Amanda DeFelice

While I don’t follow Airbnb, I have used them for travel both domestically and internationally. What I liked most about their Instagram content is the variety in the types of pictures they post. The photos are bright and eye-catching. My biggest pet peeve is when the photos are overly filtered, edited or always shot from the same angle. I also like how they tell stories and highlight their “hosts”. Lastly, I thought the use of their story highlights was really smart in giving users an overview of some of their offerings. Awesome job!

Great post Amanda. When you think about it, Airbnb’s “service” has really always been selling experiences. Hotels sell lodging as a utility, but the personality of the listing has always been central to Airbnb’s allure.

Kat brings up some good points about the slippery slope here when the content becomes too “produced”, but it’s obviously been very effective for them.

I’m curious if the class shares this viewpoint. Do you see Airbnb as a direct competitor to hotels, or serving a different market need?

Amanda, you touch on mobile being central to Airbnb’s strategy, but don’t get into specifics (the social analysis seems platform agnostic). What is it about a mobile consumer that is more/less appealing to Airbnb in terms of the opportunity to engage?

Hi Amanda — We recently got a Sprouts in Greensboro, NC (5 of them for the state). I was curious if there website matched with what you posted regarding their Instagram posts and was, like you, pleasantly surprised by their website. — I’m not a huge social media follower, so I tend to go to their websites. — Based on your photos, they have done a really nice job of using their content effectively, their website photography matches in with Instagram thus allowing consumer to know they are viewing the right brand and that they are following the right brand. If done effectively, cross pollination of content from a website into social, email and any other digital space keeps the brand image consistent from one channel to the next and allows the user to not have to think about the “image of the brand” and can engage in the content and enjoy the immersion into the world of the brand in whatever channel they choose to.

After reading more about Sprout, I’ll have to check out the store, they seem fresh and different compared to my local Walmart option. I’ll also see if the store experience matches with the digital experience in regard to imagery –then we’ll know if they have taken into consideration a full omni-channel experience!

Great post Amanda!
When it comes to influencers I find myself following their trends more than buying in to products that they are selling. For example, from my post for this week I speak on how seeing fitness influencers motivates me to workout, but not necessarily buy in to their products. It is not that I am apprehensive in any way towards influencers or have some distrust because they are not disclosing some information, as mentioned in our readings for this week, but I buy products that I know I want and go directly to Amazon or the physical store for them. I can not say I have been “influenced” to buy something via an influencer. However, going back to my original point, when it comes to trends or hobbies I am absolutely captured by some of the posts the influencers create, that I follow

Great post, Amanda (and love that mug, totally something I would buy). I personally love when I find an influencer online whose aesthetic/values/interests align with mine (or what I wish mine were). This is a perfect example of that!

Amanda, love this post! I feel the same way about the Chik-fil-A app. If you’ve ever been to the one in Liberty Place at 12pm on a weekday, you’ll know the line can be wrapped around the corner of the wall next to Chik-fil-A. A friend told me about the app and I’ve never looked back. Like you, I use the app for convenience and to save time by ordering my meal ahead, to avoid standing in the long line. This way, I can pick it up at my leisure.

I also love the rewards I get for using or paying with my app! I’ve been accumulating points and haven’t cashed them in yet. I read that the rewards system was not as intuitive before, but Chik-fil-A took this feedback and made some updates to make it easier to understand. I think the interface is very easy to read now and I like how they show you how many points you’d need to redeem for items like small/medium fries or a chicken sandwich.

For ordering on the go, I would definitely prefer an app vs. a responsive mobile experience!

Chick-fil-A overhauls app to respond to customer gripes

Amanda, When I first read the prompt, I was nearly convinced that I prefer responsive design over App experience. It seems like we both had a similar first impression, but even after reading your post I sat here looking through my phone and visiting some common websites, and using some apps to really see what my preference was and I, for a brief moment, was still convinced that responsiveness trumps all. This may be the Apple fanboy in me, because of their heavy emphasis on fluid, responsive design. However, as I continued to search through my phone, I realized there is almost nothing that I use that is not an app, some responsive and others not so responsive. I started to think about my social media use, and I do not believe I have ever gone to the mobile site of Facebook or Instagram. I simply always used the app, and if there was a bad update or the app was crashing, I would wait for it to be fixed before going to a mobile site (even if it was a fully responsive and well-designed mobile site). I feel like this contradicted this week’s reading, in which Daniel Rowles emphasizes the importance of a mobile-optimized website before building an app; “If you don’t have a mobile-optimized website, forget about getting an app built and get your site fixed first” (Rowles, D). I understand his position on the matter, and that this would be a good focus point for someone designing an app, however from my preference and from reading your post, it looks like we are on the side of App first. As I have stated, there are some platforms that I would not even think of using had there not been an app, so it really shows that this mobile-optimized website first may not always be the case.

Rowles, Daniel. Mobile Marketing: How Mobile Technology is Revolutionizing Marketing, Communications and Advertising (p. 103). Kogan Page. Kindle Edition.

Hi Amanda!

Loved this post! Very true, that certain aspects of an app would be the determining factor about whether or not I would use it/prefer it over the responsive site. For example, in class during our breakout session, my group had a lengthy discussion about Wawa. I go there all of the time, but I didn’t use the app because in my mind, there was not really any need to “speed up” the process, since where I am, they’re already quick! And that was all I was thinking about regarding the benefits of the app.

However, after looking into it and learning about why others in my group used it, I realized all of the “perks” I could have by using it, like you mentioned, the “Rewards and Offers” as well as the payment function. For someone who goes as often as I do, the rewards aspect is a definite draw and I realized that I had really been missing out on this benefit of the app.

The article below talks about how when Wawa first developed/launched this app, it was challenging brands like Dunkin and Starbucks. It discusses how apps connected to loyalty programs entice the consumer to keep interacting with the brand and coming back for more.

Although there is one comment in the article that gave me pause. It was, ““It seems like the minimum brand requirement is having an app if you are in food and beverage,” said Mike Cochrane, sales director at Atimi, Vancouver, Canada. And while this can absolutely be beneficial in certain respects, there has to be reasons behind it and brands shouldn’t just create an app to create an app, as we have read about and discussed in class! Loyalty programs for food and beverage are positive proponents of apps, but again, having an app just to have an app is not a path for success.

https://www.retaildive.com/ex/mobilecommercedaily/wawa-challenges-dunkin-donuts-starbucks-with-in-app-mobile-payments-and-loyalty

Love this post! I feel the same way about the Chick FIl A app! I love how they make everything so convenient and all of my information is stored right there. Although I use a lot of applications on my phone I feel like the most useful ones are the ones related to food industries because they make ordering and paying for my food ahead of time such an easy experience.