Let's "Taco" 'bout Social Media Strategy
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| Source: https://twitter.com/tacobell/status/1775223448068903233 |
In this age of intense social media marketing, it may be difficult for companies to stand out on potential customer's feeds. One company that is succeeding in this is Taco Bell. They have created a personality that many users are able to recognize and appreciate. In an interview with Adweek, Taco Bell's CMO Taylor Montgomery said that "It's critical that we don't show up like a brand." With this strategy, the accounts present a more relatable and personable impression. That also allows for a lot more interaction, another crucial aspect of their strategy. They are looking to create a unique customer experience. When interacting with users on different social media platforms, they are providing a more positive and memorable experience, which can lead to helping companies stand out and differentiate. The image above is a recent tweet from the company, combining the current trend of "touching grass" with the promotion of their fan favorite drink.
Another very popular method of online advertising is the use of influencers. Almost every company has a number of recognizable and popular celebrities promoting their products. One main issue with this though is users feeling that some partnerships feel forced. You have a celebrity promoting something that people would never believe they chose to use. Knowing this, Taco Bell has very successfully curated their team of influencers. Most recently, they had Doja Cat announce the Mexican pizza coming back.
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| Source: https://eurweb.com/2022/taco-bells-mexican-pizza-returns/ |
Taco Bell has very carefully selected their influencers by seeing how they present themselves online. For Doja Cat, she was one of the many Taco Bell consumers voicing how much people want this pizza back in stores. Therefore, bringing her onto the return campaign made sense and aligned with both online presences. They have brought on various other celebrities, like Paris Hilton and Pete Davidson, in order to reach different segments of consumers.
Another campaign they utilized this curated team of influencers for was for their "Build Your Own Cravings Box." This campaign fir their whole brand attitude and reputation very well. The commercial featured a wide variety of well-known celebrities, but from across different groups in order to maximize viewer appeal. It included actor Noah Centineo, drag queen Onyx Black, BMX biker Brad Simms, and other Taco Bell enthusiasts. The commercial was a dig at other fast food restaurants that feature "celebrity meals." Essentially, the chain chooses one celebrity at a time and makes their go-to meal available for all fans to purchase. An example of this is the Travis Scott meal at McDonald's. In response to that, Taco Bell created this commercial that emphasizes that people have different tastes, and should be able to build their own box. It also helps solidify that Taco Bell is all about their consumers, which they really lean into and are known for. Check out the video below:
Having such a strong online presence with celebrities that represent the company well, I think Taco Bell has been doing a fantastic job of creating not just excitement, but attitudinal loyalty. Consumers are able to interact with the brand and even sometimes feel they are a part of it. Attitudinal loyalty is when consumers have a deeper commitment to the company and what it offers. I believe most loyal Taco Bell fans feel this strong attachment to the brand. They feel seen and that the company truly cares what consumers want and think. Taco Bell uses co-creation to also strengthen these relationships, by allowing users to feel involved in the products and offerings. The return of the pizza is a great example of this. Consumers were posting and advocating that they wanted this particular menu item back, and Taco Bell brought it back, making consumers feel they were heard.
The brand personality that Taco Bell has established for itself has definitely paid off. When monitoring their engagement via Shareablee, "Taco Bell" is definitely a hot topic. On Instagram, 91 posts have gained a total of almost 500,000 likes. On X, 86 posts have gained about 85,000 likes. It is clear that people are interested in the brand, and a simple scroll through any of their pages shows that people are excited to interact with them as well. It is difficult though, to see if these transition to sales. However, I think that from looking at some of their online interactions, most of the users giving their accounts attention are loyal fans.
With such a strong online presence, there could be complications and threats. First, relying on influencers and celebrities requires a lot of careful monitoring, especially since they have so many endorsers. If any of these recognizable people are getting negative attention, that could impact Taco Bell. Another issue could be maintaining their personality. Taco Bell's online accounts have a very specific and recognizable attitude that fans have come to expect. Therefore, every post needs to match that energy to keep that personality in check with what consumers are wanting. Lastly, with such a well-known and successful online image, competitors may try to imitate the strategy to maximize their own popularity. Wendy's is another restaurant with comical online pages. They tend to have almost passive aggressive responses to other companies. One example is their recent reply to McDonald's announcing their double Big Mac:
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| Source: https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/1750997136404029658 |
https://www.adweek.com/social-marketing/taco-bell-social-strategy/
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/taco-bell-decries-rivals-celeb-menu-stunts-in-build-your-own-cravings-mo/594483/
https://core.comscore.com/coyote/content
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