Sweetgreen was founded in 2007 by three sons from entrepreneurial families. These students from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. wanted to create a healthy place to eat in the area. Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru and Jonathan Neman wrote a business plan, rented out a small tavern and started selling salads with locally grown ingredients from farmer's markets.
Their presence on Instagram has really showcased how useful social media can be as a marketing tool. Everyone knows that vegetables are colorful, and what better way to show these beautiful colored salads than to post them on Sweetgreen's Instagram page @sweetgreen.
When Sweetgreen was first kick-starting they struggled with their second store. This gave the founders the opportunity to take a gamble and try something innovative. They played loud music outside the store and it eventually let to a block party of 500 people. They used this chance to hang out samples and educate the people on living healthy lives. That first block party later transformed into an annual Sweetlife Festival. Sweetgreen had finally established a brand and continued to use every chance they could to gain recognition.
Sweetgreen was becoming more of a lifestyle and a brand that was dedicated to connecting passion with purpose and a zest for life. Social media has continued to play a large role in showcasing everything that Sweetgreen represents. They currently have 12,000 Twitter followers, 11,000 Instagram followers and nearly 20,000 likes on Facebook. The social team that runs the social media share pictures of the salads, also known as "food porn," beats from new music and artists, yoga and exercise tips, and cool projects from other sustainable brands.
Social media is key when you're promoting a business these days. Instagram in particular is huge for a business such as Sweetgreen because everyone loves visuals when it comes to food. I think they're on the right track to having a powerhouse of a business!
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