Marketing Plantains

My fiancé loves listening to ESPN 1000. I mean, what guy doesn't, right? It's his daily dose of sports and I have to admit, I like watching him agree and talk to the radio as if they can hear him :) We were at a bar a few weeks ago and I overheard a conversation he was having about how 'someone didn't know what plantains were.' So nosey me goes- WHO doesn't know what plantains are?? Turns out, while listening to Mike & Mike earlier that day- the hosts brought up a comment about how "The Dominican Team wear bananas as lucky charms." As in, they didn't realize those are not bananas. As in, they had no clue what plantains are. Never heard of one!

Sounds silly, right? Especially because one of the hosts played in Miami at one point in time and the other had been in Puerto Rico for an extensive amount of time. Nevertheless, this sparked somewhat of an interesting conversation on the radio and on social media. I don't think listeners were angry, but rather excited to educate both Mike and Mike on what a plantain is.

I always keep an ear to the ground for a marketing opportunity. What happened next, I think- is brilliant. Someone at a company called Pollo Tropical in Miami caught wind of the conversation (how? I don't know) but they seized the opportunity for a simple and affective marketing ploy. They actually sent Mike & Mike a box of plantains, with instructions on how to cook them in a variety of ways. Lucky for the hosts, they had a chef at the station who prepared them right then and there.

That day, they announced "We've embarrassed ourselves by our lack of culture" and laughed about how they've "been chastised on twitter with the fact that we didn't know about a plantain." Overall they loved tasting platano for the first time. The fact that this conversation carried on for a couple days when it could of been a random mention shows how much we are listening. "We" as in Latinos. Aside from the people that actaully made an attempt to reach the hosts, you can bet there were a hundred others who had a conversation about the incident with friends and family. Like my fiancé did.

Unfortunately, there is a missed opportunity here as well. In my opinion, Pollo Tropical should have taken the free radio shout out and maximized it on social media. I don't see a mention of their efforts on their Facebook page, and their Twitter page is a blank slate.

Never underestimate the power of Word of Mouth marketing!

Catch the full Mike & Mike transcripts here! March 21, March 22

-Dais

Perhaps It's Time To Clean Up Your Act

As a marketing consultant, I am fully engrossed in the world of social media. I study it, plan it, read about it, write about it and understand it more than I'd like to. I say that because it's sometimes hard to enjoy the tool when you know so much about it... I often wonder if it will ever stop evolving!?! But it won’t. It's here to stay. I am fortunate to have grown along side it from non-existence to what it is today, and on most days, I really do love all it has to offer and how it's changed the way we communicate.

My theory on why social media has become so triumphant is very simple: it’s a platform to talk about yourself. We want to be heard and social media gives us that freedom, plus billions of possible listeners along with it. It’s dangerous and liberating all at once. Think of how much power is in like, retweet, comment or share. A lot! Sadly, most of the population online is so preoccupied with getting their ego stroked, they often forget who they really are. I know a lot of people who are not who they say they are on social media, and I'm sure you do too.

Whether you realize it or not, know that you are constantly marketing yourself; you are a walking billboard! Your updates, networks, the things you like, the comments you post, places you check-in to, your photos, your "about" section -they all say something about you in a very public way. Take few minutes to analyze if your feed reflects the image you want portray. If the answer is no, here are a few suggestions to get started on cleaning it up:

• Study your privacy settings and use them accordingly
• Take advantage of friend "lists" on Facebook! You can make a list for family, co-workers, close friends - etc. In my opinion, they shouldn't be seeing the same things all the time.
• Select your friends carefully; if your list consists of a ton of strangers you never even speak to, it may be time to let them go- OR- perhaps they deserve to be on a separate list all on their own. I use social networks for marketing purposes, so if you're like me, chances are you can't avoid strangers completely. Again, use your privacy settings accordingly!
• People use your drama as conversation starters- off line. Yes, they do. Stop giving people a reason to talk about you.
• If you're looking for work and/or want to be taken serious in your profession - keep it professional! I guarantee employers are searching your name on social networks as soon as they receive your resume. Your profile picture says a lot. So do your last 20 tweets describing what you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner and how bored you are.
• Want to have better conversations online? Great! Talk with people not at them. It's great that you have an opinion on latest gay rights issue, but in order to talk about it with your network, you have to open that door. Instead of saying "I support gay rights" try something like "When the term "marriage equality" is really broken down, all that is left is love. Wouldn't you agree?" - if that doesn't work, try something different next time. The point is not to create a dead end in a potentail two-way conversation.
• It's okay if you have nothing to say. Keep that to yourself too :)
• Most importantly, keep it real. There's no need to fake it online and you will be awfully embarrassed when your true colors are discovered; you can only keep the lying for so long.

On the flip side - maybe you don't give a rats ass about how any social network makes you look - and that's okay too. Keep on keepin on.

-Dais

The first step is always easiest after its over.

So here I am. My first blog post.

I'm 28, venturing off into a new phase in life; I'm engaged to a wonderful man, slowly easing out of my 20's, changing my lifestyle for the better and constantly trying to find the right balance between this and that.

I've been part of this social-sphere for a little over 7 years now. Facebook started it all for me, then I deleted my account and moved to MySapce- quit that and went back to Facebook and added Twitter, FourSquare, Yelp, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest to my repertoire.

So, why start blogging now?

I've always wanted to do it. Over the years I half-ass attempted to blog and never followed through. I am determined to make this a year of accomplishments. I feel there is no time like the present to share my thoughts, transformation, tips and anything else I find useful along the way. Above all, I find writing theraputic. And that is just what I need in my era of change. All are welcome to follow- as is your feedback.

I apologize in advance for my typos. There will be many.

-Dais

My dream come true | Visiting rice paddy fields in Bali, Indonesia Oct '12