Applebee's: Tapping the potential of Video

  I have recently started noticing Applebee's advertising about the new video feature on their site, have you? I continue to be positive on the role of media in our lives. It is changing the way we express.

If you ever went to my work blog, you will notice the Blog slogan as "Media transforming the world". I count this Applebee's approach to build a community around a restaurant chain as a great example.  This shows that Videos (rich media) have an important place in this world. This is also interesting because more and more industry verticals are now trying to use video in innovative ways to get some attention in the online community. This is perceived as fun by the community and thus makes them participate. It is so easy for anyone to uplaod their video and so much for them to watch their kid, or they themselves show up on the Applebee site. It's a win-win. People could easily upload these videos on YouTube but then it might get lost in noise. Applebee's is able to provide a personal touch by hosting the videos on their site.

Over the memorial day weekend I went to the Oregan coast and happened to visit a small town called Tillamook, OR (yes, this is the place of the famous Tillamook cheese). We stopped for lunch at a Mexican place "La Mexicana". The reason I mention this place is as I noticed something very interesting, they had a huge graffiti board with pictures of everyone who ever celebrated their birthday there. The food was okay but I still remember the pictures they had and the personal touch may be enough for someone to celebrate their birthday. So does anyone want to guess what could be their next initiative - is the guess videos? Well, the answer will depend on a lot of things, but from where I am I think that is a great possibility. It may not happen tomorrow but I bet that it would happen someday. That day would change the restaurant industry. It would expand the experiences it provides to its customers - experiences that are not limited to the time you are in the restaurant, experiences you can share, experiences that others can now participate in with comments.

Pic: Having lunch at the "La Mexicana"

I would really love to hear from you about more such examples on how video is being used to engage customers. If you disagree that this approach is effective, I would love to know that too. I am also introducing Polls on this site with this post. The first Poll that goes live now - Is media transforming how companies engage customers? I hope you do poll, Happy Polling!