heavy chef

Last night Mike, Louis and I presented to a crowd of hungry chefs at the stunning Twiice showroom in Jozi. The Session started inauspiciously with Mike and I getting lost on the way (Mike’s a crap driver), the ice arriving late, air-conditioning not working, traffic preventing half the attendants from coming and the wind preventing us from putting the blinds down to stop the glare through the massive picture windows. *Phew*

So, anyway, we got cracking at around 6pm and had a blast. We basically presented our findings on hype vs. reality in the marketing world, with the two big buzz words being ‘mobile’ and ’social media’ at the moment.

Some highlights:

- Social Media is really just a set of tools
- These tools are powerful to get your message across
- Your message, and your objectives, must be clearly defined before you begin your campaign
- There are some really great case-studies where social media has worked (e.g. E&Y with only a simple Facebook Fan page; Barack Obama’s campaign, Starbucks; Dell)
- There are some that have failed spectacularly (e.g. iBurst’s defuncts customer service blog)
- There are some powerful benefits to social media tools
- Social media is not a silver bullet, but it can be a heck of an accelerator!

It was great to meet some new faces and great companies; and great once again to have the sponsors coming to the party so graciously. There’s nothing like sipping on a cold Perdeberg Sauvignon Blanc on a hot Gauteng night, and the Corona’s were going down famously (especially later when they were ice cold)! Naeem brought along a bunch of NOS energy drinks which seemed to fuel some of the lively conversations. Thanks guys for the support, it’s much appreciated!

And so, from humble Joburg beginnings, we look towards Part 2 with some wayyy better speakers. See you then…

Read more posts by Fred Roed

Fred is the CEO of digital marketing agency World Wide Creative. Fred co-founded The Heavy Chef Project, as well as Ideate, a forum for African entrepreneurs. Fred focuses on online brand building, marketing strategy and loud Hawaiian shirts. Fred is famous for his sartorial excellence, long diatribes about music and fanatical attention to detail when making pizza. Follow Fred on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Fred_Roed

Related posts:

1. Two Heavy Chef Sessions in Johannesburg: “Smoke, Mirrors, Mobile and Social Media”
2. Heavy Chef Session March: David Duarte’s presentation on ‘Social Media in South Africa’
3. May Heavy Chef Session: Eric, Charl, Beer, Pizza!
4. August Heavy Chef Session: Rob Stokes on eMarketing
5. Upcoming Heavy Chef Session schedule