Great use of Twitter – Part 2

Part 2 of great Twitter cases:

Tweeding restaurant on wheels

Restaurants on wheels have already come a long way… Now the taco truck—a longstanding institution on the streets of LA—is getting a whole new spin thanks to Twitter and the infusion of some Korean spice.

Launched last fall, Kogi Korean BBQ takes the taste of Korean barbecue and melds it with the portability of Mexican tacos and burritos for a whole new category of delectable food. The mouth-watering food is sould through two trucks that are always on the go to new locations in the Los Angeles area—to know where to find them, customers must follow Kogi on Twitter (and more than 7,000 already do). Prices are recession-friendly—USD 2 for each taco—which may account at least in part for the fact that it’s not unusual to find hundreds of patrons lined up and socializing each evening while awaiting their turn at the Kogi truck, according to reports.

Take two taco trucks with a unique recipe, add a dose of Twitter, and you get a phenomenon the LA Times refers to as nothing short of “a burgeoning cyber-hippie movement affectionately referred to as ‘Kogi kulture’.”

Website: www.kogibbq.com

Ice cream truck that Twitters

Much in the manner of Kogi Korean BBQ and just in time for summer a new truck is cruising the LA streets— Coolhause, and it’s being followed by legions of devotees who track its whereabouts via Twitter.

Coolhaus sells handmade ice cream sandwiches from a pink and chrome converted postal jeep. Featuring local and organic ingredients whenever possible, Coolhaus sandwiches are 2-by-2-inch confections, about 1 inch deep, assembled to order using two cookies and a scoop of ice cream. Five architecture-inspired, “prefab” flavours are currently available from Coolhaus’s two-woman team (for example: the Frank Behry, made from sugar cookies and strawberry ice cream; the Mies Vanilla Rohe features chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream), but customization is also possible, they say. The sandwiches are also available with an edible, rice-paper wrapping that can feature a brand, name or logo in edible ink. Pricing is about USD 3 per sandwich, or USD 3.50 with the edible wrapper, according to LAist.

In addition to broadcasting information about its whereabouts via Twitter (@coolhaus), Coolhaus actually partners with Kogi in Venice on Saturdays, LAist reported; coming soon from its truck are edible spoons and popsicles shaped like famous buildings.

Website: www.eatcoolhaus.com

Package tracking via Twitter

Some 6 million people visit Twitter each month, so it’s no wonder applications for the platform are coming fast and furious. Not only can consumers use Twitter to track their favourite taco truck, file civic complaints and apply for jobs, but they can now track their packages as well thanks to a new application from North Carolina-based Signal Engine.

Users with packages to track begin by following PackageTrack on Twitter (@packagetrack), causing the free application to follow them in return. They can then direct message PackageTrack with the nickname of a package they’d like to track along with its tracking number, separated by a colon—”Red Dress: 23345631243,” for example. PackageTrack then notifies them by Twitter each time the package’s status changes, including a Google Map illustrating its route. Launched earlier this year, PackageTrack currently tracks only UPS, USPS and FedEx packages, but it says it will be adding more carriers soon.

Website: www.packagetrackapp.com

Source: Springwise.com, LAist