Restaurants are increasingly using social media as a marketing tool, but a New York City burger chain launching next month is redefining the strategy.
4food, which on July 6 is to open its first of 11 planned locations, will allow customers to use iPads to place orders.
Customers also have the option of naming and branding their creation, and posting it on Facebook or Twitter. When ordering from home, they can create commercials on YouTube.
The branded burgers and commercials are then featured on a 240-square-foot media wall at the restaurant that also streams from Foursquare, a social-networking site where users can check in at restaurants and other locations. Every time someone buys one of the concoctions, the creator receives a 25-cent credit through their account.
The unusual self-marketing isn’t the only defining difference of the restaurant, whose first location is at 40th Street and Madison Avenue.
The burgers have holes in the middle, which can be filled with one of 100 rotating garnishes, from macaroni and cheese to sushi rolls. The hole portions of the burgers are also served on skewers for those seeking a carbohydrate-free dining experience.
Five additional locations in Manhattan have been identified, in addition to one each in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The chain’s arrival in New York City was first reported last month by Eater, a website that covers the restaurant industry.
The owners are in the process of hiring 60 people. They said about half the applicants at job fairs found out about 4food through social media websites.
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