Brintha Renganathan

April 4, 2014
Taco Bells Breakfast Menu: Strategic Social Media

Taco Bells use of social media, especially in promotion for their new
breakfast menu, is the key to their marketing strategy . They place emphasis on
active receiving as apposed to passive receiving, and social media ensures that the
message does not end with an individual receiver. Taco Bells marketing strategy
consists of two main facets. The first is the creation of innovative products and the
second is the capacity to hit on major trends in society.
Taco Bell released the Doritos Locos Tacos in 2013 and it was the most-
successful product launch in the companys 50 year history according to
Advertising Age Magazine. It took them 3 years and 45 prototypes to create, and
after its launch, 100 million products were sold in just 10 weeks. They realize that
they are not another McDonalds and choose to focus on their strength of unique
and creative production that cannot be found at any other fast food chain. Taco Bell
launched its new breakfast menu on March 27
th
and has put special emphasis on its
newest innovation, the waffle taco. This kind of hype will inevitably bring in new
customers, even if only out of curiosity. Taco Bell creates new promotions to follow
the trends of their target market. The 4
th
Meal has been a famous campaign that
attracts their Millennial audience. Last year they came out with their Cantina menu
which consisted of healthier food items, and also released a campaign known as
Happier Hour, which comprises of dollar item drinks and items. These are

examples of how Taco Bells campaigns follow the current trend and emphasize the
desires of its customers. Their new breakfast menu was no exception to that
strategy.
Taco Bells breakfast menu consists of 14 new items including the waffle taco,
Cinnabon balls, and various breakfast burritos and tacos. Taco Bell takes advantage
of social media to attract customers and entice their curiosity. They utilize
Instagram in an authentic and creative way to advertise their company and also to
make fans an integral part of the company. Executive Marketing Officer Chris Brandt
described the Waffle Taco as Instagram worthy. This shows just how influential
social media has become in our society, and how important it is to Taco Bells
marketing sector. Instagram is an emerging and influential trend, and Taco Bell has
learned how pursue trends and entice their target audience. In addition to
Instagram, Taco Bell utilizes Facebook, Twitter, and various online contests and
promotions.
Last July, the company Old Spice tweeted at Taco Bell saying Why is it that
fire sauce isnt made with any real fire? Seems like false advertising. Taco Bell
replied with, @OldSpice, is your deodorant made with really old spices? Taco
Bells witty response and humor, which can be seen in their tweet, is unique to their
company and is an excellent marketing pull. Not only is their social media team
witty, but very quick to respond. Without even being tagged in the tweet, they
responded within 30 minutes and received 603 retweets and 345 favorites. Taco
Bell is not afraid of a little quarrel over social media because this clever type of

advertising will play out in their favorite when done right. A viral battle with
McDonalds created similar media victory.
McDonalds, one of the leading fast food chains in the nation, receives a large
portion of their revenue from their breakfast menu. The breakfast industry is a $50
billion industry and McDonalds currently holds 25% of that. Taco Bell is now a
threat to that number. On March 26
th
, McDonalds tweeted at Taco Bell with an
image of a clown crouching down and petting a Chihuahua with a caption that read,
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In response, Taco Bell released a
commercial consisting of 25 real Ronald McDonalds saying how much they loved
Taco Bells new breakfast menu. McDonalds later tweeted in response, Breaking!
Mayor McCheese confirms: Ronald, in fact still prefers McDonalds. This social
media battle has given Taco Bells breakfast menu great advertising. It shows that
McDonalds is intimidated by the new campaign so much so that they decided to give
away free coffee between March 31
st
and April 13. The social media battle still
continues with Taco Bell most recently posting a video to Instagram of someone
changing out of clown socks and into socks with tacos on them.
The viral battle has been extremely beneficial for Taco Bells breakfast menu.
Both companies receive advertising, but Taco Bell did such an exceptional job with
their social media response to the situation that they win in the end. The
implications of Taco Bells social media use in marketing their breakfast menu will
inevitably bring in sales and introduce them into the $50 billion industry. Customers
may be intrigued by the waffle taco for now, but hype always ends. Taco Bell knows
how to emphasize their strengths though and their current marketing strategy of

innovative products will attract the customer recurrence that keeps their company
growing.



















Works Cited


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<http://www.businessinsider.com/taco-bell-marketing-strategy-2014-3>.
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