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Augmented Rye-ality

Ah yes, augmented reality. Though it isn’t necessarily a new trend thanks to Snapchat filters and IKEA’s famous furniture test run, it certainly has gained disciples more recently in every area from movie premiere marketers to the US Postal Service. So, there’s no surprise that trendy fast-casual chain Panera Bread would want to get ahead of the curve. In early November, Panera released an ad unit on sports site Bleacher Report that allows users to try out an interactive meal from Panera. The ad lets you use either Facebook Messenger, Instagram, or Snapchat to manipulate a variety of dishes through your camera and move them toward and away from you, as if the dish were actually on the table in front of you. The experience also include the ingredients, as well as the nutritional information right on the screen. According to Panera, they are the first “fast food” company to employ augmented technology in an advertisement.

But for as exciting as the world of augmented reality sounds, and can be if done well, this application doesn’t seem the most thrilling. After all, what’s so exciting about making a sandwich appear on the table in front of you? Panera VP of marketing Scott Nelson has said that, as opposed to a simple online menu, this method helps customers find information about the food faster and was created to “push an overall category innovation.” And interactive media certainly seems to be the direction that fast food advertising is going, especially with the newly released Wendy’s and KFC games. This seems to be a strategic move in creating awareness for the brand (I found around 8 articles about its release) and make an advertisement that’s something someone would actually want to interact with. It also reminds customers that Panera is transparent about the ingredients it uses and the health information available to the customer. It’s pretty lackluster, but in what it does do, it does good enough.

Unfortunately, because this is only an ad and not a full-fledged AR experience, there are only 5 dishes from which the users can pick. After a “oh, that’s cool I guess,” there’s no real call to action or follow up. Of course, in terms of ads, awareness and exposure is the main goal here. The experience also relies on the user wanting to click on an ad, something most mobile browsers aren’t usually wont to do. Though VP of marketing Nelson said, "This isn’t a flex of technology for technology’s sake," it certainly seems like there’s not much utility or innovation beyond that of what a Snapchat lens can do. And they have dancing hot dogs.

Sources:

https://www.clickz.com/panera-ar-ad-unit-first/257555/ https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/panera-launches-augmented-reality-ad-unit https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/panera-launches-augmented-reality-ad-unit

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AOC’s Social Media Mastery

Politics and social media. Perhaps one of the dullest marriages to arise from the necessity of appealing to young (and now, older too) voters, many politicians don’t seem to know how to use this invaluable tool to effectively communicate their ideas, their values, their campaign – essentially, their brand – to audiences outside of the traditional media of television and newspapers. Whether that be due to boring, long-winded tweets or coming off as more of a meme (Fake news CNN is VERY BAD!), middle- to upper-aged politicos can’t seem to find their way around an Instagram account.

But for one New York U.S. Representative, Reddit AMAs and Instagram Live stories are a smart weapon for standing out. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC, took political center stage after winning the Democratic nomination for the 14th District Representative of New York in 2018, defeating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley by nearly 15 percentage points. Though her fame didn’t achieve worldwide standing until after her upset (she gained more than 2.6 million followers in the 8 months following her win), a campaign video posted on YouTube gained half a million views and since then, she has secured her place in the social media limelight with direct, simple tweets that communicate her authenticity to not just her constituents, but to about 10.5 million followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

As her least-followed channel, Ocasio-Cortez still has more than 1 million followers and averages almost 10,000 reactions per post on Facebook. As someone who isn’t currently in the running for office, this is a pretty impressive number, seeing as my own District Representative (who’s been in Congress for the past 10 years) has a paltry 9,000 followers and I had to look up who it was. There, a range of videos featuring her Congressional involvement (usually edited by the NowThis company), links to news articles with relevant commentary, and criticisms of current policies. All of her posts either have a photo or video, a rule of thumb for getting attention on Facebook. Her mix of content, all political and no personal for Facebook, has garnered a high engagement rate. With the younger demographic shifting more to Instagram, her Facebook content does well to keep things all-business but still maintain her trademark sincerity.

Twitter, where her most-followed channel with 5.6 million follows, is from which her most famous content has sprung. AOC runs her own Twitter account, which is clear from her consistent use of no-nonsense, no jargon language, natural use of emojis, and fact-checking responses that made her iconic. About 4 out of every 5 tweets is a reply or retweet, but all of them are interesting and relevant articles with equally succinct messaging that enforce her progressive beliefs. When something can’t be said in just a few words, she breaks her message apart into digestible chunks, a common method on Twitter. Hashtags and emojis are used, but sparingly, as any millennial would be wont to do. Responses to her tweets are usually in the majority GIFs of mic drops and explosions, with the expected internet troll sprinkled throughout. Her Twitter success is owed to her authentic take on Congressional life (and all its flaws), her to-the-point fact-checking when the GOP “calls her out” on getting a haircut, and testimonials from the people she represents. By and large, retweeting and getting retweeted are one of her biggest resources because it spreads her name to other parts of the Twittersphere where people interested in politics already are.

Her Instagram, which comes in at a little over 4 million followers, is where AOC gets the most personal. And perhaps this is her biggest strength. Most politicians use all social media platforms more or less the same – as a tool to replace political television advertising. Most of them simply post clips of their own rallies, articles written about them, or publicity shoots of them posing with a ladle at a food bank. But for Ocasio-Cortez, Instagram is where she lets her hair down, if only for a little bit. She doesn’t simply repost content from her other channels her, but actual moments from her real life, like working in her community garden, on the job at district staff meetings and town halls, and a shot of ramen noodles and other groceries in her shopping basket. These shots aren’t staged moments that endeavor to “connect” with the people, but rather touching commentary that is relatable because it is. She comes off smart and in-touch because she is. And occasionally, she even posts fan art. Her captions can range from a single sentence to 5 paragraphs long, but each is written with intention in each word, sparing hashtags for the rare, cheeky fun photo. 

As far as a more formal analysis of AOC’s social media usage, the Evans’ Social Feedback Cycle can be applied to how she responds to criticism. Simply put, she doesn’t. While yes, her aim is to garner the support of citizens not just in her own district, but also people who support her ideas of more accessible education, higher wages, a Green New Deal, prison abolition, etc., so she must know how to appeal to them and how to deal with those who don’t view her in such a rosy light. Many members both famous and layman of the alt-right media have attacked her relentlessly, but she often doesn’t take the time to indulge them, saying “I don’t owe a response to unsolicited requests from men with bad intentions.” Her responses, or usually lack thereof, helps her followers solidify and opinion about her professionalism. As far as direct communication and feedback from her followers, AOC has hosted a Q&A on Instagram, a Reddit AMA, and asked on Twitter what kinds of questions people would ask Mark Zuckerberg in a Congressional hearing. She even opened her direct messages for the Twitter question, letting users talk with her as if they were just messaging one of their friends. Though these specific events don’t happen often, it wouldn’t be surprising if AOC started using these tools as a way to hear from the people what they want.

Because analyzing a politician is different than analyzing a brand aiming to sell something, applying the engagement process model and pinning AOC at “Consumption” is an accurate, but not entirely holistic assessment. While almost no politician goes beyond “Consumption” (unless you count inviting people to tag #FeeltheBern on selfies), it’s the kind of Consumption that matters. All of the content she is creating is incredibly engaging (compared to others in her field) and it’s a response to issues that people she has met have told her about. In this sense, she collaborates directly a lot more than other social-media-wielding politicians, making it more of a conversation than a lecture.

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One Top to Rule Them All?

The Tasty One-Top is one of the newer additions to smart home appliances, aimed at anyone who wants to have a little more guidance in the kitchen. At 9.7 lbs. and 14 inches in diameter, it’s touted as an all-in-one tool that helps deliver on tougher recipes with ease. Aside from the benefits of being an induction cooker, the One-Top can be connected via Bluetooth to the user’s phone and the One-Top app which hosts an array of Tasty recipes.

Looks-wise, the One-Top aims to stand out from other sleek, high-tech induction cookers and comes in Tasty’s signature sky blue and, per the product’s website, a pentagonal shape “because Instagram.” Induction cookers are a bit of a luxury item, costing more than their hotplate counterparts, but are known for their heat-efficient cooking and intrinsic safety features. As a smart cooker, the One-Top employs capacitive touch buttons and heat sensors on the surface to monitor the temperature of the pots and pans on top of it. It also is able to automatically adjust the temperature up and down, if called for by the recipe.

To maintain its minimalist, “Instagrammable” aesthetic, the One-Top only has an on/off button and increase and decrease buttons, with no temperature indicators to be seen. A  wire-attached thermometer communicates directly between the food and the app.

And the app is the real draw to the product. As reviewed by several users, the actual cooker is underwhelming and not as powerful as others on the market. But it’s the cooker’s ability to integrate with the One-Top app that most excites Tasty fans. As a one-to-one connection, the app communicates with the cooker and the thermometer, responding to temperature changes in the food and helping to keep it cooking at the perfect temperature. Although precise temperature may not matter for most dishes, this feature lets One-Top cooks make medium-rare steaks, slow cook in a normal pot, and sous vide to your heart’s content without years of culinary knowledge. The app’s step-by-step instructions also use a timer to start and stop heating the stove-top and tell the user when to add certain ingredients. For Tasty, this is a clever move, as only its own content can be used with to the product’s fullest capability. 

In terms of competition, Tasty is really just a subset of internet media company, Buzzfeed. Really, it is competing for audiences’ eyes and clicks, rather than competing in the kitchenware category. So what does that mean? Should they be monitoring other similar food-focused media ventures, like Bon Appetit? Or will competition arise from the likes of OXO or Hamilton Beach making their own apps? While the former is more likely, Tasty’s arsenal of recipes and ubiquity will make it hard to directly compete with.

Not many other smart induction cooktops (or smart conventional cooktops) exist, save for the Hestan Cue Smart Cooking System, which retails for about 3x the price, and un-connected induction tops are around  those prices as well. Though the technology isn’t exactly niche - Bluetooth is being imbedded in everything from lightbulbs to forks - new entrants to the market would have to compete on two levels, both product and information, the latter being much harder to accumulate in a short amount of time.

What the existence of this product does signify is the potential for physical crossover with media brands. The One-Top is a Cuisinart product for now, but if Tasty wants to improve its product or reposition itself with more highly-skilled cooks, it may need to look into suppliers that know more about smart technology. This product is not only a kitchen appliance, but a piece of technology that can be improved upon, given the right support and resources.

As an appliance, the less-than-lukewarm reviews will probably hinder the One-Top’s success, which is a shame because of its potential. Smart home appliances are quickly becoming the norm in American households, which means now would be the ideal time to introduce a product that would streamline cooking, something many of us have to do all the time. If the One-Top were capable of everything it claimed, it could become a phenomenon for its 97 million followers, but for now, it might have to sit on the back burner.