A World Gone Social

The Power of Social Media

Brandon Cook’s grandmother was dying of cancer. During a hospital visit, she told him she craved soup – but not the awful hospital variety. She wanted something special: clam chowder from Panera. The problem was that his local Panera made clam chowder only on Fridays. Cook knew this, but called the restaurant anyway. He explained the situation to the store manager, who agreed to make Cook’s grandmother clam chowder. When Cook went to pick up the soup, the store manager also gave him a free box of cookies as a gift for his grandmother.

In appreciation, Cook and his mother posted the story on Facebook. As a result, within a couple of days, Panera’s Facebook page received more than half a million “likes.” Over time, the likes surpassed 800,000. The family’s Panera post received nearly 35,000 comments. The following quarter, sales at the local Panera store climbed 28%. The next quarter, its sales increased 34%.

This anecdote – courtesy of What’s Your Purple Goldfish? How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth, by Stan Phelps – demonstrates the remarkable promotional and PR power of today’s social media.

RIP, Industrial...