Blog 3 - Big Voices for Small Businesses

In last week's lecture, we discussed Social Technology Value Levers; functions which provide value to an organization via the use of Social media tools in various different forms. These can be divided into different categories, depending on their effect (these categories include: Product Development, Operations and Distribution, Marketing and Sales, Customer Support, and Business Wide Support). These value levers were established and detailed  in a report by the McKinsey Global Institute published in 2012. 

For a practical approach to how social techs can be utilized, we were to pick an organisation or business and apply one of the categories of levers. While I continued to think "big" in terms of companies that I could analyse, it wasn't until I was going down to have my weekly coffee with my Dad, that I realised that the solution was right under my nose.

Kobblers is a coffee shop just down the road from where I live, and was the first of it's kind to open on my side of the suburb in February of 2012 after a short revamp from the old, run-down corner store it previously was. Soon after, two more coffee shops opened up only a few streets away - spurring some healthy local competition. The new occupants are an alternative bunch, who like to live in the slower lane of life, embracing technology, environmentalism and most importantly, community. 

While they don't make a roaring trade as much outside of school hours - thanks to the two schools and kindergarten located nearby - there's always something going on down there. The cafe is a great source of local wisdom and interaction, with a community pin board, printer and local produce always on sale. Earlier this year saw the establishment of an art/book store out the back which follows a very similar feel to the cafe.

Scott, the owner and barista at Kobblers, is always looking for new ways to reach out to the community, as  well as ways of improving his company and the local community through new systems. The cafe has a Facebook page, although only has 280 likes, which considering the local population, density and demographics seems a little low. Most notably, the cafe features one of Brisbane's first BitCoin ATMs, which allows people to exchange real currency for the crypto equivalent, and offers a 10% discount at the cafe if paying via BitCoin. Scott also has a dedicated mobile phone for taking SMS orders to streamline the process (which he says is more commonly used in the mornings). There is Wifi for customers also.

While Kobblers is a great user of new social tools, I feel though that more could be done to better improve not just it's revenue, but also the community's interaction with the cafe. All of the McKinsey report sections could be of some use to the Cafe in some way, but Marketing and Sales appears as though it would have the biggest impact on the community-oriented cafe.

The Marketing and Sales driver contains four of the ten social tech levels, and these can each be applied.

Customer Insights
Social technology can be used to gain insight into the customers feelings towards business moves or products, and offers a more informal channel of communication between the two parties. As stated previously, Kobblers has a Facebook page, but thanks to a small user base coupled with a low level of activity (< 1 post per week), there is often little return channel communication. If they were to post more about local  products or promotions, and angle these posts towards looking to hear feedback, then they could cultivate their menu, and perhaps improve their brand identity.

Marketing Communication / Platform
 The page appears to be mainly for posting the big events that are happening every now and then. If they were to post more about the local produce they had on offer, offer deals on beverages, try to gain feedback on things, or use it as a platform for local events (using Facebook's event's feature), then they could better utilise Facebook as a business platform.

Using other tools like Twitter could also be used, to provide snapshots of the general goings on down there, or even allow customers to post orders before they get there, similar to how their SMS system works.

Generate Sales Leads
As part of Kobblers community atmosphere, they also like to culture relationships with vendors of local products, by advertising their products and featuring them at the cafe at reasonable or cheaper prices, often times providing customers with a chance to try something they don't normally.

While Kobblers maintains that they try to keep a formal approach to their vendors, it could be suggested that they widen their social technology scope to also try and approach a new variety of produce suppliers, in turn bringing the business to them, rather than having to go searching. This could be achieved by more openly displaying and discussing the featured products.

Social Commerce
Kobblers seems to have this down pat at the moment. With the use of crypto-currency and e-ordering, users can quickly and easily order and pay on their way past, saving them time - a great feature considering the cafe is located near a bus stop. Neither payment methods are openly advertised however, and I've heard numerous times people were quite surprised you options to. Perhaps Kobblers could look into 'referal' discounts, or Like-coupons - whereby you get a free/discounted coffee by liking certain statuses, or participating in community events.

Kobblers is a great local cafe, and while it may not be world renown, it satisfies the local atmosphere and community superbly by using new technologies not commonly found elsewhere. It could however, benefit far more if it utilized more effective advertising, marketing and discussion strategies, especially available on Social Media.