Taco Bell “Thinking Outside of the Bun” by Using Snapchat to Interact with their Consumers

emilievandijk    June 19, 2014

Organization Name: Taco Bell

Industry: Food

Name of Contact: Tressie Lieberman, Director-Social and Digital Marketing for Taco Bell

 taco-bell

Taco Bell has found out the best new and innovated way to introduce new items to their menu as well as interacting with their consumers, and that is; through the use of the very popular app Snapchat. In May 2013, Taco Bell used their twitter page to introduce their Snapchat username and encouraged people to add them as a friend to their list.

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Their message to all the users who had added the company, was that they were reintroducing the Beefy Crunch Burrito. Director of Social and Digital Marketing

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said,

“Sharing that story on Snapchat is a fun way to connect with the fans that we are thrilled to have. It’s all about treating them like personal friends and not consumers.”

In April 2014, Taco Bell used Snapchat’s function of “Live Film” to introduce the next Taco Bell Dorito taco: Spicy Chicken Cool SCCR_DLT_1Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos. It was launched through the first ever branded Snapchat Movie called “Rush Order;” the chain created the film, “snap-by-snap” using Snapchat’s Stories feature, which makes videos available for only 24 hours after they’re first uploaded.

“One thing we’re serious about is how we engage with our fans — we engage them the way they expect to be engaged,”

-Tressie Lieberman, Director-Social and Digital Marketing

Taco Bell has developed a very strong fan base through Snapchat in a year to believe that their Snapchat Story video would be a great success. A Snapchat Story disappears 24 hours after posted, which makes Taco Bell’s content post an intimate connection between their product/brand and their consumer.

Lessons Learned:

Taco Bell’s marketing team has researched Snapchat, a popular Social Media outlet, in an attempt to engage with their consumers. Honing in on the consumers interests allows Taco Bell’s marketing team to alter their techniques in order to strategically hit their marketing objectives – by introducing their products in a way that is appealing to their demographic.

References:

Behind the Scenes Snapchat Video, TacoBell’s Live FilmBeefy Crunch BurritoTaco Bell Twitter Page, Taco Bell’s Snapchat Story

Submitted By
Emilie van Dijk, SMBP Student, University of Waterloo
To contact the author of this entry please email at: emiliebvandijk@gmail.com

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