Microblogging gets animated with Twitter's Vine appMicroblogging gets animated with Twitter's Vine app

Can you convey the essence of your restaurant or a signature menu item in six seconds?

That’s a creative challenge posed by Vine, the free iPhone-based application, an offshoot of 500-million-member Twitter that adds sound and moving pictures — although brief — to the microblogging experience.

Big players already have jumped onto the social media platform, which Twitter debuted in late January. Taco Bell took to Vine Feb. 13 to tease the upcoming introduction of its Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos.

And many other restaurant operators are finding the in-app tap-and-record snippets take the limited 140-character Twitter experience to a new level.

“Because the clips are limited to six seconds, it inspires users to be creative and concise, which in my opinion is a platform for creating better and more engaging content that doesn’t require a lot more time to consume and understand,” said Dan Kim, founder and chief concept officer of Dallas-based Red Mango.

 The animated content can make the messages more engaging, he added. The video snippets can be pushed with one finger press to Twitter and Facebook feeds, as well.

“While six seconds, in most cases, will not be enough time to communicate a traditional commercial message,” Kim said, “it does provide us with an opportunity to express our brand’s personality or our product’s attributes in a way that is more captivating than a still image, but not as complex and demanding as a video clip.”

While the platform is still new, chains as varied as Chili’s Grill & Bar and Mama Fu’s Asian House have given it a spin. And as with most social media platforms, the leveled playing field gives independent restaurant operators as much of an advantage in their geographic markets as the giant chains.

Victoria Shparber, who, with her mother Milana Shparber, owns the Black Forest Deli in Bethlehem, Pa., has embraced many social media avenues for the Russian-influenced eatery.

“Who wants to see a three-minute video from a local deli?” Shparber asked. “I think you can get the idea across of what’s going on in your business in the six-second time frame. I personally am trying to use Vine to just be different and make it more visual for my potential clients as well as my customers. I want them to see the sandwich itself or what’s going on at the deli today or who is here.”

Shparber’s short little videos on what her mother is cooking or the beauty of pickled eggs are delicious vignettes — and that’s the essence of any eatery.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless.