Southwest of the Twin Cities in the small town of Red Wing, Minnesota lives Billy the Bun Man – a larger-than-life personality who thrives on Facebook promoting the local bakery, Hanisch Bakery. Bill Hanisch is the owner of the bakery and has built an audience of over 18,000 fans on Facebook with his social media alter ego, Billy the Bun Man.
In this episode we talk to Bill about that persona. He talks about the work that it takes to run a successful bakery and keep up his Billy the Bun Man identity (for which he has a costume and everything), and how he has used social media to build business for his bakery as well as other businesses in Red Wing.
Shownotes
On This Episode
Missy Young
Social Media Services Manager
As the Social Media Services Manager for Hubbard Interactive, Missy Young’s position entails working with clients and team members to drive social media strategy and lead initiatives to identify new technologies and digital best practices. She develops customized micro and macro campaigns that drive online interaction, promotes and creates content that enhances the customer experience and creates lead generation for medium to large-scale companies. She regularly speaks at local and national events on a variety of subjects including: social media, PR, analytics and content strategy.
Bill Hanisch
Chief Manager/Owner - Hanisch Bakery and Coffee Shop
Bill Hanisch is 1998 Graduate of Red Wing High School and a 2000 Graduate of Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. He studied Baking and Pastry Arts and Basics of Hotel and Restaurant Management. The bakery career for him started at 16 years old at Braschler’s Bakery and Coffee shop in Red Wing, Minnesota. Starting as a cleaning kid and moving his way through the ranks of the bakery before finally landing as the head night baker. In 2007 Bill and his then wife Robyn had the opportunity to purchase Braschler’s Bakery and make the transition into Hanisch Bakery and Coffee Shop. For 11 years the bakery has grown and prospered with the help of a strong social media presence. Self taught in most of the social media avenues Bill has created an online persona know as Billy The Bunman, a nickname given to him by a local radio Dj. Now with a strong following on Facebook, he is looking on how to grow and adapt the bakery in all the avenues on social media, as well as expanding the bakery itself.
Chad Peterson
Digital Project Manager
Chad Peterson is a digital project manager at Hubbard Interactive. A Wisconsin native, Chad moved to Minnesota to attend school at the University of Minnesota – Duluth, finishing his degree at Full Sail University, where he fell in love with developing brands on social media. Chad started in radio as a promotion specialist, and has sense worked in the motorcycle industry for a globally recognized distributor as a media buyer and social media manager – leading community development, influencer management, content strategy and creation, and social ad buys.
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