Need Instagram to boost your brand? There's a class for that

MANILA – Choosing the right photograph, filter, and hashtags on Instagram have become important things to consider in promoting small businesses and building brands.

Enderun Colleges, through its Enderun Extension program, has launched a three-hour class to help brands and small businesses build their community on the social media image-sharing platform.

Valerie Almario, marketing executive of Enderun Colleges, said businesses can benefit from the workshop because Instagram has become a tool that can easily be used to creatively market products and brands.

"You can gain customer engagement through visual stories like posting as-it-happens updates, behind-the-scenes, product information and such. Instagram is also a great way to interact with customers via comments and likes," Almario told ABS-CBNnews.com.

The class outline includes understanding the basics of using Instagram and its community; how to use it to build your brand; audience-building; and Instagram styling.

The first class will be held on September 10 at The Podium in Ortigas, and will be taught by digital content consultant Martine de Luna.

Another class is scheduled on September 30.

The class fee is P2,000 per participant.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

After the cronut, cafes bet on crookie, croclair

MANILA – While some bakeries attempt to replicate the success of the “cronut” in New York, other cafés have come up with their own pastries to compete with the croissant-donut hybrid.

One such treat is the “crookie,” a pastry is made by stuffing crushed Oreo cookies into a croissant dough, according to a report from ABC News, who noted that the sweet treat was invented in the Clafouti Patisserie et Café in Toronto, Canada.


Each crookie is priced at $2.70 – lower than Dominique Ansel’s $5 cronuts – with customers placing large orders, according to Clafouti.

But it has yet to catch up with the hype of the cronut, which has been trademarked by Ansel after inspiring long lines, copycats and scalpers, who sell the hybrid pastry for as much as $100.

Manila gets a taste of the crookie

As with the cronut, Wildflour Café + Bakery in Taguig City was quick to spot the crookie trend as it recently came up with its own take on the pastry.

Early this month, Wildflour announced that it is offering crookies at P120 each, the same price as its croissant-donuts.

The relatively new dining spot in Taguig City has been attracting even more customers because of its croissant-donuts, which now come in mixed berry and dulce de leche flavors on top of the usual chocolate and strawberry.


At least three more establishments in Manila have followed suit, each offering its own version of the hybrid pastry.

Such is the popularity of the cronut that Enderun Colleges will be holding a special class on how to make the "it" pastry. Chef Marc Chalopin will conduct a demo on July 27 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the school's culinary amphitheater for P1,500 per participant.



Meanwhile, Mesclun Bistro at Serendra, also at the Bonifacio Global City, has created an entirely new hybrid, which it calls "croclair," a cross between a croissant and an eclair.

The croclair actually looked like a croissant in terms of its shape, but is covered in chocolate. But like the eclair, it comes with a creamy custard filling.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com