Making 'Quick-n-Easy' connections...it's a social (media) thing

Online, March 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Making 'Quick-n-Easy' connections...it's a social (media) thing

For Immediate Release
Contact: Melissa Marshall
Marketing & Design Coordinator
TMF Foods
melissam@tmffoods.com
www.tmffoods.com or www.lousquickneasy.ca
800-263-1378

Making 'Quick-n-Easy' connections...it's a social (media) thing

(Stoney Creek, Ontario March 17, 2010) Quick-n-Easy reaches out to consumers old and new for their ideas! Using social media to connect.

What does a company with a modest marketing budget and a larger than life personality do when they want to promote their product? They turn to social media. That is just what a Stoney Creek based company, The Meat Factory (TMF), is doing to promote their new line of Lou's Quick-n-Easy slow roasted, fully cooked entrees.

'We have tried a number of tactics to promote our products.' says Andrew Thomson, President. 'Radio, print media, contests, flyers, posters, event barbecues...you name it, and we have tried it. However, the promotion that our consumers most often mention is the one with a personal connection. That is, when we decided to engage our best asset, the 'real face of the Lou's brand, our founder and CEO, Lou Albanese, by meeting his consumers at stores across Ontario, it made an impact.'

It has become evident to TMF that the one thing that no other company can replicate is the genuine, dynamic and charismatic personality that is the man behind the Lou's brand. The decision to use social media stemmed out of an interest to bring 'Lou' to a far greater number of consumers.

Social media allows people to express opinions, share experiences and influence others through online communities. Creative use of social media allows companies the ability to reach a multitude of consumers and these consumers want this connection with companies. A 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study found that 85% of users believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media.

But all this doesn't just happen. TMF has worked diligently to set up a focused approach to how they connect with consumers. They created clear objectives for using social media and carefully thought out how to make a meaningful connection.

For TMF, the short-term objective of using social media was simple - cost effectively show consumers that there is a real face behind the Lou's brand. However, this is just the beginning. In the long term TMF believes social media will help them stay connected to their consumers and build lasting relationships with loyal customers.

So far three vignettes have been posted on YouTube. The first video captured people trying the newly launched Lou's Quick-n-Easy products Lou at the Women's Show in Toronto last November. The video doesn't pretend to be scripted in anyway, showing Lou warmly inviting people to taste the new Beef Tips in red wine gravy. The reactions are clearly unscripted and you can see by the look on people's faces and by what they say that they genuinely like the products. "We have many loyal customers so when the video was posted, we sent the link to them so they could see the latest new product and we encouraged them to send to their friends, and so on, and so on...the video created a 'buzz'." explains Melissa Marshall, head of marketing for TMF.

When TMF were wondering what the next new flavour of Lou's Quick-n-Easy should be, it didn't take long to realize that the answer was likely already out there. "Our relationship to our customers is important to us and we want to hear their ideas. Not only that, we are going to show them that we listen by developing the next Lou's Quick-n-Easy variety based on their ideas. "says Lou. Putting that mantra to the test, Lou's latest video announces a recipe challenge, inviting people to send in their recipe ideas to become the next new Lou's Quick-n-Easy variety. To make this truly a 'people's choice award', consumers will vote on the recipes to decide the winner. To see the video, and recipe challenge details go to www.lousquickneasy.ca

'We want our consumers to know that we are listening to them and value their opinion.' says Thomson, 'What better way to do this than by receiving direct feedback from those that use our products on a daily basis.