Wakaberry celebrates their second birthday on 22 May this year. In two short years, Wakaberry Frozen Yoghurt Bars have grown from 1 flagship store in Florida Road, Durban to 15 stores in four provinces. This exciting growth continues with five more stores opening in the next month.
Wakaberry was born as the first self-serve pay-per-weight froyo bar in South Africa but has grown into one of the hottest and fastest growing food brands and this, says co-founder and director, Michele Fourie, is due to the high standard of the product and the astounding loyalty the Wakaberry community (WakaFans) continues to show the brand.
“When we started Wakaberry we were determined to create a brand that really spoke to our customers. We wanted to offer both a consistent, memorable experience with stores that was authentic and fun and a superior REAL YOGHURT product – it was never a question of one or the other,” adds Michele. “I believe that this is what keeps our customers coming back for more and has helped us build our phenomenal online community.”
Wakaberry has really set the benchmark for other ‘new’ brands wanting to market themselves on digital platforms. They started their Facebook page when they opened their first store in May 2011 and in just 2 years the page has over 70 000 followers with hundreds joining every week. The page actively markets new stores, flavours, merchandise and events with strong visuals and regular updates. Their emphasis has always been on real engagement that evokes reaction and creates interaction.
Their Twitter stream (@Wakaberry_1) has 11 400 followers and is incredibly active. It is used to respond to queries, talk about events, promotions and product and generally engage in real time with the Wakaberry consumers – it’s almost like a 24-hour hotline to the Waka Nation. And they are responding. Affectionately known as Wakafans they are passionate about talking to the brand. Photos and comments about their Wakaberry experiences fill the stream on a daily basis.
In line with this digital strategy the Wakaberry team launched a mobi-site on MHub. The site went live in December 2012 and in that relatively short time it has attracted 50 000 unique users (as of Thursday 16 May). This is by far the busiest site on MHub and far out weighs the 1500 unique users average for a mobi-site that has been live for this period.
As part of the birthday celebrations this week Wakaberry are launching two brand new mobile Wakaberry units at Grand Designs in Johannesburg and The Good Food Wine Show in Cape Town. “We are very excited about our second birthday and are really looking forward to taking Wakaberry on the road which is something we haven’t been able to do in the past. It’s the latest development for us and we hope it will open many doors for the brand,” says Michele.
URL: http://www.wakaberry.co.za
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Author: Genevieve Cutts from Firestarter. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
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Wakaberry logo Photographer: Wakaberry
A Wakaberry bowl of happiness Photographer: Wakaberry
A Wakaberry bowl of happiness Photographer: Wakaberry
