Chris Ford, pastry chef at Trummer’s
on Main, maintains the restaurant’s
blog (http://butterloveandhardwork.
typepad.com/butterlovehardwork/),
using his photography skills to reach
customers and potential visitors.
“Don’t use portals to talk negatively about
anything. It’s a turnoff for the consumer.
Also, utilizing the poll and survey functions
to gather information is great.”
larger group and having access to the voice
of the customer. You can hear what they
really thought of the brand.”
Currently, Panda Express uses Facebook,
You Tube and Twitter as its main social-
media platforms, says Ho. The chain
currently has 270,000 fans on Facebook,
900 Twitter followers and 27,000 You Tube
views. Ho says the company’s entrance
into social media was through You Tube
in March 2008, followed by launching
Facebook and Twitter pages in June 2009.
“It has become a part of my job, and I
consider it work,” Ford says. “I work 70
hours a week, and I love my job, and this
is just another avenue and part of the job.
I love reading blogs and doing anything
creative. For about a year, I wanted to start
a blog and was shy about it. Then, when I
thought about the photography aspect, I
realized it speaks to what I want to say.”
WHAT TO SAY
Moyer notes it is important to consider
the voice used in social media. “If you
have a social-media account and it is a
restaurant account, the voice needs to be
the voice of the restaurant. Sometimes it
does have to be the chef, but every place
will have a person with a better skill set for
handling the social media. Just make sure
you’re being consistent and following the
playbook of the establishment.”
Pal’s Sudden Service recently used
Facebook for a new product launch. “We
decided to launch our new raspberry iced
tea solely through social media,” says
Crosby. “The day of the launch, we just
posted on Facebook that we have a new
iced tea. Within two hours, we sold 146
teas. We’d had a sweet tea and a peach tea
for three years, and thought with the push
from social media, we may sell the same
amount of raspberry tea as the others in six
months. Now, after two months, we’re selling
two raspberry teas for each peach tea.”
“We’re most active with our Facebook
fans and YouTube subscribers,” Ho says.
“We’re continuing to develop our Twitter
strategy, and look forward to building our
relationship with our followers. We just
started to develop our first Panda Express
iPhone app, which will be our first step into
the mobile market.”
The National Culinary Review | June 2010
For some, social media has become
an intricate part of their job, and life
in general. Chris Ford, pastry chef at
Trummer’s on Main in Clifton, Va., near
Washington, D.C., maintains a blog (http://
butterloveandhardwork.typepad.com/
butterlovehardwork/) for the restaurant
and also weaves his work into his personal
Facebook and Twitter accounts. He is a
photographer, and posts photos with each
blog entry.
In addition, as with Yelp and other review
sites, Moyer says a restaurant does not
control the content, but rather is just
monitoring those outlets. “These are great
tools for getting feedback and seeing
what people are saying about you as an
establishment to help you rectify situations.
You do need to monitor and respond.”
Following the success of the iced tea launch,
Pal’s is planning to launch a new sandwich
via social media through Facebook and
Twitter. Crosby says it is a bigger sales item,
so it will be a bigger launch, followed by
traditional advertising after the social media.
Crosby adds that Pal’s does not give away
products on Facebook, just informs people
about news and products.
Moyer also suggests that when using
social media such as Twitter, always
talk about yourself only, and be positive.
Alerting followers about closings is
another practical application for social
media. Co Co. Sala used Facebook
and Twitter to communicate its hours
of operation when last winter’s major
snowstorms hit the Washington, D.C.,
area. Malhotra also uses the tools to let
followers know when the restaurant is
closed because of a private event.
