Kulture Konnect Blog

Twitter users can't get enough of the sassy red head famously known as the late Dave Thomas' hamburger chain, Wendy's. The fast food restaurant has exploded on Twitter, gaining over 350,000 followers due to its playful and witty comebacks against users and even roasting their competition, including McDonalds, Burger King and Hardee's in the last several months. Users love it and we call their Twitter strategy brilliant restaurant marketing. Read below as our Kulture Konnect team shares its perspective on why we believe Wendy's is so successful on Twitter.

Shruti Kapadia - Social Media Coordinator for Kulture Konnect 

Wendy’s is doing these two  things right when it comes to social media:

1] Timing: Timing is everything, especially on a platform like Twitter where the life of a tweet is not more than 30 minutes. Wendy’s keeps an eye out for people tweeting and mentioning its competitors' products and grabs the opportunity to their full advantage.

2] The company knows its  limits: Even after the bold comparisons and the funny roasts, Wendy’s still manages to keep the main aesthetic of the brand alive by interacting only about food. They know they should extend the conversation to the point where the brand can satisfy the customer and compel them to make a purchase. 

The main reason for   their success on Twitter is their approach. It is bold and direct. Time and again we have seen bold topics being discussed on Twitter. It’s an open platform where there’s transparency and people are direct. Wendy’s studied that well and came up with the idea of roasting, which turned out to be just the right approach for the brand. Also, what I really enjoy about the brand is the fact they don’t sway while communicating. They keep their focus on food and that’s what customers are looking for these days. They look forward to a brand that’s honest and does what it says. 

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Jorge Pacheco -

Wendy’s success on social media, especially Twitter, is the result of a few   things: 

• 1.] User Engagement: Lately, Wendy's has been having conversations with users that range from playfully “roasting” them to helping them with their math homework.

• 2.] Responsiveness: To have a conversation, you need to be very responsive and they are on top of it… from candid talks to handling more serious complaints. They react very quickly and take action in an instant.

  3.] User Generated Content: Because of their responsiveness and user engagement, they have a lot of user generated content. This adds to overall conversation and keeps the dialogue going.

Wendy’s is so successful on social media because:

1.] They have the freedom of being candid. Their posts are funny, relevant and relatable.

2.] The tone is playful. Even though they have an ongoing feud with McDonald’s, they keep it light and tasteful.  

3.] Most corporations do not dare to use this type of brand voice for risk of crossing the corporate red tape. The Wendy’s social media team is very lucky to have the suits backing up their fun and playful brand voice. We are inspired by them often!

Silvia Lilly - Marketing Coordinator for Kulture Konnect

1.] It's Refreshing - People on social media are tired of the same old corporate style advertisements or posts. Wendy's Twitter strategy is refreshing to Twitter users. People look at Wendy's differently because no one else is doing what they are doing. 

2.] Wendy's Understands Each Platform - Every platform is known for something. Twitter is very different from Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat. It's known for its trending hashtags and users love to participate with witty one liners along with downright hilarious memes or GIFs. If you notice, Wendy's responds very differently on other platforms because Twitter is the appropriate place for this type of humor. 

3.] Humor - There's no arguing that people love a good laugh and want to be entertained. This is one of the reasons why Wendy's gained so many followers. I think many companies are afraid to insult their followers just to find out people aren't as sensitive. Their followers are waiting for Wendy's next post or next roast. They know it won't be another generic tweet.

We want to hear your thoughts. Share your opinion on why you believe Wendy's is so successful on Twitter in   the comments below.

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