Wendy's social media image is legendary and it's definitely creating a following. But there was no closed-door meeting at the company headquarters where executives decided to reengineer the brand's marketing strategy. Instead, executives say, that edgy high-profile productions like a Super Bowl commercial that directly called out competitor McDonald's and the unique “We Beefin?” mixtape represent more of an evolution for the voice of the burger brand birthed by Dave Thomas.
“What I would say is Wendy’s has always been about this,” Carl Loredo, VP of brand and advertising, said “Going back to 1969, we’ve always been different. Candidly, that’s why we’ve always had square burgers made with fresh, never frozen beef. It’s why we have a Frosty, not a milkshake.”
“What I would say is Wendy’s has always been about this,” Carl Loredo, VP of brand and advertising, said “Going back to 1969, we’ve always been different. Candidly, that’s why we’ve always had square burgers made with fresh, never frozen beef. It’s why we have a Frosty, not a milkshake.”
Loredo highlighted that even early Wendy’s television commercials took a unique approach with their “Where’s the beef?” catchphrase: “There was always this tone, right? It was about confidence, it was about fun, and in a lot of ways being positive.”
The central theme at the heart of the burger chain’s branding strategy is that people at Wendy’s are serious about the food, but not themselves. Loredo said the roots of that approach are traced back to the portrayal of Wendy herself, a lighthearted, pigtailed kid.
Over the years, Wendy's has reimagined its advertising message to new platforms, particularly on social media. But it has also been willing to experiment.
Consider the mixtape, a five-song production released in 2018 on iTunes and Spotify. It used hip hop to throw insults at Burger King and McDonald’s with tracks like “Rest in Grease,” “Holding it Down” and “Clownin’.”
“I think what’s important for us and our team is to try to find new and innovative ways to continue to tell our story,” Loredo explained. “It’s a very, very, very cluttered marketplace out there as you think of all the messages that are coming to us ... We have to find ways to breakthrough.”
When it comes to social media, Wendy's believes that people are coming to it to be entertained, so it tries to deliver.
But according to Loredo, much of that voice is traced back to the medium itself. Twitter, for example, allows for a more playful presence. The social media team—manned by both an in-house team and agency workers—must think about the best ways to express Wendy’s voice on each individual platform.
“Twitter might be the way you talk to your brother, but as you think of Facebook it might be the way you talk to your mom … so there’s aspects of how far you go down the line,” Loredo said. “We have to be mindful of where are we, what’s the platform. Our voice on Twitter would not work in the world of Instagram.”
While a savage roast or snarky call out to the competition might not directly result in more restaurant visits, Loredo believes it helps to build a loyal following, which allows the company to continually showcase how it’s different, whether it’s with a playful voice or with the burgers and fries it serves in stores—that idea has remained a central thread in its aggressive posture toward burger behemoth McDonald’s.
