Differentiation

Two companies within the same industry that utilize social media are Boca Bistro and San Chez Bistro. Since I am a big food enthusiast, it would make sense to pick the food industry. As you can see, both the Bistros use different forms of social media, but at the same time, have a lot of similarities as to how they want to differentiate and advance their brands.

Boca Bistro

Boca Bistro, located in Saratoga, is well known for their success in social media writes Brian Bushner, from Albany Business Reviews. The owner of this company (DZ restaurants) uses many of the platforms today, such as, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, flickr, and Foursquare. In addition, to keep up with consumer ratings, the owner of Boca Bistro also uses Yelp and other consumer sourced review sites. According to the owner of Boca Bistro, using all of these social media platforms is what differentiates the bistro. To make it easier for the consumers, Boca Bistro also lets consumers check in on Foursquare during happy hour, and if they do, they receive a free appetizer of some sort. I would do it! Would you?

The director of marketing for DZ restaurants/Boca Bistro says, “Any photos that are shared on social media are “as fresh as the food.” “Using an old photo is just like serving a dish a second time. It has to be fresh, it has to be appealing.”

 

Patrons line up in front of Boca Bistro during Chowderfest 2013 in Feburary. – MELISSA MANGINI

Read more on Boca Bistro social media engagement!

San Chez Bistro

San Chez Bistro is a tapas bistro and restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This bistro focuses on the needs and wants of their LOCAL audience. (I wish I had that here in PA!) A fun fact about San Chez is that they encourage their customers to use Twitter to reserve a seat at their restaurant. They call it “Tweet-Ahead Seating”. Once you tweet your interest in a reservation, the online hostess tweets you back with a message similar to this: “Great, you’re on the list. See you in a little while.”

San Chez Bistro strategy focuses on combining smartphone capabilities, social media and local marketing, to gain consumers and to also make it easier for them to eat at the bistro. Just like Boca Bistro, San Chez also utilizes Foursquare. Not only do they gain greater visibility, but a customer will get an incentive for checking in.

Overall, both of these bistros use social media in a fun engaging way. They offer incentives and they have great ratings! They differ by how many social media platforms they use, and what their incentives may be. Additionally, they are also targeting different audiences so the strategy they use will not apply for both bistros.