Jeff Bennett's Blog

Keurig coffee machines are great.  I was first introduced to the Keurig single cup coffee system five years ago at an office.  I was taken back how great it was to have a single cup brewed just for me.  I got one for home.  We got two for NameMedia when we opened up shop.  Everyone loves the Keurig for the fresh brewed taste and the choices of coffee, tea and even hot chocolate.  We have introduced Keurig to several of our family and friends and reaction is always positive.

JeffBennett.Org is a blog that is all about social media – how it is expanding, the influence it is having on society and the opportunities for brands to connect to consumers via social media.  My belief is that social media sites are places where brands can listen, learn, engage, trial and sell products.  There is a new paradigm for advertising in the making here and it is very powerful.

At NameMedia we operate a network of social media properties that serve very targeted enthusiasts and audiences across several categories:  photography, crafting, gardening, gadgets, astrology, outdoor sports, and more.  We are working to expand the content on our sites, growing our audience, stimulating active conversations and engagement with the content, and we are focused on integrating brands in a respectful manner.  Social media sites are an ecosystem and participant, audience and monetization must all work together.

One interesting case study of this includes our  Splitcoaststampers  site. which serves the paper crafting category and is the market leading site for stampers.  Splitcoaststampers enables content to be created via blogs, message boards, comments, and features a large and rich gallery of it’s members work.  The demographic for the Splitcoaststampers membership and audience is over 90% female.   Splitcoaststampers has always integrated endemic brands on it’s site and we are expanding programs for the larger crafting industry to reach this base.  There are other brands who are near-endemic that would like to target this demographic as well.

At times on all of our sites there are posts/threads that extend beyond the targeted category of that site.  This occurred in the last month on Splitcoaststampers around the topic of coffee.  A member was looking for advice on  how to make a good cup of coffee.  Other members and audience jumped in and offered their advice on how to make the best cup of coffee.  An overwhelming favorite emerged and that was the Keurig single cup coffee machine and offerings.  Check out the thread and overwhelming number of posts here.

This is a great opportunity for a company like  Keurig, who wants to target the demographic that are members and the audience of Splitcoaststampers, to listen, learn, engage, trial and possibly sell products.  Keurig has got involved to do just this.  Keurig collaborated with the Splitcoaststampers team to keep the thread going and offered to give away a premium Keurig system to members of the Splitcoaststampers community.  This could be the beginnings of a much more powerful relationship that could be spawned between Splitcoaststampers members/audience and Keurig.

Keurig is no stranger to social media or the blogosphere.  Keurig has been featured for years now on Blogpire’s Single Serve Coffee blog.  This is a great resource on all things single serve coffee.

It is powerful to see how social media and brands can unite to bring value to the membership, brand and audience as witnessed in this case.  There is much more to be done as well as we go forward.