Hello… Caffeine

It can be difficult to find an untapped area of a market to make your brand, business, or opportunity stand out. Once you do, it usually means taking a chance to see if it is right for you and your audience. Social media has offered those opportunities for many companies and lines of business to expand their ventures and grow to unprecedented success. The social media market, in particular, is always growing and opening new apps for people to try their hand at. One of those recent additions to the market is Caffeine.

Caffeine was released in 2018 and created by ex-Apple designers Ben Keighran and Sam Roberts (2018, Takahashi). It is a streaming site and application known for its live, real-time feeds and broadcasts. It can be used for friends and family, gaming, sports, entertainment and is looking to capitalize on other markets where competitors like Twitch lack. While they do not have traditional ads or marketing schemes for their business models, there is a monetization program to reward engaging broadcasters (2021, Bump). This, along with the concept of no additional software or installations, allows for a more streamlined and easy-to-use format for users.

The current uses and demographics for the newer streaming service have been favored by the sports industry like FOX and ESPN and the entertainment industry, with many up-and-coming rappers using the platform for battles and promotions (2019, Booton). This being said, when you log on to the site, it appears to give off a more masculine aesthetic, which the app should be mindful of. The younger generations have gravitated towards the newer system for its simplicity, but the appearance of being a male-dominated platform leaves it open to growth in new markets and areas it has not expanded to yet.

A company that could capitalize on this opening would be the fresh food delivery service, HelloFresh. HelloFresh is known for its delivery service of preportioned meals based on your preferences and selections. With easy-to-follow instructions and estimated cooking times, the straightforward food service has helped those begin or reignite a passion for cooking at home. Since it takes the stress out of planning, organizing, and buying ingredients for only one meal, it has allowed those who do not necessarily have the time and resources to plan balanced meals to have the satisfaction of a home-cooked meal. In particular, this has helped those who live alone or families who need special items the ability to customize to their liking and schedules.

When it comes to HelloFresh’s social media, they are active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and have an app available for download on both the App Store and Google Play. Additionally, they are known for their sponsorships with many content creators across social media platforms. They regularly partner with different types of creators to show the simplicity of creating one of their meals and how rewarding and delicious the meals can be. I believe that they can take this one step further with Caffeine.

On Caffeine, HelloFresh could create weekly or biweekly streaming opportunities for various hosts or those within the company to host a cooking night. They could stream one person making a meal and have those making the same meal following along with them. Not only would this create a more personal connection for those who already enjoy watching content creators’ videos on the service, but it would also show the realistic, unedited process of cooking the meal from start to finish. This creates a better sense of community, especially for those using HelloFresh who may live alone or on different schedules than their roommates, friends, or family and still want that connection and bonding time that comes with cooking in a kitchen. As Caffeine offers and highlights their ability to connect in real-time and with no lag, this would be a beneficial site for HelloFresh to join in for that connectivity.

Furthermore, since HelloFresh rotates their offerings and meals, they could create a meal of the month or week; that way, those who want to participate in the live cooking sessions and follow along will know which meals will be used in the stream so they can order them as well. This could help HelloFresh’s marketing efforts by partnering with different streams of audiences, and it would help their audience try new foods and meals as they would have the incentive to want to follow along and join the process.

Social media is all about being connected with one another, no matter differences, distances, or abilities. This collaboration of Caffeine and HelloFresh could open Caffeine up to a new line of streaming to draw away from their heavily masculine, male-dominated platform and allow HelloFresh to show their personality and connectivity outside of sponsorships and paid advertisements.

#UFCJCOnline

References

Booton, J. (2019, February 01). ESPN’s New Social Broadcasting Partner Caffeine Is Taking on Twitch. SportTechie. https://www.sporttechie.com/espns-new-social-broadcasting-partner-caffeine-taking-on-twitch/

Bump, P. (2021, February 11). 6 New Social Media Platforms Marketers Should Watch in 2021. HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/new-social-media

Takahashi, D. (2018, January 31). Ex-Apple designers unveil Caffeine social broadcasting platform for games. VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/31/ex-apple-designers-unveil-caffeine-social-broadcasting-platform-for-games/