Two ways to win at Taco Bell! Club Chalupa & King of Clubs Las Vegas Getaway

[pandybat]

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Taco Bell's "Plug Club" is Brilliant Marketing

March 24, 2002

The battle ground over consumers' fast food dollars is a fierce one. These days as Burger King attempts to push up its buyout price and McDonald's tries to grow it's customer count, Taco Bell might just have the most powerful artillery: the consumer.

We've chided Taco Bell for many years for being off target with its advertising and marketing (did they ever find out who fired that Chihuahua anyway?) but these days an A+ isn't a high enough grade for the basis of their new campaign.

It's not about the products that retail for $1.99 under the Club Chalupa banner or their new "outside the bun" marketing initiative -- it's "The Plug Club" that makes this campaign worth its weight in...well, tacos. Seriously it is brilliant guerilla marketing and public relations to the masses; an approach that connects directly with consumers. Even the ones that don't ordinarily go to Taco Bell.

Here's the bottom line: Taco Bell will pay consumers $500 through April 15th when they appear on the news or in a newspaper article where they plug "Club Chalupa". The company suggestions include painting "Club Chalupa" on one's chest during a sports event -- but for $500 expect the buzz (and branding) not limited to one's chests and to be everywhere.

Word-of-mouth endorsements and guerilla marketing are among the most powerful of the marketing tools... and those brands that have harnessed the power of it (brands like Red Bull and Absolut vodka) have created a unique relationship with their customers.

Supermarkets must learn to expand their marketing and do similar outreach marketing. As more food is being sold in more outlets it's the relationship that a retailer has with its customers that will keep their business strong. Typically retailers focus their efforts on pricing, customer service, store brands, clean facilities...but hardly do they think about how they can get real people talking about the "brand".

About 15 years ago Wakefern sponsored a program called The ShopRite Kids in the Kitchen Recipe Contest. In addition to the typical recipe contest regalia -- each region held a run-off that was held in a shopping mall. As parents and their children brought their cooked creations to be judged, a 4-hour event took place on a nearby stage. When asked, "what's your favorite supermarket?" hundreds of consumers of all ages shouted at the top of their lungs "ShopRite" with the hopes of catching a stuffed bear named Scrunchy as the animal was thrown into the audience. Building brands and relationships are best when done through a positive personal interchange.

Taco Bell's latest campaign should be a reminder to us all to get back to some basics and that Andy Warhol was right -- each of us want that 15 minutes of fame. For the brand that can connect that innermost emotion (and need) to their brand -- success is a given. All that for just 500 bucks or a stuffed bear!
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[upperstory9]

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[dolls123]

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