RRRRRRoling up the social media rim

I have a friend whose mom gets up every morning, quietly sneaks out to the car still in her pajamas, drives to Tim Hortons and orders four extra large coffees. “Awww, how nice,” you’re thinking. “This woman gets up early while the rest of her family is still snug in their beds just to get them their morning coffee.” WRONG. All four of those extra large coffees are for her, and she reheats them throughout the day as she works from home. Don’t even bother mentioning that you can buy a can of grounds and brew your own; apparently it’s just not the same.

Personally, I have never considered myself to be a Tim Hortons addict. However, after a few days of being out of the country the undeniable craving for a large Tim Hortons tea with two milks and one sweetener, with the tea bag left in of course, kicks in - And nothing, not even a latte from the most gourmet coffee bistro, can satisfying my craving. This is why Tim Hortons pit stops have become a tradition for the Brookbanks family on the way home for the airport.

It is the high volume of stories just like these that filtered in through customer service reps and franchisees that prompted Tim Hortons to make its first foray into social media. “Because we’ve been receiving letters and stories for a number of years now, it made sense for us to create a place on the web...the website has become an online repository for these stories,” says Rachel Douglas, director of public affairs for Tim Hortons.

The website, everycup.ca, allows customers to share their Tim Hortons stories. From a special moment to a daily ritual, Tim Hortons says that “every cup tells a story.” For the corporation, an online community like the one they have created here enables them to highlight the connection it has its truly Canadian customers.

The site, which was developed by Henderson Bas – Canada’s most awarded interactive agency - allows Tim Horton aficionados to share their stories with other dedicated coffee lovers, even uploading videos and pictures. Want to see what other people in your area think of Tim’s? Not a problem. This site has made searching for stories easy as you can browse through posted stories by topic (the larger the word the more stories related to that topic), geography, most viewed or most recent categories.

“Warm and inviting this site truly feels like a community and really encourages you to share your feelings about Tim Hortons,” said Dawna Henderson, President & CEO of Henderson Bas. “Throw in the latest and greatest in social media, and you get the perfect place for people to share their Tim Hortons experiences.”

To help this community continue to grow, the foundation of the site features many elements of popular social media. Community members can rate and comment on these stories as well as share their stories on Facebook with direct posting capabilities and send them to a friend by email or even make the content the wallpaper image on their desktop. Speaking of Facebook, the Tim Hortons page had 147,695 fans at last check, and has begun to look a lot like everycup.ca (in a much simpler form) with fans posting their thoughts, likes and stories about the coffee purveyor online.

As Brenna Flynn points out in her entry, Tim Hortons rolls up the social media rim, on the blog, www.causeacommotion.com , “These branded social sites are useful tools for marketers because they can garner great, honest feedback from their consumers. However, it’s at least as important to monitor and measure the conversations taking place away from branded communities. And time will tell what the company’s tolerance is for negative stories or comments.”

So what do I think about Tim Horton’s first step into the world of social media? I think its genius! Everycup.ca is a great website – easy to use, welcoming, interactive – that allows dedicated Tim Hortons fans to share their stories with others that will appreciate them. By building this online community the company is creating a space that will generate more conversation about its product then already exists. You could potentially spending hours getting lost in the sea of stories, photos and videos and come out feeling even more connected to your fellow Tim’s drinking Canadians. Although it hasn’t been determined how long the site will be up for, I see it having some definitely longevity as every day people are creating new memories featuring double doubles and Boston crème doughnuts and new customers are introduced to their products.

So I say, congratulations Tim Hortons! You've truly made a stellar début onto the social media scene.