On the heels of Boystown's Pie Hole Pizza announcing that its lease will end on May 31, 2010, owner Doug Brandt has found a creative and possibly unprecedented use for social networking sites.
Against conventional and strategic business thinking, Brandt intends to share his experience of finding a new home for Pie Hole using social networking sites like ChicagoPride.com, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
"We've received a lot of public interest in our displacement," said Brandt, "so I thought online status updates would be a unique way of including our customers in our progress, event-by-event, as things happen."
Unique, indeed!
Most of the negotiations take place behind closed doors, but Brandt is committed to "transparency," a current boardroom buzzword that describes a corporation's desire to be forthcoming with information in an era of national corporate scandal.
Announcing updates like these carries a bit of risk. "Some of my friends think the whole idea is crazy," admits Brandt, "but everyone I've asked agrees that, if it catches on, it'll be genius."
While social networking sites have been integral in personal relationships, only now are sites like Facebook and Twitter discovering applications for commercial relationships.
Businesses are quickly signing up and partnering with social media groups. Facebook and ChicagoPride.com's online advertising services help optimize marketing efforts by serving ads to members whose profiles match chosen criteria.
Twitter has hinted that they are developing robust commercial applications for its online micro-blogging service. Until then, savvy small businesses use existing Twitter functionality to establish stronger relationships with their constituencies.
Brandt initially used Twitter to announce nightly specials, but soon realized Twittering wasn't the best medium for that application. "Twitter doesn't help much with hard-sell calls-to-action; it's better for public relations and community building."
Brandt hopes the unprecedented level of interaction will help generate excitement about Pie Hole Pizza's search to find a new location.
"We enjoy sharing the updates this way," Brandt said. "Meeting with architects, negotiating with landlords, planning with designers... we keep everyone in the loop on our progress. The good, the bad and the ugly."
But how will it all turn out? Follow "PieHolePizza" on Twitter, Facebook and ChicagoPride.com to keep up with the play-by-play as the cast journeys to find a new Hole.
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Tags: Boystown, ChicagoPride.com, facebook, pie hole pizza, twitter
