National Free Food Day

Do you love free food? Do you download restaurant apps for their coupons and discounts?

Most millennials have fancy iPhones with tons of storage, but all of that storage is filled with pictures and videos. As for me, my storage is gone because of the amount of restaurant apps I have on my phone. I am all about those weekly deals and free food offers from all of my favorite places--which is an excellent marketing technique for people like me.   

This past Thursday was National Free Food Day with the Hooked app. The Hooked app is one of my favorite apps that has deals for multiple local restaurants such as Smoothie King, Zoe's Kitchen, Subway, and much more. On Thursday, the Hooked app wanted to show its appreciation for its users across college campuses by giving a unique deal to Michigan State,Tennessee, Mizzou, North Carolina, and much more!
                                
For Athens, Hooked gave us a special deal for 5 free boneless wings at Wing Zone (which is amazing). Other deals across the country were a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich, free six inch sub, free smoothie, and a free scoop at ColdStone. 

This was a perfect marketing strategy for Hooked as well as many restaurants. This app is widely used by college kids who are on a budget or are too lazy to cook so it only makes to give their fanbase free food to say thanks for making their app so successful. In addition, many popular and local business who don't normally go onto the Hooked app can experience a surge of sale and popularity after National Free Food Day. 

Do yourself a favor and download the Hooked app for incredible deals at your favorite, local restaurants. Not only are you helping Hooked and restaurants gain popularity, you are helping yourself by getting amazing food!

Starbucks Red Cup

Calling all coffee lovers (again). Everyone knows the Pumpkin Spice Latte is the biggest thing to happen every Fall, but the reveal of the Starbucks red cup is the biggest event of the holiday season. 

Everyone knows that the reveal of the Starbucks red cup signifies the start of the holiday season with its beautiful winter designs and classic look, but no one expected a controversy to blow up about this. In 2015, Starbucks fans criticized that the evolution of the designs, which have gone from reindeer and ornaments to snowflakes, are a war on Christmas. As a result, Starbucks ended their designs by releasing a plain red cup for the 2015 holiday season. 

But has Starbucks decide to add holiday designs back to their cups? Recently a Starbucks employee peeked at the new red cup, which isn't supposed to come out until November 10th, and released a sneak peak to the public. Whether you're getting the infamous Peppermint Mocha or a regular cup of joe, you can show off the simple, yet elegant holiday design consisting of leaves, berries, and birds.

Personally, I think this is very appropriate for the Holiday season no matter what people choose to celebrate. Starbucks is only trying to turn their designs into something more neutral and accepting, but only time will tell if this new design causes an uproar. 

Want to read more? http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/2/13497068/starbucks-green-cup-controversy-explained
                                        

Upstanders

What do you love about Starbucks? Is it the coffee, pastries, or the great atmosphere? Now, Starbucks is giving us even move to love. 

Starbucks has recently released a new campaign called "Upstanders". With all the negativity and hate going on in the world, Starbucks seeks to recognize Americans to do the extraordinary to make a positive change in their communities. With a series of 10 inspirational stories written and produced by the CEO and executive producer, Starbucks strives to showcase the positive things in our world.

Starbucks has always been a storytelling brand, so now it is time to share the stories that really matter. So many incredible things happen everyday that get ignored and pushed aside by different News platforms, but Starbucks is changing what we hear.

"Upstanders" stories include from a college student creating a web-based solution so save thousands of pounds of food a year, an ex-convict creating a safe place for other female ex-convicts to live, and a father creating a business for is autistic son. Throughout the month of September, Starbucks continued to celebrate these "Upstanders" across the country. 

Personally, I think this is a smart move on Starbucks' behalf. Most company campaigns are for product promotion or for a very popular charity, but no one ever recognizes the everyday, average person. This makes Starbucks stand out even more by showing compassion and respect to the community, which is only going to improve their outstanding reputation. 

Want to watch "Upstanders" for yourself? Go to starbucks.com/upstanders and keep up with the weekly downloadable podcasts. 

Chick-fil-A One is #1

Do you like free food? Do you like free food from Chick-fil-A? If you answered yes to both questions, then you're already ahead of the game. 

As many of us know, Chick-fil-A released their new app over the summer called Chick-fil-A One. This is a huge trend among quick serve locations such as Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, and Chipotle. This app has a wide array of features ranging from pre-ordering your food for a quick pick up, paying through the app, and free treats to say thanks for being an awesome customer! Let's be real, the only reason we downloaded the app is for the free food. 

While Chick-fil-A One gave its users a free sandwich when the app was first launched, they are still giving out free food every month. During the month of September, Chick-fil-A was giving away free breakfast for every customer with the app. All you had to do was go to your nearest Chick-fil-A location and scan your app at the register! This was perfect for those who are on the go and don't have time to sit down and eat breakfast (AKA me because I ate it while driving to school). 

Chick-fil-A One is perfect for the die-hard fans and even the people who visit Chick-fil-A every once in a while (I have to be honest...I'm one of those people). The loyal fans can pre-order their meal and pay via their phone without having to deal with the stress of standing in line. For those no-so loyal customers, they are encouraged to stop by and grab some free food in hopes of them eventually becoming a loyal customer. 

Even though I'm not a huge fan of their food, I can always appreciate a company reaching out to the consumers to meet their needs. I think that this is something we are going to see more and more as Chick-fil-A proves how successful their app is at retaining their current customers and reaching out to a new audience simultaneously. As other companies jump on this bandwagon, they need to make sure they are giving consumers what they want without annoying the audience with endless notifications.

The Best of the Best: Instagram

Instagram has and will always be one of my favorite social media outlets. While I may not be the most active Instagram user, I love following a bunch of different brands and scrolling through their posts multiple times a day. Here is a list of some of my favorite Instagram accounts right now.

Hungrygirlsdoitbetter

Everybody loves food, but I consider myself to be a "foodie". I am always hungry, always ready to go out to eat, and always willing to try new things. This blog is one of my favorites because its about the best food around Atlanta. Every post features a beautifully crafted item with a mouthwatering description, but most importantly, the restaurant location. Needless to say, my list of restaurants, brunch locations, and food trucks to try is a mile long. With over 25K followers, this Instagram account has successfully marketed the top Atlanta locations to a very hungry audience. 

Starbucks

Calling all coffee lovers. If you aren't following Starbucks on Instagram, you need to do that as soon as possible. While Starbucks focuses on their coffee in all of the Instagram posts, they are not boring and repetitive. All of the posts feature coffee in cute and funny ways for each season such as an Iced Coffee on the beach with sunglasses and the new Fall flavors painted on pumpkins. Every time I see a Starbucks Instagram post, I immediately want to jump in my car and buy some coffee. Starbucks does an excellent job promoting an everyday drink into something beautiful and artistic. 

Anthropologie 

Some people might think Anthropologie is that boring class they took college when it's actually one of the most beautiful clothing and home decor stores out there. While Instagram can't fully capture how wonderful the products are, it does give viewers a glimpse into how unique and detailed the style is. This Instagram account gives me the urge to go shopping almost everyday because no one can have enough clothes, right? Another great thing about this account is that Anthropologie posts more than just their clothes. Bedding, books, jewelry and even scenic pictures fill their social media platform to better appeal to the consumer and tie in with their overall feel. 

Delta Airlines

Airports may not be everyone's favorite place go to, but traveling to a new place is completely worth it. If you're always one to book a last minute vacation and hop on the next plane out, the Delta Airlines Instagram account might be made for you. Delta has beautiful and jaw-dropping pictures from all around the world, making everyone want to book a ticket right away. This is an excellent marketing technique for Delta because people are always looking for new places to visit and want a reliable airline to book through.

 

Patagonia 

I have always loved being outdoors and taking adventures and Patagonia is the only company that inspires me to do that. Their Instagram account is incredibly beautiful and full of adventure while promoting their gear at the same time. While Patagonia is on Instagram to attract people to their store and products, they don't do it in a flashy, over the top way by constantly showing their logo in every picture. I can't help but want to online shop after seeing their inspirational pictures ranging from mountains to beaches, . 

E-Cookbooks

As I'm going through my last year of college and preparing for the real world (pray for me), I'm learning how to take care of myself and eat more than cereal or grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Cookbooks used to be THE thing, but now they seem to be on the decline thanks to the wonderful World Wide Web. While my family only found recipes through cookbooks and writing them down on index cards, I can find recipes online for any cuisine, occasion, allergy, and season from the top chefs to the everyday experimenters. The best part about this new wave of cookbooks is that they're easy to find, the possibilities are endless, and they're free! Whether you're on Pinterest, Facebook or Google you will find hundreds of recipes that match your dinner ideas or snack cravings. 

Every week I plan out my meals to help me stay on track and keep me from going to the Taco Bell right next to my apartment. My Sunday afternoon ritual is browsing through Pinterest or my saved videos on Facebook for healthy, simple and delicious recipes I can cook throughout the week. Some of my favorite online recipes have been Chicken Fried Rice, Cajun Chicken Pasta, and Chocolate Banana Muffins. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the visual appeal of a cookbook when I flip through the pages and see the beautiful pictures. Whenever I'm in a bookstore or a cute boutique, I'm always tempted to buy all the cookbooks, but I just can't get myself to spend $20-$30 when I can look up recipes on my laptop, phone, or tablet. This doesn't mean that cookbooks will be gone forever. Just like books, their sales are dropping but there are still some loyal cookbook lovers that aren't giving in to the digital craze. 

Check out my favorite recipe sites! Go to http://damndelicious.net/ and http://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back!

Calling all fall lovers. It's that time of year again, so grab your favorite scarf, boots, and of course the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. 

As of September 1st, PSL's are back in our lives for the Fall, which isn't complete unless we have pumpkin spice lattes available at every block. Starbucks is the leader, per usual, in the obsession with pumpkin spice. Now almost every coffee shop and grocery store offer some kind of pumpkin spice coffee and creamer. With the wide success of PSL's, Starbucks has started marketing in new and intense ways through Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest.

If you follow Starbucks on Twitter, then you saw the tweet on August 31st about a PSL fan pass. If you're just that obsessed with PSL's, you had the chance to buy it a day early (one day really makes a difference) by entering in the code word "Pumpkin" to get a fan pass. Starbucks also featured pictures of overly excited customers who were the first to order the Pumpkin Spice Latte this season.

On Tumblr? Don't follow Starbucks? Well now you're going to want to because they have an entire blog dedicated to Pumpkin Spice Lattes! With cute pictures of the PSL to images of Fall, Starbucks got its fanbase excited for the release way before the season even began. 

Starbucks will find a way to promote the Pumpkin Spice Latte every year through any and all social media platforms, but they do it in such a good way. Posting regular pictures of coffee on social media does nothing for me, but seeing the Pumpkin Spice Latte dressed up in cute fall attire and having ways to interact with the company encourages me to jump on the bandwagon. If the marketing techniques for the PSL are this good, I can't wait to see what they do with the Starbucks red holiday cup this year. 


Check it out for yourself and go buy your first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season: http://therealpsl.tumblr.com/