All ideas are subject to revision when better ones come along, right? Last week, I discussed three social media strategies I had observed companies using when trying to engage their customers. This week, I offer a small modification that yields four strategies along with a description of the first one: the 'Placeholder'. Tomorrow, I'll discuss the "Sell and Tell" and next week I'll discuss the last two and reveal all the companies in my experiment.

I know I'm not the only one to notice that Starbucks and McDonalds are starting to compete over the same customers. What's interesting to me is the customer service delimma Starbucks is apparently facing. Do they continue to appeal to more and more of the same demographic as McDonalds? Or, do they hold firm to their coffee house roots (with the power of a global brand). Is it even possible to be both?