There is no doubt that social media is one of the most pulse driving technological components in the world today. Sites like Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter can make or break a company and their ad campaign. Social media is also being used more and more for things that have nothing to do with commerce but rather is all about just getting a message out there. One company that has seen their use of social media help them rake in profits is Caribou Coffee.

The company has been around for several years, but you wouldn't be the only one if you didn't know where you could get a cup from them, or even where a store is located. That is one of the reasons the company started their You + Your Bou campaign. That particular campaign is actually a larger attempt by the company to rebrand itself particularly because there simply weren't enough people who had much familiarity with Caribou Coffee. The campaign was started in 2009 and the company says that this newest social media aspect is the most successful part of the redesign so far.

A new study, titled “Clicks and Cravings” shows that social media can especially drive people to one restaurant or coffee shop over another. The study says that almost half of all consumers learn about food through social networking sites. Forty percent of the people involved in the study showed that they learn about new foods from mobile apps, blogs or websites.

Caribou was recently named the most talked about coffee shop on social networking sites, which is of course quite the coup when you think about the national coffee chains that are out there. Starbucks might be bigger in the whole of the American lexicon but Caribou is dominating the web. That means they'll be more popular off the web very soon and takes their social networking status seriously. 

The company says that it uses feedback from social media to decide what kinds of new products it is going to launch and when. Caribou has embraced the social media market and that market has shown them the love right back.