360PR Blog

Foursquare has made some exciting upgrades since the last time we “checked in.”  Most recently, the geolocation service announced several partnerships sure to enhance user experience, whether it’s sports, movies or music that you fancy.

Through brand new relationships with ESPN, MovieTickets.com and the concert-tracking website SongKick, users will now be able to check-in to sporting events, movies and concerts in addition to more traditional venues like retail stores, restaurants and bars.  Previously, while users could check into a stadium, for example, their Foursquare friends wouldn’t know the reason for their visit unless they manually added additional text such as ‘Patriots game.’  Now, check-ins will include details of the event as well as related tips, such as the game kick-off time, each team’s league record, etc. 

Kudos to @Foursquare for consistently making an effort to keep people connected and informed.  Oh, and if that’s not cool enough for you, it was just announced that Obama has joined the ranks of Foursquare’s over 10 million users.  You can now follow The White House!

Filed under: Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - No Comments →

It is concept that has been a staple of Marketing for decades – people rely on the opinions of others to make purchase decisions. Good old fashioned word-of-mouth information sharing used to occur mostly offline, but social channels now let consumers communicate more easily and more often. To companies and communications professionals, social media allows us to become a part of that dialogue. In fact, in a recent study from ROI Research and Performics, they found that over 30% of people are more likely to purchase from companies/brands that they “like” or “follow” on social networks, than from brands or companies that they do not.

We are also able to draw valuable insights about the needs and wants of consumers through social media. The study also found that over 50% of survey respondents strongly or somewhat agree that voicing their opinions on social networking sites can influence the business decisions of companies/brands. I can tell you first hand, this is true.

While neither of these percentages are huge, it is enough for a brand that is not using social media right now to stop and consider integrating a social strategy into their marketing mix. Other highlights from the study can be found on Performics.com.

Filed under: Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Interactive Marketing, Internet, Social Marketing, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

Last week, the 360PR Book Club met to discuss our summer read, Onward by Howard Schultz.  Schultz is Starbucks’ CEO and Onward chronicles the coffee behemoth’s journey from 2007-2010.

As big as Starbucks has grown (and one of the challenges Schultz and his management team has had to grapple with, especially as the economy hit a wall and some consumers pulled back on that $3 cup of coffee), Starbucks’ entrepreneurial spirit comes through loud and clear in this candid, behind-the-scenes look at high-profile launches like Via, Clover and Pike’s Place, the latter two signaling a return to Starbucks’ coffee roots.

Schultz writes about Starbucks’ falters with just as much ease as he discusses its success, from the unsuccessful introduction of Sorbetto, Starbucks’ version of sorbet, to the launch of MyStarbucksIdea.com, a lively online community for Starbucks customers.

This is a book for true brand-lovers – whether you’re a loyal Starbucks customer or not.  Schultz dives in deep and discusses Starbucks’ brand essence, which centers on pouring the perfect shot of espresso and delivering a complete coffee sensory experience, from sounds to smells to, of course, taste.

But, perhaps the most important take-away is that Starbucks is not first and foremost a coffee company.  “It is a people company that serves coffee,” as Schultz writes.

To Schultz, Starbucks is more than a career or a company.  It’s family – from hand-written letters to partners (employees), meetings with executives held at his home, and his goal of “putting the customer at the center of everything” Starbucks does.

We give Onward a collective two thumbs up.  Are you a coffee drinker?  Are you loyal to a particular brew?  Let us know in the comments!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Books by SkyeMcIntyre - 1 Comment →