How to Reach Out to Your Customers In The Digital Age

As part of my extensive and ongoing research into the various ways that companies use to communicate with their customers, especially in the Digital Age, I came across the website, Facebook Page and Twitter Account of Peppadew.

Peppadew Peppers are a range of whole, sweet, piquante peppers, with a mild, hot and golden variety. They are unlike anything you will have tasted before and totally addictive. Domino's Pizza currently use them as a topping on The Big Smoky.

You may have seen them on the shelves of the major supermarkets, though sometimes they are hidden away. You can usually find them near the olives.

The innovative nature of the Peppadew Online Presence, in my opinion, is how they are trying to get their customers to interact with their brand and thus become Word of Mouth Promoters. Several years ago it would have been unheard to ask your customers to send in a video of yourself using that product. But now it seems as if this will be the future.

Here is the Tweet from Peppadew, promoting their competition to find The Face of Peppadew

Check out our new competition: upload your Peppadew picture or video and win! http://bit.ly/bujpdMless than a minute ago via TweetDeckPeppadew
peppadew_uk

Indeed in our online, connected world, businesses will come to rely on Word of Mouth communication more and more as traditional methods of broadcast media go into decline.

Doritos are in the final stages of judging their King of Ads Competition, where customers make an advert for the tasty corn snack, and Peppadew, as mentioned, are asking customers to send in a video of their favourite recipe that contains the eponymous Sweet Chilli Pepper.

And no longer is it necessary to own an expensive handheld Video Camera and have a degree in Media Studies from Skelmersdale Poly in order to make a video worthy of praise. The iPhone 3Gs and many other Smartphones all contain Video Cameras that will deliver more than acceptable results.

Couple that to iMovie or MovieMaker Software on your Computer and within minutes you can produce finished videos, with text, special effects, voiceovers and the like that cannot fail to impress your friends, colleagues, or in this case, judges.

Gone are the days of "Answers on a Postcard" competitons. In our online connected digital word it's all about interaction!

And long may it stay that way.

Below is my effort for the Peppadew competition. I would be surprised if it makes it to the shortlist, however it took only about 30 minutes to edit. The footage was shot while I was doing what I would have been doing anyway, and lots of fun was had along the way, as well as lots of wine being drunk, due to that particular shot needing about 17 retakes!