Manhattan-based Cuban restaurant Havana Central utilizes a series of interactive contests to drive customer interaction. Havana Central’s Marketing Manager, Tanya Castaneda describes:
We have found that running contests has substantially raised our following on Facebook, Twitter, and our emailing campaigns. Within the restaurant, we would promote 'Win a Free One Hour Open Bar for You and 9 of Your Friends.' There were three ways contestants could enter the drawing: by ‘liking’ our Facebook page and writing 'Open Bar' on our wall; by following us on Twitter and tweeting '@havanacentral Open Bar'; or by signing up for our email list.
After just 3 contests, Havana Central has raised their email list by almost 1000 subscribers, their Facebook fans by over 200, and their Twitter followers by over 50.
Twitter is the ultimate engine to engage users in conversation. Look at Havana Central's Twitter activity – they are constantly interacting with customers. Local businesses can use this real-time customer feedback to decide which specials to run for the day, or to simply ask people what they thought of yesterday's soup special. People appreciate seeing that restaurants value their opinion.
(TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2013)
Question 1: Identify the type/s of marketing communication used by Havana Central and describe its advantages for the customers and organization.
Question 2: Describe two types of traditional marketing communication tools which could be used by the Havana Central and describe their potential advantages and limitations.