Taco Bell, Snapchat, and the Millennial Consumer

Taco Bell, Snapchat, and the Millennial Consumer

What do you get when you mix the best Mexican fast food and Snapchat? An amazingly cheap and effective marketing tool.

Taco Bell has raised the bar for all companies who feel Snapchat is a waste of their marketing department's resources. Over the last four years, taco bell has utilized the millennial focused app to reel in a new generation of taco lovers. Knowing they are not a luxury restaurant and not attempting to come off as one, Taco Bell focus’ on a younger crowd to continue to push inexpensive and fair quality food. What better way to expand your business than focus on the core demographic on their most enjoyed app.

While some companies have focused on sharing Snapchat stories to tell the tale of their food or using still shots of their food items to lure in the hungry Millennial, Taco Bell takes their marketing one step further. By giving the user a way to interact with their marketing campaign rather than be given the notion they are being marketed to, Taco Bell has subconsciously managed to entice the user into brand awareness. One of Taco Bell’s more popular campaigns included a customizable valentines card complete with pictures of food items accompanied by a witty, and often cheesy (pun intended) remark such as “I want to crunchwrap you in my arms.” 

In 2016, Taco Bell created the most successful marketing campaign in Snapchat’s history as the Taco Head Snapchat filter blew competition out of the water. Around Cinco de Mayo, the Taco Bell marketing team, in conjunction with Snapchat, created a relatively cheap marketing campaign costing a mere $750 thousand dollars. On screen television ad space is just as expensive, yet does not allow the user to interact with the on screen marketing ploy. Through Snapchap, users had the ability to create a taco head in place of their own head, complete with their choice of mild or hot sauce. This campaign was so successful that of the 100 million Snapchat users, the taco head was used over 224 million times in one day! In comparison, the next closest most used marketing campaign on Snapchat netted Gatorade 165 million shares.  This Taco Bell campaign was so successful, the amount of time a taco head was used in one day can be measured as nearly 12 and half years worth video time, a smashing success.

With innovative techniques like the non-invasive Taco Head marketing campaign, Taco Bell is paving the way for future marketing strategies. Millennials do not want to be told what to do, but rather be offered a means to express themselves, and Taco Bell understands this better than other companies at this point. By giving the user the ability to interact with your marketing in a fun and light way, brand awareness is created rather than forced. Keep the innovative techniques coming, Taco Bell, and this blogger will continue to munch on your delicious take on Mexican food.