Gone are the days of waiting until the local girl scout knocks at your door to buy some cookies. Now web-savvy girl scouts rely on social media and smartphone apps to deliver customers to their local girl scout cookie booth. Scouts and troop leaders hope that the introduction of app-vertising and social media will help them reach their cookie sales target of $700 million.
According to NPR, the new mobile app was introduced to avoid the troubles stirred up two years ago, when one scout in North Carolina got in hot water for posting a video on YouTube to sell her cookies.
The Girl Scouts of America have introduced this app strategy along with e-vites and Facebook messages to market their cookies. The scouts are required to team up with their parents to manage their social media marketing.
For decades girl scouts have learned salesmanship and responsibility through the annual cookie sales. Now there is an added layer of social media and mobile app marketing added to the lesson. In addition to sharpening their marketing skills, girl scout troop leaders also believe that this is an effective way to teach girls about social media and online safety. Girls have access to a complete online training kit to help them reach their sales goals.
Looking for Cookies?
The “Cookie Locator” app uses GPS (global positioning satellite) technology to find cookie sale locations. The mobile app provides information on the nearest cookie booths and lists the dates and times when booths are open. The app can be downloaded for free by searching for “Cookie Locator” in the iPhone App Store or Android Market Place. Blackberry users and any cell phone that can access the internet can visit the mobile site by pointing their phone’s browser to: http://mobile.littlebrownie.com/.
