digisoc1: Wendy’s Internet Personas and Digital Marketing
10 years ago, if your head of marketing told you that your company needed a “twitter account,” whatever that meant, you would have laughed at them. Today, social media plays a critical role in many corporations’ advertising strategies. An internet persona lets companies directly interact with potential customers, offers free advertising on high-traffic media, and provides a direct means of handling customer complaints.
Wendy’s twitter account is famous for its quick banter, sharp wit, and ruthless bashing of McDonald’s for using frozen meat in their burgers. It’s not so shocking to hear “Look what Wendy’s posted today,” or “Wendy’s just roasted me, check it out!”. They’re a household name, with some of their exploits even making an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Wendy’s is responsible for one of the most retweeted tweets of all time.
Wendy’s is a great example of a brand effectively using their online presence to interact with the greater internet, blending personable humor with a recognizable brand identity. Their content is digestible, memorable, and easily shareable. Wendy’s picks fights with other brands to polarize their audience, driving brand loyalty through the roof. They benefit from free advertising every time they get retweeted. They play the fine line between corporate and raunchy, incorporating a potent mix of product promotion and catchy hooks. Their followers love it. At the end of the day, the rubber meets the road when a customer walks into a brick-and-mortar Wendy’s and makes an order. According to Deputy.com, Wendy’s net income increased from $129.6 million to $194.0 million in 2017 after rebuffing their social media game. Whatever they’re doing works.
We treat brand personas differently from the corporations that they represent. That’s what makes Wendy’s twitter so effective. We don’t often notice when brand tweets are actually advertisements. Wendy’s is like your witty friend. We willingly volunteer ourselves as human billboards by retweeting them to our profile pages, indistinguishable from our real friends’ tweets. They demonstrate their dedication to customer satisfaction by publicly handling complaints with conversation. When people go to brick-and-mortar Wendy’s, they feel like they can expect the same degree of customer service.
Conflict is an incredibly effective way to rile up an audience. One of their favorite tactics is to pick fights with other brands -their favorite target being McDonald’s. Nothing drives brand affiliation like conflict and competition. Growing up in San Francisco, I’ve seen people throw hot coffees over trivialities like the tabs-vs-spaces argument. Wendy’s bashes McDonald’s to polarize their audience. We pick a side and defend our preferences, completely unaware of the elaborate setup that manipulates us into brand loyalty. It doesn’t matter who has the wittier response or gets the last laugh. Both sides profit.
Almost all big companies put up some form of a public persona these days. Wendy’s is just one example. Despite all outward appearances, they’re not your friends. Next time you retweet a brand’s post, think twice about the finely crafted persona and the underlying motive to drive sales hiding behind it.
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