Marketing Lesson: Korean BBQ & Twitter
I recently had lunch with a social media director from a large private college on the West Coast. He was waxing eloquent about how Twitter was responsible for the amazing success of Kogi Korean BBQ.
In case you don’t know the story, Kogi Korean BBQ is a blend of Korean and Mexican flavors that is sold from trucks on the streets of LA. What makes the Kogi story so incredible, said my lunch mate, was how they use the Internet, especially Twitter, to tweet people on where the trucks will be parked. And when they find the location, people line up by the hundreds for the savory fare.
My colleague was convinced that Kogi was so popular because of social media. Of course, I couldn’t resist asking, “Do you think the quality of the food has anything to do with Kogi’s success?”
This dialogue highlights both the power and the shortcomings of social media. If you have great BBQ, or offer a great college experience, people will talk to one another. They will assemble over watercoolers, back fences, and online. Of course, if the experience is not that great, they will assemble as well. Social media is a channel, and we must never forget that it is what is being said in the channel that matters most.
Photo by davecobb
