Strategy, What It Can Teach Us...

What Chef Gordan Ramsey Can Teach You About Social Media

September 29, 2008 1 comment

Chef Ramsey (more info via wikipedia or his official website) has shown excellence in the kitchen in addition to a controversial, but well liked personality outside of it.

But what does serving up ginger poached Maine lobster with herb linguine have to do with social media?

Keep it simple. Quality > Decoration. Chef Ramsey reminds aspiring chefs time and again that simple fresh ingredients will always stand out above dishes that are drowned out by overwhelming seasoning or fancy sauces that hide the taste of the actual dish. Is your content strong? It is great having all the bells and whistles on your website but users’ opinion of the content will be based on its merit and not the crazy design or shiny widgets around it.

If you don’t communicate you are dead. The line needs to know when the salads go out so they can fire the meat. The vegetable station needs to know when the meat goes on so they can time the arrival of their side dish. The waiter needs to know when the meal has been put together so he can take it out when it is fresh. When different phases of your social media strategy can’t communicate properly your message can be come disjointed or confusing to your customers or followers.  Social media can be used in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons, and the information and conversation from customers needs to find its way to the proper place to be handled in the best way for the company.

Know your s***. There can’t be a Ramsey post without a few four letter words thrown around. A chef without a firm knowledge of all the different variables that make up a dish is doing their customers a disservice. There is a reason for everything. Don’t start a Twitter account because that is what people are doing. Understand the reason that conversations on Twitter have meaning and what a company can get out of monitoring and taking part in these discussions.

Love what you do. It takes passion and dedication to build up one world class restaurant let alone a whole group of them. If a company and its employees show a genuine love for what they are doing people are drawn to that and everybody wins. There is so much to gain personally and professionally by engaging people with shared interests. They are and will become your best customers.

Strategy, What It Can Teach Us...

What Basketball Can Teach Us About Social Media

September 23, 2008 No comments yet

This is the first in our “What it can teach us” series of posts that explore how everyday things correlate with social media.



Basketball, in my not so humble, opinion is the ultimate team game. The coach comes up with a plan or strategy and the players work hard to prepare and then execute.

This is also true for companies and social media. In order for social media efforts to be effective, their must be support from upper management, there must be a strategy or plan, and the employees need to be well informed and execute. All departments have to work together in order to put each other in situations where they can succeed. The research and development team needs to work with the marketing team who needs to work with customer service, each tied into social media to discuss with customers in order for each to do their respective jobs well.

This is just like a play that the coach draws up in which one player must handle the ball, another sets a good strong pick, and then the ball is delivered on time and in a manner that allows their teammate to get a good shot off.

Basketball is one of the few sports major sports in which each player is required to play offense and defense. The game is fast paced and players must adapt quickly.

This is true with anything regarding technology, especially the newly developing social media. You must be a creator of content, but then respond to existing conversations. You have to be able to push things forward, but know when to slow down and let things develop. The better you can see the entire floor, the easier the game will seem.