Restaurant brands hand customers the keys for menu input
Restaurant brands have long turned to their fans to help create menu items and content, but that strategy has been in overdrive lately.
The latest example is Taco Bell, which today launched a new feature on its app called “Fan Style,” allowing loyalty members to build, name, and share their custom orders and unlock rewards points when others order their creations.
Further incentivizing creativity, Taco Bell is planning to select some fans’ orders to appear on its national menu later this year.
In a statement, chief marketing officer Taylor Montgomery said, “Our fans know every inch of the Taco Bell menu, so it only makes sense that they help dream up what belongs on it next.”
Taco Bell has worked in earnest to ensure its app creates easier and more unique experiences for its loyal customers and the strategy has paid off. The chain reported a 9% same-store sales increase in the first quarter, far outpacing most of its quick-service peers.
Other chains, however, seem to be leveraging customer input to spark a fire as traffic remains soft throughout much of the industry. Taco Bell’s sister concept KFC, for instance, just launched a new campaign to help generate a comeback after losing market share throughout the past couple of years.
To kick off the campaign, the chain is offering a free bucket of chicken for digital orders on its app and website and is asking fans for input to “co-create this comeback.”
“By listening to our customers and addressing feedback, we’ll reclaim our rightful place in the fried chicken game we started. Come back and give us a shot — your first bucket’s on us,” KFC U.S. president Catherine Tan-Gillespie said in a statement.
Starbucks is also looking to reverse negative trends throughout the past few quarters and has implemented several changes accordingly. Last week — and similar to Taco Bell’s campaign — the coffee giant asked customers to submit their favorite drink customization for the chance to have their creation featured on its secret menu. Entries will be narrowed down to four finalists, whose drinks will be featured on the secret menu from Aug. 18 to Aug. 25.
Starbucks’ “secret menu” has been in existence for years, but now Rewards members have access to the top orders in the “offers” tab on its app.
Earlier this month, Burger King launched a “Whopper by You” platform, where customers submit ideas for new sandwiches. The first to launch from this initiative is the BBQ Brisket Whopper, with slow-cooked brisket, onions, American cheese, a sweet-and-smoky barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato, creamy mayo, and a flame-grilled beef patty. “Whopper by You” invites customers to help shape the menu at Burger King by submitting their Whopper ideas at bk.com/wby.
“As the brand known for ‘Have It Your Way,’ we want to continue letting our guests tell us what they want — and when it comes to our iconic Whopper sandwich, they have a lot of ideas,” chief marketing officer Joel Yashinsky said in a statement.
Finally, Taco Cabana is celebrating National Tequila Day, July 24, by launching a competition for customers to help create the brand’s next margarita flavor. Customers in Texas can submit their margarita creations for the chance to win a trip to Jalisco, Mexico, the birthplace of tequila, to explore the art of tequila making firsthand. The online competition runs from July 24 to Aug. 10 and is open to those 21 and older.
“National Tequila Day isn’t an ordinary observance for Taco Cabana; it’s a celebration of a key ingredient in our brand story, which is why we’re giving customers the opportunity to engage more deeply with us in several guest-friendly ways,” brand president and chief operating officer Ulyses Camacho said in a statement.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
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