With social sites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Vine; the platforms a food, beverage or hospitality business can use to promote itself are limitless and constantly changing. Brands have the opportunity to make their fans and customers a part of the product decision making process, harness employees as brand advocates, and develop a new pipeline for customer loyalty and acquisition. While the voice of the customer has always been important, it has become significantly more demanding and powerful as social platforms have also become hubs for a user’s daily life, revealing details such as identity, interests, activities, and location.  Consumers have more opportunities than ever to research products and services before purchase and to find peer reviews.

TripAdvisor’s TripBarometer Mobile & Social Survey finds 85% of US travelers bring their smartphones on vacation and 61% report using social media while traveling.  The KPMG 2013 Food and Beverage Industry Outlook Survey reported that social media and consumer engagement through mobile and online channels are having the most significant impact on their business out of six categories.  Food, beverage, and hospitality brands need to provide consumers with a fun experience and allow them to take marketing into their own hands to generate buzz and communicate the brand’s message in memorable ways.

This summit will demonstrate how leading food, beverage, and hospitality organizations are harnessing social media platforms to build their brand and engage their audiences. We will answer the following questions:

• How do you use social listening to identify new opportunities to attract customers and what are the leading tools to do so?
• How do you engage customers in a real time multi-screen mobile environment?
• What are the leading case studies about how brands are using location based marketing including check-ins and geo-targeting?
• How do you ignite dialogue and keep influencers engaged?
• What types of contests or giveaways work best for your brand or product?
• Which social media platforms work best for your brand or product?
• How do you optimize the use of trending hashtags?
• How do you respond to negative reviews to positively impact your reputation?

The agenda will consist of several case study presentations in the general auditorium followed by two moderated interactive roundtable discussion group sessions with 8-12 attendees each on very specific topics.

Adam Wallace Presentation