Coffee Companies are Using Social Networks to Increase Customer Base.

May 11, 2009

NEW YORK – Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are engaging coffee consumers, reports DMNews.com.

With the national launch of McDonald’s McCafé coffee offer, interest is brewing among customers through Twitter and a new Web site with shareable videos via Facebook and Reddit, for example – new media marketing strategies that has other coffee chains looking into “some form of social media as well.”

“We're having a lot of fun online, and there's a great dedicated area for McCafé  on the McDonald's Web site with some really quirky fun things,” Sofia Therios, director of marketing for McDonald's USA, told the news source. “It's been our mentality that slow and steady wins the race with social media…We really aggressively started looking at social media for the whole McDonald's brand late last year and wanted to make sure we had the right resources to engage our customers in ways that are relevant,” she said.

Therios commented that McDonald’s is expecting McCafé appeal to come from its existing customer base. For more targeted marketing efforts, subsites at the company’s Web site reach out to different demographics, such as African American, Hispanic and Asian customers. “McDonald's is also sending targeted e-mail blasts in English and Spanish to McDonald's customers who are already signed up to receive messages and promotions,” writes the news source.

Other coffee chains such as Starbucks have taken a “more subtle” social media approach. Its recent marketing campaign, which focuses on “story telling,” kicked off with a blog by Terry Davenport, senior vice president of marketing, and a YouTube.com video by Starbucks President, CEO and Chairman Howard Schultz. Starbucks also communicates to customers through its Facebook page, which has more than 1.5 million “friends.”

Meanwhile, smaller locations such as Bruegger’s Bakery have been “more hesitant” to get on board with social media in favor of direct mail and in-store marketing. “We're not trying to change what we do or respond to these ‘coffee wars' in any way,” Marketing Director Tom Piper told the news source, adding, “I am very confident that you will see more social media experiments from us: Facebook, Twitter, mobile and probably some online ad placements, but we're not walking away from traditional vehicles.”