Social Media and Convenience Stores

Become a fan now for a Free Iced Coffee!

A recent project has had me thinking about how to reach C Store visitors. Since their shopper is normally young and male - social media seemed to be appropriate. What did I find? Well, the normal use of the corporate website was to sell franchises, and there was little interaction sought or built by these corporations with their consumers.

Well, it appears that a number of these chains have started to open their minds to these possibilities. For example Quick Chek (a NJ chain) will give a free iced coffee to all their Facebook friends - if they get to 1,500 friends.

Other stores are also getting active, according to this article in C Store news - including Kum and Go, and Sheetz.

Frankly, its an easy fit, and a small investment that could have a big payback for these retailers.

You know bottled water has issues when...

The best ad for tap water I have seen...

In the NYT today there is a really interesting article on water in Venice (Italy not CA).

In short the article talks about how there is a local push to change Italian consumption habits from bottled mineral water to tap water.

From my perspective it is very interesting that they have taken a specific insight and built a brand image around it. Rather that focusing on a traditional taste cue, or a contemporary "green" cue they have focused on the simple dissonance that challenges bottled water... why pay for something that you can almost get for free out of the tap.

Aqua Veritas... True Water. Love it!

A New Challenge For Coke Zero...

A victim of its success?

Apparently there are big issues with Coke Zero. Venezuela has banned its sale "to preserve the health of Venezuelans".

Coke Zero is the artificially sweetened, zero calorie taste-alike of regular Coke... and has apparently hit a nerve with President Chavez. Obviously this is some kind of political play rather than a legitimate health concern.

Perhaps Hugo owns some sugar fields??

Good Data...

I love a good, well sourced report - and the GMA/PWC 2009 Annual Performance Report on the Food, Beverage and Consumer products industry is just that.

So, I posted it to my slideshare account.

The Semantics of Milk...

The protein world is getting litigious. First Cytosport (make of Muscle Milk) has sued VPX over the trade dress of their Muscle Power product, and now Nestle has decided to go after Muscle Milk over "Milk" because its not actually Milk... its a high protein, artificially-created shake.

So, we run to the dictionary for a definition, and we find:

Milk –noun

1.an opaque white or bluish-white liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals, serving for the nourishment of their young.

2.this liquid as secreted by cows, goats, or certain other animals and used by humans for food or as a source of butter, cheeses, yogurt, etc.

3.any liquid resembling this, as the liquid within a coconut, the juice or sap of certain plants, or various pharmaceutical preparations.

I guess we will be seeing the "pharmaceutical preparation" defense...

But those lawyer bills... ouch!

The Myth of Sustainable Competitive Advantage

It may be a bit academic, but this article in the HBS review is very interesting.

The basic premise is that competition is now so aggressive that no advantage is sustainable over a long period, and that a successfull business no requires a process that builds a series of short term advantages.

The implication here is that the pace of innovation and change is only likely to accelerate, and that personal employment stability will be a thing of the past.

An interesting read, but with far reaching implications...

Vive La Fizzy Difference!

Nice interesting perspective on what Americans call their Carbonated Soft Drinks... Soda, Coke, Pop or something else. A blogger has held a vote on Twitter.

I was personally hoping for a resurgence of "tonic" - a traditional favorite in Boston, and pronounced with great New England vowels as in tahnnik.