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3 lessons retailers can learn from ad agencies

Retailers, marketers and business owners can learn a lot from ad agencies.

April 28, 2015 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

After spending a year working for an advertising agency in Kansas City, I have happily returned to NetWorld Media Group to oversee FastCasual.com, QSRWeb.com, PizzaMarketplace.com and RetailCustomerExperience.com. My year as an "ad woman" gave me an inside look at how restaurants and retailers should be marketing to their consumers, and below are three strategies I believe all retailers, marketers and business owners should embrace.

1. You don't have to spend the most to connect with customers

I witnessed several occasions when one of our clients had a smaller budget than its competitors, but the agency didn't let that matter. Instead of dwelling on a lack of money, people got creative and found ways around spending millions of dollars. Take Wingstop, for example. After the chain removed its Habanero Wings from the menu in 2014, it saw a backlash from fans via Twitter demanding their return. Instead of ignoring these fans or quietly adding the wings back to the menu, the chain capitalized on it by creating a social campaign that turned angry tweeters into brand advocates. The brand mailed activist kits with T-shirts and other swag to almost 400 key dissenters, which spurred a ton of positive tweets. Also, Wingstop allowed fans to announce the wings' return, giving them ownership of the brand. It also amplified fans' tweets by engaging with those fans and creating a new hashtag for them to use, #Mangonero revolution.

The campaign resulted in a 1,026-percent increasein social chatter in the first four days of the flavor's return, a 427-percent increase in social chatter overall, and social sentiment for "Mango Habanero + Wingstop" went from 67 percent negative to 95 percent positive.

The kicker: Since the brand's fans did a lot of the work by tweeting about their experience, it wasn't a huge expense to Wingstop.

2. Don't be afraid to put young workers in important positions

Obviously, millennials make up a large portion of the frontline retail and restaurant workforce, but I also suggest giving them a chance in your corporate offices. I had the pleasure of working with several 20-somethings who were not only some of the hardest workers I've ever encountered, but most were super creative, tech- and social-savvy and were often more likely to risk failure than older employees, in order to take chances that would often pay off. Also, who better to reach your millennial customers than millennials? They can be very helpful when it comes to learning how to speak to and connect with your younger consumer base

3. Content is king

Gone are the days of shouting messages at your customers. They ignore boring commercials and billboards, so the best way to reach them is by producing content in which they want to spend their time. For example, consumers love to share funny and interesting things with their friends and will even share a commercial if it entertains them. Remember Chipotle's "Scarecrow" video?

It has received more than 14 million hits via Youtube, which is better than even the best-placed paid media spots.

Source: Chipotle's YouTube channel

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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