The Fast Food Giant Used Social Analytics to Bolster Customer Engagement and Execute the Brand's Most Successful Product Launch
This is the first in a series of posts highlighting the winners of the 2012 SuperNova Awards for innovators in disrutptive technology.
Doritos Locos Tacos: unless you were living under a rock last year the buzz surrounding the crunchy Taco Bell taco with a Dorito shell was inescapable. Taco Bell's biggest product launch to date, the company employed numerous inventive marketing campaigns to spread the word about this product --flying a taco truck into Anchorage Alaska and giving Tacos away during the 2012 World Series to name a few. Taco Bell sold 200 million Doritos Locos Tacos in the first six months, and registered a 13% increase in profits during the launch quarter.
For the successful launch of the Doritos Locos Taco, Lynn Hemans, Director of Industry and Competitive Insights, won a SuperNova Award. What realy caught the SuperNova Award Judges' eyes was Hemans' utilization of Twitter and social analytics to connect with customers, turn them into evangelists, and generate enough pre-launch buzz to make Doritos Locos Tacos the most successful Taco Bell product launch to date.
Disrupting the Facebook Standard
Taco Bell's social media data revealed 80%-90% of Taco Bell-related conversations occurred on Twitter. At a time when many brands focused their social media efforts on Facebook, Hemans blazed a trail and concentrated Doritos Locos Tacos' online product launch initiatives on Twitter. Using Netbase's social analytics technology, Hemans was able to glean insight from Twitter that not only allowed the Taco Bell PR and digital teams to resolve a supply problem early-on, but enabled them to reach their audience and use Twitter to approach the launch from a disruptive angle. Taco Bell conducted "tweet offs", giving winners the ability to bring Doritos Locos Tacos to their towns before the nationwide launch. They also featured customer tweets in commercials, connecting social media with more traditional forms of advertisement to bolster customer engagement.
We recognize Lynn Hemans for following the analytics and making the bold move to concentrate the brand's efforts on Twitter when the industry standard was Facebook. Clever use of social media, analytics, and marketing techniques turned casual tweeters into brand evangelists and boosted the brand's net sentiment over the course of the launch. 200 million tacos sold in six months and a 13% increase in profits during the Doritos Locos Tacos launch quarter speak for themselves.
Read Lynn Hemans' SuperNova Award winning application here: http://www.constellationr.com/content/lynn-hemans-taco-bell-supernova-aw...