solely to people talking about their own personal recipes and cooking experience. According to a recent trend, the number 3 and 5 most viewed blogs by woman are indeed cooking/recipe blogs. In addition, they are becoming even the topic for many movies. A recent example of this would be the movie "Julie and Julia" in which the character Julie decides to cook through Julia Child's cookbook and document her progress by keeping up a blog about it. This is just one example of a way that people keep blogs about their food adventures, some others include:
"TheWednesdayChef New York-based Luisa Weiss started this blog as a way of documenting her trawl through clippings of recipes from the New York and LA Times. A mix of recipes and humorous anecdotes - her boyfriend thinks he is pre-hypertensive so she reduces the salt to avoid confronting the issue of male hypochrondria - it's a charming blog packed with information (indeed, a whole 700 words about coleslaw). "
"Serious Eats Practically everything you need to know about food can be found on this multi- contributor food website, started by New York Times journalist Ed Levine. The focus is on American foods such as hot dogs, there are restaurant and gadget reviews, food videos and recipes, including an easy recipe every afternoon to inspire that evening’s dinner. "
"101 Cookbooks One of the most established food blogs, five years old and counting; this is the chronicle of a blogger with an overindulged habit of buying cookbooks. This Californian blog is primarily a conduit for savoury recipes, mostly vegetarian, and using natural foods - the most popular include caramelised tofu, black bean brownies and lemon-scented quinoa salad. It's technologically literate, too, with i-Phone compatible recipes, and there is a convenient index of recipes by ingredient, and by category (ie gluten-free, cookies, drinks etc)."
One of the most incentive Twitters regarding cooking is BakerTweet
"Bakertweet is a way for busy bakers to tell the world that something hot and fresh has just come out of the oven. It's as simple as turning the dial and hitting the button. All of the baker's followers get a Twitter alert to tell them that it's bun-time. Or bread time. Or whatever."
"CupcakeCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.
Check out CupcakeCamp.org for more details."
The Feisty Foodie is a food blog owned by Yvo, Dave, and TT, 3 fellow food bloggers. They write about various cuisines,
restaurants, stadium eats, travels, and recipes.
Epicurious Eateries is a food blog owned by Jessica Lin, who is a food writer and photographer. She is dedicated to eating
and cooking.
It is the official food blog of the Culinary Institute of America, which features recipes.
This is a food blog about food gatherings that occur in New York City. Gatherings include events going to the places that
serve the best buffalo wings, pierogi, truffles, shumai, etc.
This is a food blog owned by Hazel Sy, who has taken culinary classes and is now cooking and baking and creating her own
recipes.
This is a baking and dessert blog owned by Heather Baird. She blogs about desserts and shares her own recipes to fellow
blog readers.
This blog is owned by Jane, who whips up her own recipes and creations and tries out existing recipes shared by others.
Cupcakes Take the Cake is a fun cupcake blog founded by Nichelle Stephens and Rachel Kramer Bussel. There are a few
contributors to the blog who write about bakeries and bakers who make cupcakes of all shapes, designs, and flavors. Every
few weeks, there are cupcake meetups where cupcake enthusiasts can socialize and taste cupcakes from bakeries or made by
individuals who attend the meetups.
Celebrity Chefs You should be following on Blog, Facebook, or Twitter
"Andrew S. Zimmern is a James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, food writer, and
teacher. As the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of Travel Channel's series
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, he travels the world
exploring food in its own native region, wherever it is found."[4]
"Martha Helen Stewart is an American business magnate, television host, author, and magazine
publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a
variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising."[5]
"Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain (born June 25, 1956) is an American author and chef. He is
well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,
and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony
Bourdain: No Reservations."[6]
"Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964)[1] is an American celebrity chef,
restaurateur and reality television personality. He is the owner and executive chef of 10
restaurants: Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, New York City, and in the Bahamas (Atlantis Paradise
Island, Nassau); Bar Americain in New York City and Uncasville, Connecticut; Bobby Flay Steak
in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Bobby's Burger Palace in Lake Grove, New York, Paramus, New
Jersey, Eatontown, New Jersey, Uncasville, Connecticut, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."[7]
"Masaharu Morimoto is a well-known Japanese chef, best-known as the third Iron Chef Japanese
on the TV cooking show Iron Chef, and an Iron Chef on its spinoff, Iron Chef America. He is
also known for his unique style of presenting food.
Morimoto received practical training in sushi and traditional Kaiseki cuisine in Hiroshima,
and opened his own restaurant in that city in 1980. Influenced by western cooking styles,
he decided to sell his restaurant in 1985 to travel around the United States. His travels
further influenced his fusion style of cuisine. He established himself in New York City, and
worked in some of Manhattan's prestigious restaurants, including the dining area for Sony
Corporation's executive staff and visiting VIPs, the Sony Club, where he was executive chef,
and the exclusive Japanese restaurant Nobu, where he was head chef."[8]
"Anne W. Burrell is an American chef, TV personality, and instructor at the Institute of Culinary
Education in New York City. She is the host of the Food Network show Secrets Of a Restaurant Chef
and co-host of Worst Cooks in America. She is also one of Iron Chef Mario Batali's sous chefs in
the Iron Chef America series and appears on other programs on the network such as The Best Thing
I Ever Ate."[9]
"Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and
cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food
Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as “Kick it up a
notch!” and “BAM!” The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated
US$150 million annually in revenue."[10]
"Mario Batali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media
personality. In addition to his classical culinary training, he is an expert on the history
and culture of Italian cuisine, including regional and local variations. Batali co-owns
restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Singapore. Batali's signature style
includes shorts and orange Crocs."[11]
Following Food Trucks Via Twitter and Zagat
Today, many food trucks use Twitter so that customers may follow them and to track their locations. This makes it convenient for customers to find the food trucks when using the Twitter application on their Smartphones. Also, this is a great way for food trucks to expose themselves and develop a customer base. Zagat also has a "Food Truck Finder", which shows a map of food trucks that are currently open and it shows the location of the food trucks. The Zagat "Food Truck Finder" can be found here.
Here is a list of some food trucks in New York City that have Twitter pages you can follow to find out where they are currently located:
- Cupcake Stop @CupcakeStop
- Dessert Truck @desserttruck
- Sweetery @SweeteryNYC
- Treats Truck @TheTreatsTruck
- Van Leeuwen Artisan @vlaic
- Wafels & Dinges @waffletruck
You can find the Twitter pages of more food trucks at SeriousEats.com and Listorious.com.
Virtual Games - Food and Restaurants
With the rise and evolution of new media, there are also virtual games that involve food. For example, Playfish's Restaurant City game is interactive in the sense that players can create their own virtual restaurant and use ingredients to level-up their recipes. They can use "money" to purchase ingredients and decor for their restaurants. Players can visit their friends' virtual restaurants and request trades of ingredients. These virtual games are available either via Facebook, online gaming websites, video gaming systems, or SmartPhone applications. Examples of virtual food and restaurant games include:
- Cooking Mama
- Tiny Chef
- Bakery Story
- Restaurant
- Restaurant City
- Diner Dash
Virtual Games - In the Restroom
A U.K. Based company has come up with and innovated way to combine peeing and video gaming. When you enter the bathroom you see a 12" LCD Screen along with a urinal. when the urinal is not in use the LCD is showing advertisements however when it is in use users can play an array of games. With the urinal you can control the direction you move in the game by peeing in that direction. While this product is in a trail stage its bringing the opportunity for users to get the best out of the time spent and the urinals as well as the the chance for potential advertisers to reach more consumers.
Recipe Websites
There are many websites in which people can share and exchange recipes online. A few popular websites are: [12]
Food Advertising and new media
Today U.S. food and beverage companies are using new media to promote their products and extend their television advertising. These companies are focusing in gaining children's attention. These websites and other types of new media promote food items high in sugar and fat and many other unhealthy food. The proliferation of media in Children lives has created a new marketing ecosystem that includes cell phones, music devices, instant messaging, videogames and virtual worlds. [13]
Advergames
The food companies are using advergames to gain children’s attention. An Advergame is defined as advertising in a free, electronic video game. The game usually is on one or more websites. The game promotes a product, service or brand to the specific audiences of those websites. For example, a cartoon video game directed at children that promotes snacks, candy, or cereals. Branded entertainment is a fast-growing and potentially highly effective way to reach consumers in unique and compelling ways.
Imagine, for example, that “Nestle Push-up Frozen Treats are popping up all over the place, and it’s your job to bop ‘em back down.” For every pop that you bop, you earn points, and as you become more skilled at the game, you can progress from the “easy” to a “medium” or “hard” level of play. The brand package is the visual centerpiece of the game (it pops up repeatedly), making the brand easier to recall later. This is “Bop-a-Pop” one of the games on the kids.icecream.com website.[14]
Goverment Regulations
The government is pressuring food companies to cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children, releasing guidelines that could phase out advertisements on television, in stores and on the Internet if companies agree to go along with them.
Under the voluntary guidelines, companies would be urged to only market foods to children ages 2 through 17 if they are low in fats, sugars and sodium and contain specified healthy ingredients. The proposal sets parameters that are stricter than many companies have set for themselves.
It is unclear whether government pressure will be effective enough to get many companies to sign on. Some of the country's largest food companies, including McDonalds, General Mills Inc., Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods Global and PepsiCo Inc., already have joined an initiative sponsored by the Better Business Bureau to limit their marketing to children.[15]
Through similar initiatives and as a result of public pressure, the industry has been successful in reducing the number of television ads aimed at children in recent years, though much of that advertising has moved to the Internet, social media and other digital platforms such as smart phones. Public health advocates argued that the industry's self-regulation is not enough and has pushed the government to set guidelines to pressure them.
In 2009, Congress directed the Federal Trade Commission, Agriculture Department, Food and Drug Administration and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to form a working group and develop the recommendations. The guidelines they wrote are broad, applying to digital media and almost any promotion a child might see for a food, including text messages, product placement in video games.[16]
Advergames links
http://www.drumstick.com/nestle/push-ups.aspx
http://kids.icecream.com/flavorology/index.html
References
- ↑ Sonya Hubbard, Fast Food Goes New Media..., June 26, 2009, " [1]", April 27, 2010
- ↑ US Security and Exchange Commission, Form 8-K, June 24, 2009, " [2]", March 5, 2010
- ↑ Consumers International, New Media, Same Old Tricks, March 15, 2009, " [3]", April 29, 2010
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Zimmern
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Bourdain
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Flay
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaharu_Morimoto
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Burrell
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeril_Lagasse
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Batali
- ↑ http://freenuts.com/top-10-recipe-websites
- ↑ http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6025390-advergames-market-sugary-fatty-foods-to-kids-websites-with-cartoons
- ↑ http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/7536.pdf
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/marketing-junk-food-kids_n_854949.html
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/marketing-junk-food-kids_n_854949.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_industry http://www.slideshare.net/agentwildfire/agent-wildfire-social-media-and-the-food-industry
Powell, D. A., et. al., New media for communicating food safety. Food Technology v. 63 no. 1 (January 2009) p. 38-43
(2007). Seven Ways New Media Will Transform Your Business in '08. Food Engineering, 79(9), 127-9. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database
Donald, B., et. al., The urban creative-food economy: producing food for the urban elite or social inclusion opportunity?. Environment and Planning A v. 38 no. 10 (October 2006) p. 1901-20 Peer Reviewed
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article5561425.ece
