Recently a wave of frozen yogurt dealers setup shop in Rhode Island. Yes I am calling them dealers because this stuff is addicting! Pinkberry moved in just over a year ago and Orange Leaf has just opened up more recently. Although Pinkberry got their hooks into me early I want to just to step back and compare the social media presence of both companies to see which would be most effective in enticing an unknowingly future froyo addict into their grasp.
Pinkberry utilizes four of the big social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram. Starting at their Facebook page which boasts over half a million “likes” which is littered with images of their yogurt in all configurations to try and catch the eye of everyone with a different taste palette. Each post has anywhere between a few thousand likes and tens to thousands of comments. This shows they have active followers consistently watching their Facebook activity,
The Pinkberry Twitter feed highlights many of the same images in hotlinks as well as promotions for events and new products. With just over 46,000 followers the posts are not re tweeted very much so it does not have the same “sharability” as their Facebook posts.
Pinkberry recently ran a promotion with Foursquare and Twitter as people would check into Pinkberry locations with Foursquare and then tweet their location. The city with the most check ins got Pinkberry gift cards which combined the user base for two social media outlets for cross promotion.
Orange Leaf also takes advantage of the same major social media sites. One thing that stands out is that they may not have secured “Orange Leaf” for some of the sites as they use the moniker of “MyOrangeLeaf” for their @ Twitter handle as well as their Instagram feed. Maybe a certain Laura V’s single post as @orangeleaf back in 2009 of “having breakfast and browsing on the internet” was too much for the company to try and follow up! The other option is they named the sites to match their My Orange Leaf program and if that is the case they are building brand unity across all mediums even if it may take someone a few extra clicks to find them.
Orange Leaf’s Twitter feed is a little more one on one as they are responding directly to a lot of their 9,700 followers. This gives a more personalized feel to the feed as they are communicating directly with their customer base. Similar to their Facebook page, the Orange Leaf Twitter page sports info on all of their other social media links giving viewers all of their information within reach.
One thing that both companies have are mobile apps for Android phones and iPhones. They can be used to locate the nearest store, show what flavors are available and even track your rewards card status for your Pinkberry card and Orange Leaf Ounce Back programs. Seeing the major increase in mobile phone usage in the United States it is an easy choice to create an application that yogurt fans can have on them at all times to get updates on new flavors or find a new store when they are out.
Overall both Pinkberry and Orange Leaf are utilizing their social media outlets in effective ways but each of them seems to be hitting certain aspects differently. Pinkberry uses catchy one liners to draw attention to their Twitter whereas Orange Leaf spends more time communicating back to their followers. Pinkberry is more established and had a three year head start on Orange Leaf so they are in a better position to maintain their current customer base as well as grow it. Orange Leaf is looking to expand their footprint as they focus their store on being a fun experience and their social media portrays this with family photos and children running through the stores. If pure numbers determine who is mnor successful, Pinkberry has more eyes on their social media accounts as Facebook has half a million likes which is a six to one ratio and their Twitter has a five to one ratio of followers compared to Orange Leaf’s 9,200 followers.
Pinkberry and Orange Leaf both push a great product and they use similar tools with somewhat different approaches to get more people into their stores. The main goal is to get as much froyo into as many faces as possible and they both are leveraging social media to their advantage to do just that.
Devin Van Balen 
I really like Pinkberry’s Foursquare promotion! This is a very creative idea. I’ve used a few foursquare perks (like checking into a venue and getting a % off) but gift cards are definitely a better incentive and provides free advertisement for Pinkberry on social channels as users share their locations
Do you think that Orange Leaf is the more successful user of Social Media? From what you described, and what I saw, it looks more like they are aiming for a conversation with their followers – and aren’t just using social media as “just another advertising platform.”