We’ve all seen those marketing campaigns that appeal to the trend of the moment. Sometimes they work–like Arby’s quick-on-their-feet thinking with Pharrell’s hat–but many times they fall flat.
Why? Because brands try to be something they are not, and there is no worse sin with Millennials and Gen-Z.
It’s gotten so bad it’s turned “authentic” into this huge buzzword in the industry, but what does it even mean? Look at Amazon. They don’t try to tell you that buying from them will save the planet. Rather, they say they are the easiest way to get stuff you want fast.
Contrast this with McDonald’s, whose sales have steadily decreased even though they’ve spent a ton of money trying to position their brand as a healthy option–which is hard, because they have a ton of unhealthy food. It’s not the unhealthy food that’s the branding problem–it’s when people hear McDonald’s saying they are healthy, even though everybody knows they’re hustling fries and Big Macs.
People roll their eyes because McDonald’s comes off as something they aren’t. Imagine if McDonald’s came out with marketing that said, “Our McNuggets are amazing, but you can’t eat the same thing every day. So for those McNuggets-less days, check out our new premium salad. You might have a new favorite.”
Taco Bell has been on a winning streak, with four years of positive store sales growth, especially with Millennials. I spoke with Taco Bell’s Chris Brandt, who oversees marketing at a brand focused on “crave-able, affordable, real food” to get his opinion of how to be truly authentic with Millennials and Gen-Z.
How to build a relationship.
Q: What are your relationship goals with Millennials and Gen-Z?
A: These are people who are defined by social-media networks, so that is where we engage with them. Taco Bell only follows a handful of people, and interacting with somebody is a big deal.
Unlike many brands that follow everybody back, Taco Bell doesn’t try to be all things to all people.
How to learn what they want.
Q: How are you learning what they want?
A: What people say in a study isn’t always what they do in real life. We employ a lot of Millennials and work with researchers to see what they are really doing.
How to deal with perception issues.
Q: In 2011, there was a lawsuit saying your beef wasn’t actually beef but filler. Taco Bell famously ran full-page ads in some of the nation’s top newspapers saying, “Thanks for suing us.” What drove the decision to handle it this way?
A: It was a baseless lawsuit. It gave us a forum to talk about ourselves and to engage with our customers.
What’s interesting is that Taco Bell used this as an opportunity to talk more about their product, even going so far as to detail their recipe. Many PR departments would have hidden behind legal speak, but Taco Bell confronted it. The lawsuit was dropped, and same-store sales kept increasing.
Mixing messaging for Millennials and Gen-Z across generations.
Brandt says: “Everybody has a story, and we want to be part of it. We focus on being a brand about people in their 20s. Everybody wants to be in their 20s, but half of our customers are over 35.”
Many times, brands are so worried about alienating certain demographics or generations that they end up not appealing to anybody. Be who you naturally are, and integrate that with your customers’ experiences. Far too often, marketers put Millennials and Gen-Zers into giant buckets and market to them as if they were all the same. With authenticity, the range of difference between brands that live it and those that don’t is wide–with the balance of power greatly tipped in the direction of brands that embrace who they are.
Written by: Evan Burns Source: www.Inc.com
