If Hugh MacLeod needs validation that he’s ahead of the curve, he has it today. Hugh helped put a South African wine on the lips of European and American wine drinkers by offering the wine for free at pre-arranged gatherings of bloggers.
Now Kraft Foods is doing the same with its DiGiorno flatbread pizza brand. According to Ad Age, the freezer aisle’s largest-selling pizza brand is wading into social media for the launch, tapping tweeters with strong followings and offering to provide food for tweetups.
What constitutes a “strong following” on Twitter remains to be determined. The brand’s helpers at PR agency Weber Shandwick will endeavor to tackle that one.
Ad Age also points out that DiGiorno is putting itself up against some of the most tech-savvy players out there. Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s all have strong online strategies, with Facebook fan bases and a variety of digital-ordering platforms that have boosted customer satisfaction and slashed operational costs.
A store bought DiGiorno pizza costs about half of a delivered pie. So Kraft has the price argument won. Which leaves quality. Will the Twitterverse make quality claims on the brand’s behalf? We’re about to find out.
I’ve been trying for over a year, and I can’t get the Alley Cat to scan a freakin’ menu and post a PDF version on their website. I even told them I’d do it for them!
Here’s a link to their site:
http://www.alleycatpizzerianh.com/
But I won’t go anywhere else for my eggplant and ricotta pizza. 🙂