• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, December 27, 2009

Eight O'Clock coffee is supporting its heavy emphasis on social media by helping Facebook novices learn the ropes via a step-by-step video primer on the brand's Web site (eightoclock. com).

The video, "Connecting Over Coffee Through Facebook," shows users how to create a profile, search for friends and family, and make the best use of the site's features.

"We believe that 'connecting over Facebook' is similar to 'connecting over coffee'," says Alisa Jacoby, senior brand manager, Eight O'Clock Coffee Company. "Coffee and computers go hand in hand -- these days, people have their mug in one hand and their mouse in the other."

That coffee/computer symbiosis is the core concept behind the social media strategy created and executed by the brand's agency, S3, Jacoby notes. Those efforts started with Eight O'Clock's early use of Twitter and expanded with a partnership with AMC's "Mad Men" series, including a "wildly popular" branded app for creating personal avatars based on "Mad Men" characters, she points out.

The Facebook how-to video idea emerged from online chatter among brand fans mentioning that they have friends who they wished were on Facebook, so that they could easily stay in touch.

"Especially with the holidays at hand, we all know at least one person we'd love to catch up with and stay in touch with through Facebook, who isn't on Facebook yet," says Jacoby. "So we thought we'd help make it easier for Facebook holdouts to join in and connect."

The brand is spreading the word about the video via its Facebook fan page, tweets, mentions by bloggers and news media and resulting word of mouth.

Posted in mid-December, the video is generating positive press and feedback from brand fans who are reporting that they or their friends have become Facebook users with the tool's assistance, reports Jacoby.