Eugene Reznik - Assignmnent 3

Analysis and Evaluation of the Chipotle Facebook Page (II)

The Chipotle social media page on Facebook is doing a great job of promoting their product to the general public. In particular their promotion for Halloween is: if one walks in with a costume, they can get a bowl, burrito, or any menu item for just three dollars. This obviously encourages people to go to their fast food restaurant, as the food is twice cheaper than usual. Also on their page they made their own cover photo with the catch phrase “ boorito” and put up pictures of stick figure zombies and Halloween type characters that are storming around their restaurant. Also chipotle uses celebrities and sponsors shows like Ellen DeGeneres to attract more people to their product, as can be scene on their Facebook page. Then they created a scarecrow-game that’s free and again attracts users to participate in their Halloween themed week.

In their “Adventuro” challenge that deals with getting free chipotle for a year they took criticism from their customer in order to make a more fair system of potentially winning the challenge, which shows that a customer service portal is present. On their Facebook page they are able to showcase their product or provide user generated content by having plenty of pictures on Facebook of people eating their products in a manner that obviously portrays the food as delicious and one of a kind.  Finally as far as content flow they update their status and upload pictures all the time to advertise and interact with the social media world and their customers. A prime example of that is the diversity of ideas that can be found on the page as they showcase everything from their food, trivia questions, graphic design, celebrities, and comedy to show their true integration into the social media world.

Helene Inselseth - Assignment 3

Analysis and evaluation of T-Mobile´s Facebook page

T-Mobile is a mobile communication firm that was founded in Germany in 1990. The company has expanded to be a global mobile communication firm, established in 11 different countries. On the US market, T-Mobile serves more than 44 million customers, something that makes them one of the biggest mobile communication firms in the in the country. I think their commercial page is doing an effective job of social media marketing, and there are several reasons for that.  First of all, T-Mobile’s Facebook page is made professionally with the company´s color (pink) as a consistent theme. They have a very interactive page; by that I mean that they have a great content flow, and are active by several postings per month. They post several great pictures and videos that are entertaining for the “likers” to watch. 

The content of their posts is also very involving, and by asking a lot of simple questions to the viewers, they get them to participate. They are also publishing posts that create a positive mood, which makes it easy and fun to get involved and answer. Further on, they create competitions by making the “likers” send in pictures and nominate a winner. The last winner of a competition on their page won a Samsung Galaxy S4 and a chance to participate in a national advertising campaign, and this is something that is creating engagement and interest to their page. They are also using the page actively to promote their products, something that is a very effective way to reach out to millions of potential buyers. They are definitely using their page in a good way, but to make the page even better they could also create events and even give away free things sometimes. This has the potential to increase the activity to the page, and to involve more potential buyers. To summarize, T-Mobile´s Facebook page is successful and reach out and involve millions of customers, which is of great importance to the brand.

Tone Hanstad - Assignment 3

Analysis and evaluation of Starbucks Coffee Company´s webpage

Starbucks is one of the worlds largest coffee companies, with a increasing developing and growing since 1971. Starbucks is located all over the world and are still growing. The webpage of Starbucks are doing a very effective job with providing all the menus and are open about the history behind the coffee beans. At the webpage, they also has an online shop and a Starbucks reward card that you can register online to get coffee discount. 

The Starbucks webpage have premiums in form of free coffee. Even if the webpage don´t have any giveaways they are doing a great job to make people interested and participating by register and make a Starbucks account to earn free coffee. At the time they have an on going campaign that cooperates with Twitter. Starbucks is announcing that it is possible to Tweet-a-coffee, by giving away coffee to a friend via Twitter. By tempt with a $5 Starbucks gift card if you are one of the first 100,000 doing this, they make people more likely to do this. On the webpage Starbuck has an own tab with customer service where customers can come in contact and get answers to questions about the company. As well as the webpage, Starbucks Coffee is also active on other social medias as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, where people can have a conversation and share their thoughts and opinions about the company. Least it is worth mentioning that Starbucks are providing new items regularly on the webpage. Currently they are promoting “A Trio of Pumpkin Treats”, associated with the fact that Halloween is going on. You can also shop fall drink ware, which is inspired by the season. All in all Starbucks is doing a great job with a very welcoming, customer friendly and easy-to-use webpage.

Inga Draagum - Assignment 3

Analysing the webpage of Chipotle (I)

Chipotle is a ”fast food” chain, which provides you with types of Mexican food. Their web page appears to be made professional people in terms of the quality on design and graphics. Right now their webpage have advertisement regarding an event that is due on Halloween. This premium are encouraging people to come by a chipotle restaurant after 4pm on Halloween in their costume in order for them to score a 3$ burrito. This is highly attracting to customers who are interested in getting free stuff. This event can also be seen as a good participation feature. The webpage also have a figure in the margin, which you can click on to enter a game and a film. This is certainly more alluring to children. I cannot see that the webpage provides user-generated content, which is material submitted on the webpage by users. In order to submit stuff you might be a user and you are able to become that by making yourself an account.  

The webpage have a customer service portal, which works in the way that people can get answers to questions by clicking on different categories. People can also send mail directly. I will say they are providing a dialogue with customers, but the dialogues are not for others to see (not a chat room, forum etc.). It´s my first time visiting this page so I can not say for sure that their webpage are providing new engaging materials regularly. Anyways my overall impression is that this webpage are very up to date and regularly provides new materials on their webpage for the sake of maintain alluring to costumers. I can say this by looking at the webpage´s impressing graphics and designs and what the webpage offers in general. 

http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/Default.aspx?type=default

Elana Hanen - Assignment 3

Analysis and Evaluation of BMW Facebook page

I will be evaluating the effectiveness of the official BMW Facebook page in regards to social media marketing. Since 1916, BMW has been considered one of the most desired cars in the automobile industry.  With its signature logo, luxurious interior designs, and that iconic purring German engine, it is no wonder BMW is a booming company.  The popularity of the brand translates to the large following on the official Facebook page, including 14,599,279 likes and 186,949 Facebook users “talking about this.”  BMW does a wonderful job consistently updating the Facebook page with content flow, showcasing vibrant pictures of the products and posting links of videos from the BMW youtube channel.  Nearly everyday a new campaign or event photo is posted on the wall of the official Facebook page.  Moreover, these Facebook posts facilitates user-generated participation as fans of the brand comment on the photos with either adoring words, or by uploading photos of their own BMW cars. 

Due to the fact that these automobiles are very expensive, it is understandable that the official Facebook page does not promise any premiums such as free cars; however, they do give other incentives to loyal BMW followers.  For instance, on October 18^th BMW posted on the official Facebook page “Follow us on www.instagram.com/bmw, share your most special memory and add the hashtags #BMWRepost and #BMWMagazine in the caption to get your best photo printed in the official BMW Magazine.”  This is an effective marketing technique using not only Facebook, but also Instagram to promote the company while having fans participate for possible rewards.  On the other hand, the official BMW Facebook page does not provide a “portal” for customer service engagement with the fan following.  Customers and fans want to feel important to the brand, and the fact that the page fails to promote a dialogue of close company to client interaction is not a very strategic marketing technique on BMW’s behalf.  Overall, the official Facebook page is successful in keeping fans in the loop on all the activities of the company while promoting participation by the users. 

Cecilie Jenssen - Assignment 3

Analysis & Evaluation of Subway’s webpage

Subway is an American fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells subs and salads. Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 40,597 restaurants in 102 countries. Their webpage (http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/default.aspx ) is colorful and alluring, and provides a lot of information.

Every month they update their information, regarding different offers on different subs and what the month’s “special” is. They do also have a competition in collaboration with the release of “Hunger Games, Catching fire” movie, starting 10.31.13, where you can win your own “victory tour” to Hawaii or to the L.A premiere. In addition, you can win subs for a year, private screening or a VIP concert experience. 

They’re also good at including users, by making it possible and easy to come in contact with customer service. It is also possible to engage by taking their online survey or reading subway FAQS. They have also made it easy for their customers to follow their latest news and offers, by signing up for their newsletter. 

In total, I think their webpage is very user friendly and provide a lot of information. Nevertheless, it would have been more engaging if it was possible to comment directly on their webpage instead of sending an email, or if they posted some of the comments they received from their customers. They could also have created games and events on their webpage, to increase customers’ participation and had more user-generated content. 

Clémence Robineau - Assignment 3

Analysis & Evaluation of IKEA's social media page:

https://www.facebook.com/IKEAUSA

Is this commercial page doing an effective job of social media marketing and why?

Yes! IKEA is a Swedish company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, and home accessories. As of January 2008, IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer. If you look them up on Facebook, at least 20 pages pop up in your first search, each belonging to a different country, or even a specific location in that country (like Emeryville IKEA popping up as my second search since it's the closest to my current location). They have over 298 stores in 26 countries. By looking at their IKEA USA Facebook page, one can see that they upload two new posts with pictures and details every day and they make sure their page is up to date. Their page is constantly filled with vibrant colors that attract the eye without ever taking away from their sleek, simple and sophisticated interior decor. 

They do provide premiums in some of these posts, such as "Love your IKEA store? Join the #IKEAcrowd on Crowdtap! Answer questions to earn prizes and gain access to exclusive contests!", they offer deals for their food: "Click to print out a coupon you can present at the IKEA Restaurant to enjoy a Swedish meatball plate for only $2 this weekend!" and they even had a student special where college students could win a full makeover of their dorm rooms if they liked a specific post and participated in the raffle. Their page is also full of participation points where they involve the users to make sure their customer service is top notch: "We want to hear about your IKEA Services experience! Have you used our Delivery, Delivery with Assembly, or Picking with Delivery services in the past 3 months? Please click here to complete a short survey: http://bit.ly/1fuG2Yz". Most of their posts involve creative uses and decorations that could help the users furnish and assemble their home, although they do not post anything users have sent them. While their user-generated content is quasi-non-existant, they do make sure to keep their followers communicating by implementing a customer service "portal". They have the users participate in each post by asking them questions about their favorite pieces of furniture, or how they would decorate their rooms for the holidays: " What’s your favorite meal to serve in the fall? Make it easier with IKEA cooking tools!"; "Tell us — what is the coziest room in your home?". 

All in all, IKEA marks all the points for having an effective social media and marketing Facebook page, although they could perhaps bring more user-generated content.