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What Social Media Can Do for a Restaurant? An Example of 4food in Midtown Manhattan

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A small eatery named 4food was featured in Reuters yesterday, not because it sells organic burgers or it has a premium location. It is because it sets an excellent example for small business in this social-media era by integrating social media in menu development, marketing, entertainment, social exchange, employee recruitment, and more.

Located at the corner of 40th and Madison in Midtown Manhattan, 4food is also equipped with a 240 square foot monitor, which is used to publish the restaurant’s and its fans’ tweets and updates. If ordering online, scheduling a pickup, and using an iPad onsite to place an order are not new, here are some “fresh” examples:

  • If a customer tags 4food’s Facebook wall, he/she has a chance to win an iPad.
  • If a customer tweet a picture of him or her “in front of the restaurant’s ‘tag wall’ --- an under-construction wall in front of the store where people can write ‘tweets’ with a Magic Marker,” he/she will receive $20 worth of food from the restaurant.
  • Being part of the “De-Junk NYC” social movement that promotes innovative ideas in the City, 4food also uses social media for hiring.
  • Customers can create their own dishes using a DIY app. Then, they can name their own creations. 4food pays a customer 25 cents every time when his or her creation is ordered by another customer.
  • Customers can rate those “creations” on the menu. The best item will rise to the top for its popularity.
  • One can earn free burger for life from this restaurant if he/she is a social networking “guru with hundreds and thousands of followers” and constantly promote 4food.

If a business has engaged with its customers by setting up a Facebook fan page or a twitter account, one may need to think deeper and see what else social media can do. Any inspirations from 4food?

References:

Reuters.com: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS38854905620100601

Picture was downloaded from: http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok06032010P

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Comments

  1. Linchi KwokJune 15, 2010 at 8:36 AM

    The Wall Stree Journal also featured a discussion about 4food on June 15, 2010.

    Restaurant Chain Gets Social: http://on.wsj.com/8YpBdJ

    ReplyDelete

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