Differentiation and Diffusion through social media in Melbourne's restaurant scene (Part 1)

The idea for my post came this week while having brunch with my sister. As a foodie, I really appreciate the many good cafes and restaurants available to us here in Melbourne. But if you were to start an eatery in this city, it would be highly competitive. This has made me wonder...how can small cafe and restaurant businesses differentiate themselves from their various competitors? 

One way is though their use of social media! This is the first of a 2-part-post on social-media savvy eateries in Melbourne. In these posts, we will look at the strategies they have employed to stand out from the crowd.

Case study 1:  Jimmy Grants - Selecting new platforms to target influencers & co-creating value with unique content/ promotional activities 

For those who watch Masterchef, Jimmy Grants is the new gourmet souvlaki joint opened by George Calombaris in August, 2013. While his fame as a Masterchef judge has added to the success of his restaurant, Calombaris has also been clever in marketing his restaurant online...

To appeal to their young, hip, urban customers, the restaurant has established pages and profiles on social media platforms commonly used by their target demographics. This includes Facebook and Twitter, but also newer platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr. Their official website is created on a Tumblr platform, so the content they post can be easily shared by their fans. Tumblr is a blogging site that has been popular with both Foodies and Hipsters, who are influential groups for the restaurant.

Foodies are important because they are potential food bloggers and photo-sharers. If we consider Brian Solis' 3 pillars of influence, these individuals have reach (high popularity on social media), resonance (high posting frequency) and relevance (high authority on the subject of food). Consequently, they have a high level of influence on social media.

Hipsters are the dominant sub-cultural group in the inner city suburbs. They have a tendency to want to try new things before others. As a result, these groups are Innovators and/or Early Adopters that can help to spread word of mouth for the restaurant. By selecting social media platforms commonly used by these two groups, the restaurant has been able to differentiate their brand and diffuse it more quickly across Melbourne.

To connect with their target audience the restaurant has developed a fun online brand personality to relate to their customers. This is portrayed through the interesting and quirky content posted on their social media pages. For example, the restaurant has created their own memes about the 'food culture' of immigrant grand-parents and posted this across social media. This not only matches the theme of the restaurant (Jimmy Grant is old Australian rhyming slang for immigrants; the theme of the restaurant is about immigration and multi-culturalism), it also establishes a connection with customers who can relate and laugh at the quotes. 

As their target audience are becoming increasingly health conscious, and souvlakis are not known for being the healthiest of meals, the restaurant has worked to address this concern on social media. Instead of providing just nutritional tables, they have posted creative photos deconstructing the ingredients of each souvlaki sold on their menu. These post have not only been informative, but also creative. 

On top of providing interesting content, the restaurant has also used social media to run a promotional Scavenger hunt for the last few weekends. Staff have posted pictorial clues on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and asked followers to find specific objects hidden around Fitzroy. Individuals who find the objects specified can claim a free souvlaki. This idea was unique and helped to gain publicity for the restaurant as blogs/food communities such as Broadsheet Melbourne, and Mel: hot or not, published stories about the promotional activity. 

 

From analyzing Jimmy Grants, we can see that the restaurant has used social media effectively to target and attract social influencers. Rather than use social media for straight advertising, the business has engaged their customers with interesting content that make them want to talk about the restaurant and its food. Although Jimmy Grants has only just opened in August, they already have 715 followers on Twitter and 1897 likes on Facebook. Talk about quick Word of Mouth! Have you guys tried out Jimmy Grants or heard about the restaurant on social media? Let me know with a comment!

Feel free to read a little more about their social media promotional events here:
http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/events/event/jimmy-grants-souva-search-27-09-2013

Key points to take away from this post:

• To reach their target audiences, companies should use a combination of popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but also conduct research about the target audience and select niche platforms appealing to their their interest. Eg. Instagram or Tumblr, for art, crafting and youth culture. 
• Firms should create content that entertains and engages people on a personal level. This means more than just creating status updates about new products online; it means understanding the trends on social media and using them - memes, trolls, creative pictures and hashtags etc - to speak to audiences in their own language. As Andreas Kaplan points out, no ones wants to interact with a boring organisation online.
• Firms need to incorporate fun promotional activities with social media. This helps to shift online audiences from being 'likers' to actual customers. Conversely, it also increases interactions with a brands' social media pages by drawing in new customers who want to keep up with the brand online.
• Organisations must also identify the influential groups of their industry and develop unique content and activities that will attract them to join and talk about their social media pages.