Vineyard Vines Facebook

Many new companies that have established themselves over the past decade have more of an advantage to learn some new age marketing skills over some older companies and traditional methods. Over the years, social media has become the largest and most effective way to interact with customers and receive customer feedback. Social media has also become the most effective way to generate new customers through groundswell. Vineyard Vines is a "preppy" clothing company, based out of Stamford, Connecticut founded in 1998. It has stores in Edgartown, Nantucket, and Mashpee, Massachusetts; Greenwich and Westport, Connecticut; and Memphis, Tennessee. Vineyard Vines is most closely associated with the college age demographic and focuses on this group as their target audience. This being said, this is an absolute perfect age group to target through a social media network.

Vineyard Vines has established a very successful social media network through their Facebook page and keeps it managed down to a science. They continuously and promptly respond to customer comments and post status updates that draw in numerous viewers. The company uses excellent customer engagement and keeps fans posted on news, events, where Vineyard Vines will be traveling and what new products and sales are coming up. Although Vineyard Vines does have a blog and a Twitter page, they do not have hardly any followers on either one. Their Facebook on the other hand is outstanding in the way that they have successfully established good customer relationships and engage with them on a daily basis.

Vineyard Vines on CNBC video!

Posted By:
Mark Shaffer

Texting Can Put an End to Smoking

Do you have a loved one addicted to smoking cigarettes? Have you heard of people trying several different techniques to quit this nasty habit? Well, researchers have found an easy way to kick this loathsome trait! Basically text messaging distracts your brain from having the urge to smoke a cigarette.

Research groups from University of Oregon, University of Michigan, and UCLA got together a study and performed it on 27 heavy smokers in Las Angeles. The participants were in a three-week smoking program and all received eight texts a day to monitor their moods, cravings, and cigarette use. The study showed that texting or other hand held devices help the human brain forget about their craving sensation. If you want a friend, family member, or even yourself to stop cigarette smoking try sending a text!

-Jessica Reynolds

Social Media: Not Only for Creeping

We have all heard the term “citizen journalism" where just about anyone can appoint themselves journalists. Using the tools readily available online and the technology that we desperately cling to everyday, news from al over the world is, well, everywhere. It is also safe to say that many people use social media to connect with friends, share photos, and feed off the latest bit of gossip to hit their news feeds.

However, now more commonly, social media has helped spread the word about the record-breaking earthquake in Japan and people are already using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to help Japan rebuild their country. People are contacting friends and family while posting videos, photos and news updates online from their phones and cameras. Information, as we all know, is never far away.

According to this article in the Technology section of ABC News, when Japan’s cell phones became too overcrowded to use, people used social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook to reach their concerned family members. The article discusses how an American law student who was in Japan for his spring break has used the Internet exclusively to connect with friends and family. This is not a tragedy that only affects the Japanese, and social media is helping remind us of that.

Google, which is becoming more social than just a reliable search engine, set up a “Person Finder” application that has helped linked victims to their family members already. And these immediate actions do not stop there. YouTube, as of March 11, holds over 9,000 earthquake-related videos and over 7,000 relating to tsunamis. The Google page looks like this. Simple and to the point and extremely effective:

Not only does this have newsworthy value, but it also opens a window for viewers all over the world to see how devastating a natural disaster like this can be. However, basic information is not enough to motivate people to help. When people can make an emotional connection, they are most likely to take action. It was groundbreaking to see live video during Vietnam War, as it can be accredited to causing such a negative view during that time. The same drastic affects are happening now, but thanks to social media, it is not uncommon or hard to find. People are inspired to help based on what they have seen through these images and videos of the earthquake. Twitter has becoming a main source of information, as people are posting devastating TwitPics and spreading the word about Red Cross’ efforts to assist victims in Japan just as it did for Haiti.

In the matter literally one second, my Twitter search for Japan was out of date:

The original purpose of the Internet was to create a network safe from military, technological and natural disasters and that remains true to this day. Now, however, it is a key player in spreading news, connecting with people and instantaneously raising efforts for those in need when other sources fail.

-Alaina Cordes