Taco Bell won the Ad Age Marketer of the Year Award in 2013, and for good reason. According to the publication, the chain posted an eight percent increase in US sales in 2012 (double the gains of McDonald’s). The launch of new product Doritos Locos Tacos was fueled by social media and recorded the most successful product launch in the company’s 50-year history.
Taco Bell’s social media marketing endeavors have been wildly well received; the brand boasts over 10 million engaged fans on Facebook and almost a million followers on Twitter. But what’s most interesting is the Mexican fast-food chain’s philosophy on the social web: phenomenal photos (the obvious) alongside a bit of sarcasm, wit, and a blatantly authentic personality.
Taco Bell isn’t afraid to get feisty – especially when it’s defending itself.
@OldSpice Is your deodorant made with really old spices?
— Taco Bell (@TacoBell) July 9, 2012
Taco Bell’s real time, on-the-fly social strategy is one to be beat. Now, the fast food chain is taking over Snapchat, and is one of the first brands to successfully do so.
Did taco bell literally just add me as a friend on snapchat and snapchat me?? Smiling face with heart-shaped eyesSmiling face with heart-shaped eyesSmiling face with heart-shaped eyes @TacoBell pic.twitter.com/m4Stay88qG
— Susan Kristy Park (@susankristy) January 18, 2014
Wendy’s is another unique player among the fast food chains on social media. Last fall, its #PretzelLoveStories was a huge hit, provoking Forbes to remark the chain’s social strategy to be founded on “massive stupidity” and “unbelievably dumb stuff that’s blow-milk-out-your-nose funny.”
It’s common knowledge that possessing human qualities is what drives brands’ success on the social web, but at what point do you turn into the all-annoying Stifler from American Pie?
Are there lessons your brand can learn from fast food social media?
