Asda steps up social media, as festival runs workshop
Britain’s second largest supermarket has invited customers to tweet and write Facebook posts about the range using a #chosenbyme hashtag. The best posts are published on a hub page on the supermarket’s website Asda.com.
According to its website: “Every week hundreds of our customers use social media to tell their friends about their favourite Asda products – posting photos and comments about everything from cookies to curries; pancakes to pizzas.
“We’d love to hear about your favourite products too. Just tweet, post on Facebook, share a picture on Instagram or post on Google + with the hashtag #chosenbyme to let people know about the products you love most.”
Pack stickers
Asda plans to select some of the messages to feature on on-pack stickers and point of sale in-store stands. The aim is to focus the goodwill generated by the brand into a social media framework and to give the brand a personal face.
“A personal recommendation from someone who really loves something can be much more effective than traditional advertising,” notes the Asda website.
Launched four years ago, the Chosen By You brand features more than 1,000 lines.
Typical posts include:
- “No Added Sugar Fruit & Barley Peach and Apricot is a new favourite in our house this week.”
- “Asda Chicken Enchilada Kits! Better than premium brands and ever so tasty! Fav. evening dish to remind me of Mexico.”
- “Your new flavoured panini breads ... the cheese one is gorgeous and the seeded perfect for breakfast! Great idea.”
Meanwhile, in an unrelated move, local food and drink businesses have been invited to a free social media workshop at the Taste of Angus Festival.
Intended for social media novices from the local food and drink industry, the workshop is being run in partnership with Angus Council by Tayside Food & Drink Forum.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Mairi Evans, Angus council business development spokeswoman, said social media platforms – such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – were playing an increasingly significant part in many people’s day-to-day lives.
“Social media already influences where many people choose to shop, eat and spend time with their friends and families,” said Evans. “So local food and drink companies should benefit considerably from attending this workshop and finding out more about the ins and outs of social media.”
“Social media platforms are fundamentally changing the way customers buy goods and services and this workshop will explain why effective use of social media is so important, how to make it work for individual businesses and how to use it to better engage with customers.”
Social media expert and business consultant Lesley Wood, who will deliver the workshop, said: “This is a chance to discover not only the power of social media but also how to harness this power.”
The workshop will take place at the Angus Centre for Enterprise, Abroath at 10.30am on Tuesday September 10.
More information is available here.
