Thursday, March 4, 2010

A tale of 2 restaurants (part 1 of 2)


Some restaurants do social media right. Some don’t. Sushilicous will serve up Japanese fare…soon. Zov’s is a well established restaurant with an impeccable reputation for their tasty food, and has been in business for years. Both are located in the heart of Orange County, California.

Why am I so jazzed about the opening of Sushilicious, yet I haven't sampled not one morsel of their edibles yet? Well, I already feel like part of the family, for starters. What’s the driver for all that? Why, social media of course.

Can’t recall how I stumbled upon @sushilicious; maybe they followed me first on Twitter. Perhaps it was the word “sushi” in my Twitter bio? Doesn’t matter. What do we have in common that binds us? Initially, location, location, location; a mere 15 minute jaunt down the road from me. Oh, and I love Japanese food.

But there’s more to it than that. What happened next? @sushilicious and I started tweeting to each other. After asking where the restaurant is, I inquired several times as to when they are opening. Our tweets led to my becoming a fan on Facebook. So, what does Sushilicous do right? They

• Treat tweeps and Facebook fans like they’re old friends
• Inform us of the progress towards the grand opening, from gutting the old establishment located there to putting up drywall, painting, and soon, completion! Visuals posted on Facebook bring the process to life; we are there with you, every step of the way, feeling like WE picked up the hammer and nails.
• Post and tweet lighthearted looks at the fun side of Japanese food, like the GIANT piece of sushi recently posted.
• Thank us for our comments, and mean it
• Ask questions to see how we are doing such as “How are you finding happiness today?”

Fans post on Facebook. Often. And they’re not just responding to a post by Sushilicious, they’re posting freely. Then there’s the article by Jonathan Lansner and Jeff Collins in the OC Register. Here the philosophy of Sushilicious is revealed, and reading this for the first after writing the above, it appears that my perceptions from the customer side align beautifully with what they are seeking to accomplish. From that article, here are the 5 P’s:

• Be Personable to all people.
• Positive to all different ideas.
• Passionate about what we do and know.
• Pass on what we learn …
• and last of all, Promote others.

Need I say more? Sushilicious is proof that social media can enhance the success of a small business when you truly understand what social media is about …interacting, engaging, sharing, informing. Grade A here.

(Stayed tuned for part 2)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Very informative! (and now I'm hungry for sushi as well)

Joe Hendricks said...

Cool! We love sushi/sashimi - AND..I was born in Orange County :-)

Anonymous said...

drat! I'm in Alabama!!!!