SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Though the Vine video app launched just a few weeks ago, Price Chopper has already started posting short videos of everyday happenings in its stores.
“This was just another avenue of which we thought we should at least explore,” said Heidi Reale, director of marketing and consumer insights, whose department handles all of the retailer’s social media channels.
Vine, which is owned by Twitter, allows users to post 6-second videos to social media streams.
“The interesting thing about the Vine [app] is you don’t get a long chance to tell a story. And supermarkets are used to doing 30-second TV commercials or 15-second TV commercials. So we have the challenge of, in 6 seconds or less, telling the story. And we’re always up for a challenge,” said Reale.
Read more: Price Chopper Runs Instagram Promo
So far, Price Chopper has posted videos showcasing how bagels are made in the bakery and different Valentine’s Day bouquets.
Early morning bagel making! vine.co/v/bn1WxnU1jxW
— Price Chopper (@PriceChopper) February 6, 2013
“Every company carries Kellogg’s cereal, but not every company makes bagels from scratch. And these little videos — you can put it in print or you can take a picture of our bagels and say, we make these from scratch, but if you can actually show somebody how it’s done in a way that’s quick and that they can retain — that’s why we started with fresh [foods] with this,” said Reale.
In the future, Reale can also see the retailer using Vine to document its community events.
New content will depend in part on what demographic ends up adopting Vine, Reale said. While Price Chopper’s Facebook audience falls in the 25 to 54 age range, Reale predicts Vine users will be younger.
Vine lends itself “more to ready-to-eat meals, for people on the run, smaller households, people interested in digital and social media,” said Reale.
Social media experts already see the value of Vine for companies.
“What makes Vine special is that it makes it so easy for both companies and customers to do video. And I really think that video is going to be the hottest social media thing in the next couple of years,” said Virginia Mann, a strategist at corporate communications and public relations consultancy Virginia V. Mann, Etc.
“It used to be video took up too much space, took too long to download, etc. That’s not the case anymore, and Vine has made it so easy for people that I think it will again change the game on video,” she added.
Vine is another tool that retailers should be using to interact with customers, Mann said.
“Social media has really created endless opportunity for companies, whether they’re retailers or otherwise, to communicate with their audiences and to engage them in an interactive way. And we know that engaged customers are more loyal customers.”
How engaged Price Chopper’s customers will be remains to be seen, as the retailer takes a cautious approach to its Vine usage.
“We always get into the social media channels with a wait-and-see approach. We’ve done it with every one that we have launched. And we’ve been pleasantly surprised with most of them so far, so we have high hopes for this,” said Reale.
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