Wendy's Rocks the Groundswell

Let’s talk about Wendy’s. Yeah, you know that fast food place with the sweet little girl as their mascot? Well they’ve been burning people on Twitter like you would not believe. Making fun of those interacting with you may seem counter intuitive, but people are LOVING IT. Well, when you really think about it, it makes a lot of sense. What they’re doing, is diving right into their groundswell.

Li and Bernoff argue that Twitter can be a fantastic way engage customers, especially if they are not the kinds likely to engage in blogs, chat rooms, or other more in depth ways to get your customers talking. This would definitely be true for a wide spread, low cost fast food joint like Wendy’s. Their food is not particularly unique, there is not much you can do with it beyond eat it, and their customers have little connecting them beyond their love of burgers AKA EVERYONE (I know I know, vegetarians. But I’m making a point). What does work for a company like Wendy’s is a site that doesn’t let you post more than 140 characters about anything.

One thing that Li and Bernoff argue in Groundswell is that the first important aspect of twitter is to listen, but it’s another thing to talk. They state that “Talking on Twitter is easy. It’s also typically boring and useless unless done well”. What is the antidote to boring tweets? Groundswell explains that energizing your base comes from finding people who like your product and amplifying their voices. Well, Wendy’s has taken a slightly different approach to this. Instead, they energize their base by burning their competitors when potential customers question them. For example:

Yaaaaas Wendy’s! Wendy’s has found that these sort of “burns” get them recognition and shares. The initial people to be “burned” may have been embarrassed, but now people are tweeting Wendy’s just to see their snappy come backs. In the age of internet burns, Wendy’s realized that a few people potentially getting offended is worth the hundreds that will find it hilarious, and re-tweet. Also, it goes against the “banging them over the head” marketing strategy. This works to interest customers anyway because it’s become a uniquely Wendy’s thing to do, and the irony is heightened by the young girl as their mascot.

This is not the only thing that Wendy’s spends their time doing however. Li and Bernoff also argue that you always must be ready for a crisis if you’re willing to talk back on Twitter. Wendy’s uses their twitter as a way to listen and track poor quality in their restaurants and respond (of which there is a lot of in a cheap international chain). In fact, most of Wendy’s responses are requests for addresses where people had poor experiences.

Wendy’s is rocking it. Burning their opponents, and acknowledging genuine complaints at the same time. For now, they’re groundswell is all swell.