Wendy's: webeefin?

Wendy's is an American fast food restaurant chain with over 6,700 locations across the world.

Audience: B2C

Type: Superhero: Innovative content that sets the bar by incorporating new formats or channels to engage with the audience outside of the usual mediums.

Campaign Title: webeefin? (2018)

Listen to Wendy's webeefin? mixtape

What It Is

Wendy's is an industry leader in B2C social media marketing for its engaging, off-the-cuff strategy. After a Twitter-based rap battle with a competitor, fans asked the brand to create its own mixtape.

The result: webeefin?. The five-song mixtape, produced by Wendy's digital marketing agency VMLY&R and in conjunction with production company Six Courses Inc., immediately went viral and hit #1 on Spotify and #3 on iTunes.

The campaign generated 758 million earned media impressions with $0 spent on promotion. On Twitter, Wendy's saw 14 million impressions and gained 35,000 new followers the week after it was launched.

Why We Like It

It's not every day that a fast-food chain drops a mixtape that has professional rappers praising its quality. Wendy's listened to the demands of its social audience and delivered big with a viral superhero asset. The campaign is an excellent - if not unique - example of how to capitalise on engagement.

How We’d Add To It

The webeefin? mixtape had tremendous success as a digital release but we can't help but wonder if Wendy's could have expanded the campaign's reach by releasing a physical counterpart that looked not too dissimilar from its famous square burger patties. Adding in the retail component of a CD or even a vinyl might have given its reach more legs while staying true to its organic promotion strategy.