Wendy’s: The Beef isn’t Only in its Burgers
Wendy’s social media presence and its sassy way of marketing
How do we market towards a generation that has such little attention span, and will completely scroll past advertisements without a second thought? Are brands struggling to get followers on social media because the younger generation just couldn’t be bothered to be marketed towards, and just want to be entertained? Possibly one of the most amusing accounts on Twitter would have to be that of Wendy’s fast food restaurants. You may be surprised to hear that Wendy’s, of all companies, would have such a strong social media presence, especially because alike restaurants have more of a basic use for social media and marketing, but Wendy’s social media is anything but basic. Wendy’s has steered away from the traditional use of social media from a marketing standpoint, and has used its Twitter platform, to post sassy, witty and bold responses. While they still do post about their food, and the different promotions that they have going on, they have also been known for responding to other twitter users, in sassy ways. Wendy’s understands their brand and utilizes each platform differently to market to the different demographics, using the strengths of each social site. For instance, their Twitter, and Instagram pages are extremely different, but they do a strong job at getting their messages across.
Although Wendy’s does do traditional marketing on their platforms to profile their foods and special offers, these posts are broken up with consumer interaction, and funny tweets, so when we look through their feed, it doesn’t feel like we are completely being marketed towards. People are specifically going to @Wendys on twitter to be entertained, and they are not being let down.
With this Twitter marketing tactic, Wendy’s does a great job of hitting the younger, millennial and Generation Z demographics, who ultimately are going to be the up and coming consumers. This age group is already on social media, and love online interaction, so they are striving to get recognized and “roasted” by Wendy’s social accounts, and its become almost a challenge to get “roasted by Wendy’s”.
Comparing Wendy’s to arguably their biggest rivals, McDonalds, McDonald’s strategy tends to be leaning towards the promotion and customer service. Scrolling through their page, users see mostly advertisements for upcoming products such as the McRib, Dollar Menu, and Two for 5$ Mix and Match promotions that are happening now or in the near future. Looking at their tweets and replies, they are mostly customer service based, dealing with complaints, or thanking consumers for visiting their restaurants. McDonalds encourages interaction with its customers in a different way than Wendy’s. Wendy’s witty replies encourages consumers to interact and get a funny response, but McDonalds encourages activity by posting Twitter polls for their audience to vote. While this strategy may work for them and their brand, Wendy’s has taken a different approach to stand out, and encourage the younger generation to tweet at them and follow them.
Wendy’s approach to social media marketing has proven to be successful, as their online following has increased rapidly, and not only stopping at online engagement, but also sales. Sales spiked throughout the years, growing Wendy’s net income from $129.6 million in 2016, to $194 million in 2017 (As per reported on “Columbus Business First”). One could argue that Wendy’s quick wit and growing popularity online has contributed to more people going to the fast food restaurant and hoped that when someone suggests fast food, that Wendy’s would be the first thing people thought of.
In addition to their sassy twitter account, Wendy’s also utilizes the YouTube platform, as they post short advertisements, and sponsored videos. One video that really sparked interest online was one entitled, “The Search for Frozen Beef”. In this short, 45 second, documentary style video, the hosts go to their competitors, McDonalds, and talk to employees about frozen beef, asking if they serve frozen beef and asking to get into their freezers. The comedic approach to this also throws digs into their competition, while subtly explaining why consumers should go to Wendy’s over any other fast food restaurant. This video has over 5 million views and dozens of comments applauding Wendy’s harsh attempt at exposing the competition. This video also happens to be the highest viewed video on Wendy’s YouTube channel. Clearly, Wendy’s is listening to what its consumers want in terms of being marketed towards, and is providing it in the most amusing way possible.
Although these ways of advertising may seem bold and risky, they certainly are effective. Carl Loredo, Wendy’s VP of Brand and Advertising, talks about the brand when he states, “I think what’s important for us and our team is to try to find new and innovative ways to continue to tell our story” (Hardy, 1). But what is even more interesting is how different this storytelling is among the different social media platforms that Wendy’s exists on. Wendy’s twitter differs drastically from its Instagram, which is comprised of bright, colourful aesthetically pleasing photos and videos that share promotions and more traditional marketing methods. Traditional in the sense that they are displaying their products, often with a price, with the description being how delicious their food is. So why would Wendy’s choose two extremely different approaches to its online marketing? Loredo goes onto explain the method to their madness when he states, “We have to be mindful of where are we, what’s the platform. Our voice on Twitter would not work in the world of Instagram” (Hardy, 1).
As most brands remain uniform across many different platforms, it is interesting to note that Wendy’s would rather have a completely different presence on the different platforms. This approach is not only smart, but very effective, as different platforms have different demographics, so to market to your audience in the most effective way, you must know who is on what platform. For instance, Twitter has a very different demographic than Facebook, with Twitter steering typically younger, brands must find ways that they can utilize this, and Wendy’s certainly does. Not only demographic, but use of the platform. Twitter leans more towards conversation, where as Instagram relies more on the appearance of pleasing aesthetic. Although the Wendy’s social media pages that appear as if they are from completely different brands, when looking deeper, they are actually just using their resources to the fullest extent.
Wendy’s holds up an online brand that the younger demographic is looking at and craving attention from. They have generation Z interacting online, and has almost become sort of a meme, having BuzzFeed articles, and hundreds of screenshots circulating the internet. Wendy’s does not only serve beef burgers at their restaurants, but they also created “beef” online, with their witty comebacks, and its sassy engagements with its customers.
Sources:
https://www.deputy.com/blog/how-wendys-used-social-to-profit-64m-in-a-year
https://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/wendys-roasts-its-way-social-media-stardom
