Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom: When Carter Met Wendy

This story begins with a boy named Carter and a girl named Wendy. Carter had a craving for some chicken nuggets and decided to ask Wendy out. He starts off by saying “Yo Wendy…how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?” Wendy, a cute redhead who likes to wear her hair in pigtails replied in her quirky but sassy voice: “18 million.” Carter in all his teenage bravado confidently responds, “Consider it done.” However, this isn’t quite the boy meets girl story you are expecting. In fact, Wendy isn’t even a girl at all, but a multimillion dollar chain restaurant brand and Carter is your average 16 year old teen who just wants to eat some free chicken nuggets.

Wendy’s is one of the many brands that has made responding and engaging with their followers on social media a part of their marketing communications strategy. Wendy’s has crafted a tone and brand voice to respond to their fans and haters, and in return, they are able to create an incredible amount of buzz for the brand. So much to the point, they are now mentioned in the most retweeted tweet (over 3.6 million and counting) of all time (cue Kanye West). For reference on how monumental that is, Ellen previously held the record with her Oscar selfie that included Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, and BRAD PITT! Did I mention Brad Pitt was in it?

So how did Wendy’s and 16 year old Carter upstage the most A-list selfie of all time? Human touch.

Wendy’s clever response to Carter was more of a dialogue between two friends than tweeting at a brand. This conversation set Twitter ablaze and should be a lesson to all marketers the power in engaging with the average fan. According to Jepp Christensen, SVP of content and social media at Text 100, brands are shifting from a “broadcast model to a stimulus-response model where brands and customers can have conversations with each other”(Daniels, 2017). Brands must start to recognize the importance of generating dialogue with their customers because if they listen and respond to them it can create positive buzz for the brand.

Since the exchange, Carter has made many media appearances from Ellen, USA Today, to People magazine and has become pseudo-famous. Twitter even verified his account with the coveted checkmark. Carter has used his new found fame as a way to also give back as he has started a fundraising website for Wendy’s Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Carter is only a teenager, but he is teaching brands the power in interfacing with the average customer pays off. Wendy’s impressions skyrocketed and the free media and positive buzz for the brand was the icing on the cake or should we say frosty.  Google, Apple, and Amazon are a few of the brands that showed support to his campaign to get to 18 million retweets for the free year of chicken nuggets. Even direct competitor, Burger King joined in on the fun with the retweets and maybe to hopefully ride in on the coattails of media impressions.

The question still remains if Carter makes it to 18 million tweets, will Wendy’s finally give him his free nuggets for a year? Because having the most retweeted tweet of all time just isn’t enough.

References

Daniels, C. (2017). Don’t ignore the little guy, and other lessons from #NuggsforCarter. Retrieved from http://www.prweek.com/article/1430634/dont-ignore-little-guy-lessons-nuggsforcarter

Liffreing, I. (2017). Apple and Microsoft join Wendy’s Twitter challenge to help teen win a year’s worth of chicken nuggets. Retrieved from http://www.campaignlive.com/article/apple-microsoft-join-wendys-twitter-challenge-help-teen-win-years-worth-chicken-nuggets/1430175#XYyXM2proBqWgf4H.99