LUNA: more than just a bar

This note was on the back of my Blueberry Bliss LUNA bar last week. Reminds us all what really matters in life.

I have recently become obsessed with LUNA bars. I bought them first in Trader Joe’s this past summer because I was sick of Nature Valley granola bars. I love picking out each LUNA bar individually, creating my own assortment. Besides the great flavor options (multiple ones have chocolate, yum!), each bar has a unique message on its wrapper. Each message is from a woman answering LUNA’s question: “Who inspires you?” Every time I eat a bar, my favorite part is reading its note on the back. It reminds me that everyone has someone special in his/her life whether it is a friend, mom, or whoever. I know I could buy cheaper bars just as tasty, but the special note on the back makes my purchase worth it.

Since we are discussing content marketing in my Social Media class, I thought of the LUNA bar this past week (as I was eating one) and how it’s valuable to me. I found an article, “How Branded Content Can Make an Emotional Connection,” and in addition to discussing LUNA’s content strategy, the article lists the “3 Musts” in order to create the emotional connection with a brand’s audience: 1) “Use real words,” 2) “Create something that others want to be a part of,” and 3) “Stay true to your mission.”

For brands to be successful in content marketing, they need to go beyond talking about their product or company. They need to learn what the audience wants. LUNA delivers value to its target market by sharing articles on its website and celebrating YOU being YOU. Maybe I’m on a feminist roll since I worked for two different companies this summer both inspiring women to love themselves, so I love that LUNA stands for the same. The brand is involved in the community with its LUNA events and causes. LUNA seems to be more concerned with YOU – a strong woman – rather than selling you a LUNA bar.

If you’ve never had a LUNA bar, buy one the next time you’re at a grocery store. My new favorite is Blueberry Bliss (surprisingly, it’s not one with chocolate). And don’t forget to read the note on the back – the best part of the whole LUNA bar experience.

Wherever You Go, There Thou Art[sy]

I stumbled upon this article on Mashable.com – yes, ANOTHER Mashable article! –introducing the new Artsy app for the iPhone. I thought it was perfect to write a blog about it since I interned this summer for the very talented and lovely artist, Linda Mason. For all you artists, art enthusiasts and collectors, now you can be in the know about exhibits, over 50,000 works of art, and over 11,000 artists no matter where you are in the world.

Artsy President and COO Sebastian Cwilich explains that with the rest of the world moving rapidly in technology, the art world is lagging. The app links art and technology and keeps you informed about current shows happening and artwork either on sale (currently over 30,000 pieces are for sale!) or simply for your own knowledge.

I had never heard of Artsy, so I immediately went to Artsy.net after I found the article. The website is an online platform. You can follow galleries, museums, collections, etc. and create a profile. Along with the art, there are also posts, so the site is very similar to a blog. You can share a post via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest – or you can simply just “Like” it. I downloaded the app, and I love it. It’s very easy to navigate and is well organized like the website. You can browse on the app just as easily as you can on the website.

Artsy’s creation of an app will definitely be a useful investment. As we transition into a more mobile phone- and tablet-using world, Artsy moves right along with it. This app is perfect for any art aficionado who travels or is always on the go – or for anyone with a new interest in art like me! Definitely check it out.

Brands on Snapchat - Yea or Nay?

We all know what Snapchat is. It’s funny and dumb.  It can be your best friend or your worst enemy (screenshotting should be forbidden…). We always Snapchat our "Best Friends" but would you ever Snapchat a company?

Until someone mentioned businesses using Snapchat last week in class, I had no idea brands were even attempting this social platform. I had to find out about this, so I searched on mashable.com to learn more.

16Handles, a fro-yo chain, has its own Snapchat promotion. Todd Wasserman, Mashable’s business editor, explains the process in his article: “If you snap a pic of you or your friends at a 16Handles location tasting one of their flavors, you can send it to Love16Handles on Snapchat. In return, you'll get a coupon for anywhere from 16% to 100% off on your purchase. You have 10 seconds to let the cashier scan the coupon, though.”

The company’s idea is fun and creative, but what happens when more and more people add Love16Handles? It won’t be an efficient process because the company has to respond to each individual.  I don’t think this will be a successful technique for long if the chain only has one Snapchat account. The one person sending the surprise discount to all these users will not be able to keep up as more and more people add the company account.

Each 16Handles location should try having its own username. This may be less people per account making it easier for the store to respond to each individual. Part of the reasoning behind this strategy is that 16Handles customers are Snapchatters, but like I’ve said before, just because a company CAN be on a platform, doesn’t mean they SHOULD be.

Also, it’s inevitable that 16Handles will (if it hasn’t already) receive inappropriate pictures from people... This plan could easily get out of hand.

Anyway, 16Handles is so popular in NYC, so I wish I had read this article before my summer in the city! I would have loved to try the system. Who doesn’t love a discount?!

What are some other brands using Snapchat? I want to add companies to see what they would send me!

Instagram or Vine?

For this week’s blog, I wanted to find a really interesting topic. I avoided anything about Twitter, and instead, I found an article (article as in very little text with lots of videos) about businesses using Vine.

I know brands have been using Instagram for a while now and taking advantage of the platform’s video option, but I had no idea businesses were also using Vine for marketing and advertising. I have only accessed Vine via Twitter, and when it first became popular, I thought Vine was fun for kids but overall somewhat dumb and pointless. After seeing the Vine videos of these 15 brands, I think differently now. They are so neat!

I notice similarities across all the videos: bright, bold colors and creativity. They all share craftiness which makes the brand look fun and exciting. I watch the videos and all I think is, wow, how do people come up with this stuff?

In comparison to Instagram, Vine seems to be a useful platform for creative brands. They are like mini commercials with loads of originality. Videos on Instagram seem out of place, and I personally like companies using Instagram for photos only. Vine is the perfect example of a social media platform that may not be appropriate for just any brand to use. Vine has a younger, more energetic crowd, so colorful and lively brands targeting a younger, humorous crowd should take advantage of Vine.

Update from writing this post earlier:

I may sound a little contradicting, but here are my thoughts now. I just installed the Vine app on my phone to see what all the fuss is about it. I don't hate it, but it is a little overwhelming. Businesses could easily become obnoxious or annoying if they use it too much. Unlike Instagram, Vine is just video, and noise and fast images become overwhelming, which makes me not want to use the app as much as I do Instagram.

I think Instagram is more useful when targeting an older audience compared to the audience on Vine because Instagram is a subtler approach to building brand awareness and being transparent to consumers. Instagram is smart to have the video as an option. Brands are able to post pictures daily (or multiple times per day) without being too loud and in-your-face, and then they can add videos every once in awhile all using the same platform. 

What do you think about companies using Vine? 

Who all wants a doodle for their strudel?

Do you remember the days of the Toaster Strudel? I had a yearlong obsession with this not-so-healthy breakfast in elementary school. I lived for the Wildberry because it was the only strudel with blue icing. And, of course, the best part was creating a cool design with the icing.

According to an article on Mashable.com, Pillsbury’s Toaster Strudel has finally entered the social media world (just less than one month ago) joining both Facebook and Twitter. Their social campaign features a fictional boy named Hans Strudel from a fictional place called Breakfürg. Toaster Strudel asks, “How do you get your morning moving?” You tweet your answer including #StrudelArt. If your tweet is selected, the “Strudel Düdeler” machine will doodle a corresponding picture on a strudel, and post the picture along with the tweet on the Facebook page.

I just checked the Facebook page, and it has a total of one Strudel Art from this past Wednesday. If Toaster Strudel really wants this campaign to work, there needs to be one post every morning. It’s important to stay consistent delivering what the campaign promises: a doodle on the strudel. If the posts are consistent, Toaster Strudel could be successful in building an online community. Conversation among the fans would begin and an online community would be created. When a company fails to follow through with plans, people move on to the next thing.

On Twitter, followers seem to be using #StrudelArt. Toaster Strudel needs to bring the hashtag to Facebook or just leave it as a Twitter-only trend. The company seems to be following through on Twitter but are failing on Facebook.

There is a lot of negative feedback on Facebook. People expressing how they find Hans Strudel (along with the entire commercial) annoying, how they believe the strudel to so unhealthy for kids, and how they want certain flavors brought back on the shelves. Does Hans Strudel even help the brand? They either need to tone down the use of the kid or do away with him. Toaster Strudel’s use of its Facebook page needs improvement big time. They don’t need to create social media accounts just because everyone else is. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work for the brand.

Also, so what if my tweet gets turned into a picture in icing on a strudel? What’s in it for me? Yeah, it’s fun for a company to recognize you personally, but how does that make me want to buy more Toaster Strudels? If I was still that kid obsessed with strudels, then this would definitely work for me, but I doubt there is an elementary school kid with both Twitter and Facebook.

Based on the comments, I think Toaster Strudel has some serious reanalyzing to do in order to reposition this pastry for its consumers. The social campaign does not seem to be working for the brand too well right now. They need to follow through with the campaign consistently posting and interacting with consumers via Facebook – not just Twitter – or they may just need to press the restart button.