5/17/2018 5 Ways Nando's Became THE Casual Dining Location Through Word-of-Mouth - Word-of-Mouth and Referral Marketing Blog

5 Ways Nando’s Became THE Casual Dining

Location Through Word-of-Mouth
Cindy Yong  November 11, 2015  Add comment  6 min read

By now, a growing group of people from over 30 countries

know of Nando’s.
The Afro-Portuguese “fast-casual” restaurant serves up peri-peri grilled chicken,
tender and avorful with a kick of peppery spice – not unlike the “exotic” avors one
tends to associate with far-o lands.

Uniquely designed (no outlet is the same), featuring spirited Afro-Portuguese music
and a ‘self-collect’ cutlery station, Nando’s has sought to set itself apart from other
fast-dining restaurants from the very core.

Over the 28 years since its founding, Nando’s has managed to cater and market
themselves successfully to di erent social demographics that quite frankly, usually
wouldn’t be caught dead in the same places. Families having a day o from home
cooked dinners; gregarious, excitable groups of teenagers looking to grab a bite
before a wild night – even the British royalty get their takeaways from Nando’s.

The buzz has taken place mostly in the UK, followed by Australia– but Nando’s also
carries out domestic campaigns in other regions such at Singapore and Malaysia,
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bolstering its brand image world-wide.


Most importantly, how did Nando’s achieve a one-up on its competitors and build a
cult following of devoted consumers?

1. Quality media engagement – Who are the “Peri Boyz”,

and what on earth is a “Cheeky Nando’s”?

After Ed Sheeran and Example did an free-style song in honor of Nando’s back in

2010, the Peri Boyz burst onto the scene with their take on what a “Cheeky Nando’s”
is. Decidedly quite “cheeky”, the music video features some peri-peri sauce gulping,
skinny jeans toting and more rap-style lyrics about how Nando’s o ers a good time
for hungry youngsters “going out with the boys”.

The video has since garnered over 3,000,000 views on Facebook, signi cant media
attention from the likes of Buzzfeed, the Mirror Online, the Metro and more.

Most importantly, the “Cheeky Nando’s” video connected with teenagers in the UK by
speaking their language, creating a brand a nity with the college crowd that
translates in repeated visits.

2. Great PR – Being the good guy with “Win a Lifetime’s

Supply of Nando’s” campaign

”
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that
matters.”

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In 2014, Nando’s lover Christopher Poole made it his quest to win a lifetime’s supply
of Nando’s, by dining at all the Nando’s outlets in the world.

Poole was at outlet #85, £1,000 poorer, when he discovered that the competition had
already been closed for two years. He has also already made plans to move to
Australia to continue picking o Nando’s outlets once he was done with all the outlets
in the UK.

Upon hearing of Poole’s belated attempt, Nando’s released a statement to honor

Poole’s attempt if he successfully completed the competition.

‘We’re always delighted to hear from Nando’s superfans and the lengths they go to
for their love of PERi-PERi chicken.

‘Some time ago, we ran a challenge that rewarded individuals with free Nando’s if
they could prove they ate at every Nando’s restaurant in the world.

‘There are now so many Nando’s worldwide, that we don’t run the challenge any
more.

‘However, if Christopher Poole completes his attempt, we will happily honour our
original promise and give him free Nando’s for life.’

By consistently reacting positively to the e orts of their fans, and rewarding them for
their e orts, Nando’s strengthens the sincere, warm and genuine brand image they
have built, leading to a sustained e ect on the consumers’ impression of the brand.

3. Guerilla Marketing – Jokester stunts such as

“Disappearing Giant Mango” in Australia
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Left: Before/ Right: After

On top of having an a able brand image many can relate to, Nando’s works on being
quirky, creative and fun. The peri-peri chicken restaurant chain recognizes that
successful brands do not rest on their laurels and execute standard campaigns for
new product launches – it goes out and makes a statement about it.

Like causing the disappearance of oversized fruit.

It’s wacky, seemingly nonsensical stunts like this that earn Nando’s the curiosity of
consumers bored by generic restaurant options – spicy chicken with a spicy
personality to boot? That’s a winning strategy.

Read next: 18 guerilla marketing examples

4. Exclusivity – The Elusive Black Card (And why Beyoncé

spent over $1,000 at Nando’s)

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Everybody wants one, but so few seem to have it – for years, the Nando’s black card
was only an urban legend discussed and speculated over. As a holder of the Nando’s
hi- ve/black card, you and four friends receive free chicken for life.

Celebrities clambered to get their hands on one – Ed Sheeran famously has it, David
Beckham might have it, Jay-Z probably has one too.

Some celebrities have resorted to calling up the restaurant chain to ask for one –
apparently the biggest “no-no”. Others have taken to shamelessly tweeting and giving
shoutouts to Nando’s in the hopes of securing themselves a slot in the exclusive club.

Till date, the existence of the black card has neither been con rmed nor denied, and
this mysterious topic indirectly bolsters the brand presence through word of mouth,
adding to the appeal of Nando’s for both normal consumers, as well as celebrity
consumers like Beyoncé.

Read next: 19 examples of exclusivity marketing

5. Secrecy – Introducing a Secret Menu for the common

consumer who wants to feel “in” with Nando’s

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(This is the regular menu, not the secret one.)

The Secret Menu is a great marketing tool – Starbucks, MacDonald’s and In & Out all
reportedly have secret menus that promise consumers exclusive food concoctions
dreamt up to reward their biggest fans.

Nando’s, perhaps to soothe the consumers who will never get their hands on a black
card, also supposedly has a secret menu of crispy chicken wings, peri-tamer, and
Hawaiian chilli chicken melt. Think fan service, if you will.

More than just extra variety for customers, the Secret Menu is a great way for
eateries to stir up the public and inject an air of inclusion for those who fancy
themselves “in the know”.

To recap:
Nando’s owes its success to 5 important ways of generating word-of-mouth, all
recognizing that their consumers are their best brand advocates and setting out to
convert everyone into a consumer:

1. Create lingo of their own, therefore successfully reaching out to target

audiences and injecting the brand into their conversations
2. Be a sincere and responsive brand to its fans – treat them right and they will
remember it
3. Occasionally cause a stir with uncommon and humorous stunts

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4. Harness the power of celebrity and tap onto the human desire for exclusivity
through the black card

5. Reward fans and loyal consumers with perks, such as the Secret Menu

_____

Read Next: How To Get Word-of-Mouth (With 40+ Successful Examples To Learn
From)

Cindy Yong
Cindy lurks in the shadows on social media platforms, but cyber stalks interesting
people and brands. She admires brave marketing stunts and is a sucker for good
packaging.

VIEW ALL POSTS  

How WhatsApp Acquired 900m Users Every Commencement Speech You’ll

 To Literally BECOME A Word-of-Mouth Ever Read – 45 Of The Best Speeches 
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