Social Media Win (?!) — Wendy’s

So there have been many companies trying to heroically navigate through the minefield we know today as, Social Media. Every step you take can either be a win or a lost. Everyone’s humour is different, so if you’re trying to be funny, you might capture half the nation, while the other half is up in arms because they’re offended or just think you’re lame. Some are even skeptical of a giant corporation or ‘famous’ individuals for ‘trying too hard’ on social media in order to stay relevant (*cough Norm Kelly *cough), yet there are still those that appreciate the humour. Highly dependant on the audience is the result of a company’s “Social Media Fail” or “Social Media Win”. Lately Wendy’s seem to be rising in the ranks of ‘witty’ social media accounts interacting with their customers, or haters in this sense.

Here’s an article that describes in detail the rise of Wendy and their social media campaign:

Behold: The sass master behind Wendy’s Twitter

TL;DR — Wendy’s Twitter has been deemed a “sass master” and these are the people behind it, along with complete screenshots of these Tweets. Amy Brown manages the social media for Wendy’s, alongside two other employees. They’re famously known for their witty comebacks and humorous banter with other Twitter users.

Is this planned or canned content?

Wendy’s latest strategy and approach seems to fall under planned content. All of their tweets seem to hit the mark for what planned content is; unique, personal, relevant, contextual, crafted, authentic, custom, specific/tailored, purposeful, intentional, and careful. However, having content like this carefully curated and appealing to the masses seems to rely on having the right team. If you look further into Amy Brown as an individual, you’ll find that she herself has many of these qualities already in her personality. Thus making her the perfect fit for managing a well-known fast food restaurant trying to find its own voice in this minefield of social media accounts.

Wendy’s doesn’t do the whole “Sorry to hear that, please lalalala for more assistance” that most major corporations follow (probably to ensure the most efficiency and response time) — but this seems scripted, like a blanket-approach. Instead, Wendy’s tends to create a personalized response, typically witty because everyone knows that the ‘funnies get the hunnies’. So for every witty reply Wendy’s generates, the more audience they can reach because of the RT’s, Likes, and overall attention they would receive from having articles (like the one above) writing about their tweets.

It seems that for Wendy’s, so far so good. They haven’t taken a misstep yet, and they seem to be riding this newfound fame. The audience seems to be entertained, and the team seems to clearly know what they are doing. I would consider this a Social Media win, and I hope it continues to be this way, because Wendy’s serves decently priced food and deserves all the good recognition it can get.

“I think both as a brand and a human being trying to use Twitter, authenticity goes a long way. And, of course being funny doesn’t hurt.” — Amy Brown