The Story of Swoon

The Story of Swoon – Pat Powell & Bruno Forte

Swoon is a small independent gelato bar that uses natural ingredients. Pat and Bruno shared their story at social media week including the challenges as a small independent/startup in acquiring physical premises when they were up against strong brands like Costa, their training in Italy, how they make their gelato in store (the kitchen is in the store window – but people look at the gelato – not them making it) before discussing social media specifically.

Social Media

They use social media to spread the word and their customers share on social media. They are lucky that they have a very photogenic product and therefore they do not need to encourage photographs to be taken.  Pat explained that she is personally not very good at photography so while she has dabbled she leaves it to the professional photography, staff members for some casual photography and the fans. They have found Instagram and Twitter have been the best platforms for showcasing their products. They also use and manage trip advisor as well, but do not use facebook. Overall 2.5hr a day on social.

Trip advisor

As they are a location business they use Trip Advisor to boost their online presence. They do get the odd negative comment on Trip Advisor but these are usually things that are personal to the individual (and not something they can fix). They have learned to accept that you need to accept the negative feedback. Of course, if there is an actual problem/issue they will fix it. They do not currently respond to comments and feedback on trip advisor as they find they simply to not have the time. This is a challenge for any small business.

Polls and”fan of the week”

Swoon use twitter polls to engage their followers and the general public. They ask followers to vote on their guest/seasonal flavours of gelato and their cake.  They also have a fan of the week campaign to encourage people to share photographs of their scoops.

PR and Awards

Swoon have worked with a PR Agent.  They have entered and won awards. They work closely with the local press. All of these activities (perhaps more traditional marketing) are used to raise their profile and tie in with their social media strategy.

Events and Collaborations

They have used their premises to host events (gelato cocktail party) other organisations (Enterprise Nation Meet-up), and they have done (flavour) collaborations with others such as Strawberry and Lemonade Matcha Tea Collaboration with Bluebird Tea and Blue Cheese Flavour which was a collaboration with Montgomery Cheese.

Strategy?

Given the nature of their business they are busier in the summer, therefore they plan in the winter months when they have more time. They do have a social media strategy and will plan quarterly. When they got started they invested heavily in their social media, PR, marketing, and photography etc to make it easier in the long run.