Week 7 - Competitor's Visual Media

I continuation of week 7's work with visual media platforms we had to established an appropriate visual media platform, if applicable, to our own business. Additionally, we are to see the effectiveness of visual media with at least two different businesses similar to our own.

Rubio's http://www.rubios.com/
The visual media that Rubio's use is Instagram which is linked to their Facebook page. They also use Twitter. Their Instagram page is well used not only do they profile some of their food and current celebrations such as "Taco Tuesday starting at 2:30pm." Events such as beach clean ups and the fun atmosphere at their corporate center like their ugly Christmas sweater contest. Their twitter account also highlights their events such as beach clean ups and more recently an event by sandiegomag. Overall their use of visual media is effective because whether Instagram, Twitter or Facebook they allow their guests/fans/followers to talk directly to the company and give their opinions about their events, food, and commitment to social responsibility.

Starbucks http://www.starbucks.com/
The visual media that Starbucks uses are Google+ and Twitter as well as Facebook. Similarly to Rubio's their twitter serves as a channel to receive feedback and communication from their guests and followers. One of the biggest differences is that Starbucks does not have their accounts linked which works for them since they can definitely attract different audiences by keeping each medium separate. One cool aspect of their visual media platforms is the use of Google+ because one of their menu tabs is "YouTube" and upon opening that tab you get quite a few videos such as "How to Clean a Coffee Press" or "How to Brew Iced Coffee" and even includes a link that takes you directly to their YouTube channel page with many more videos including their "Meet me at Starbucks" film and other videos that are locations based.  The visual media that Starbucks uses works great for them because each medium can cater to different people and each having a specific target audience that helps them see different aspects of what to improve or what the people like.

For my business I have chosen Instagram (http://instagram.com/asicomomama/ or @asicomomama), after all, "Instagram is all about capturing the world's moments. And some moments need more than a still image to come to life." Since we tend to eat with our eyes first and the our stomach, this medium works best for me because I can showcase my recipes in their final stage and the delicious food that we cater and/or allow others to try and make if the recipe is given to our loyal fans. This would also work great for crafts that we are selling as well since we can track through pictures the different stages such items are being made and how long it actually took to make some of our cultural crafts. Overall, Instagram is the best medium for my business at the time and with time branch out to other visual media platforms such as YouTube to have actual videos and have my customers/guests known my staff and me.