The Internet moves fast. When things goes against you on the ‘net, you have to move fast too. If you know how to use social media, you can.
Taco Bell’s situation at the moment is a good example of someone actively using social media in a fast-moving, difficult situation.
Don’t want to get into the substance very far, but instead want to look at their use of social media in conjunction with traditional media under a coordinated campaign.
Just a moment of background. You may have already seen their full-page ads. If you’ve stopped by one of their stores, you have seen a poster in the store or the drive-through window. The theme is “Thank you for suing us”. Short version of the story is one consumer has sued the chain claiming their beef is mostly filler (35% beef / 65% filler) . The restaurant’s response is their taco filling is 88% beef, with the remainder water, oats, spices, and cocoa powder. All of the extra is what provides flavor, texture, and moisture.
Wall Street Journal has a great article providing the background on Taco Bell’s strategy here. Unfortunately a subscription is required. If you have a subscription (or Monday’s print copy is still in the office) check out the full article.
Beyond the print and in-store campaign, watch their use of social media. The Wall Street Journal reports the company quickly put up a YouTube video featuring the president of the company. I watched it. I’m not a PR guy, but my reaction is its pretty good. They have Facebook postings.
They bought the words “taco”, “bell”, and “lawsuit” on search engines so when someone searches “taco bell lawsuit”, the first listing is a sponsored ad linking to their website. I checked – their paid link pops up at the top of the page. Top unpaid listings are responses to the suit along with general background.
Fairly quick response across all media: YouTube, Facebook, search ads along with print and in-store. Will be worth watching their campaign as time passes to see how they use social media.
Update: Followup here. Typo in headline corrected. (Guess I’m not quite nimble enough myself!)