Social Listening: Wendy's Odd Social Media Antics

Wendy's Social Listening

By: Jacob S.

    When looking through social media for a brand to research for this topic, I struggled to find something that stood out to me. Most brands I could think of were a bit generic or didn’t really have a social media presence. Then I found my way onto Wendy’s X (Twitter, hate the name change) account. One would think just by looking at the first few available posts that this was a joke, that no big brand would let their social media run wild like this. However, Wendy’s has made a name for itself in the online space by acting almost the complete opposite of how one would think a big brand would act. This drew me towards the company and is why I decided to write this article on its social media and marketing practices.

    Wendy’s value proposition involves serving fresh fast food while being a welcoming place for all. Wendy’s uses its social media to promote new deals and items on their menu. Additionally, they like to make posts that the people who follow them might find funny, either taking a popular joke format and adding their own spin on it or directly making fun of another brand. Most recently, they made fun of McDonalds and one of its new products.

                            

    On the marketing side of things, Wendy’s antics on social media are definitely remarkable. They act unlike any other brand in their space. Other competitors like McDonalds, Arbys, and Burger King all have their own jokes and antics, but they seem bland compared to the riot that Wendys has going on with its social media platforms. This helps them when facing the challenge of trying to stand out from the rest of the fast food burger and sandwich places. They’ve managed to build a unique experience with their outlandish posts. Additionally, they interact with their community in a fun way, cracking jokes and responding to comments. They’ve built up a social media presence that allows them to be one of the few brands that doesn’t just feel like a bland shell that says the most safe marketable things. This allows them to gather an audience that isn't just following them for food.

    Wendy’s does get some complaints in their comment sections about certain things. One of the topics that gets brought up in the comments of their social media posts is about items on their menu being seasonal. Specifically, vanilla frosty’s being limited. Scrolling through comments, you will most often find a few people talking asking about when their vanilla frosty is back. They mostly don’t respond to those comments, but every now and then they seem to try and have some fun with it. The reason they keep taking vanilla away is due to their seasonal frosty flavors and them not having enough space, so the need to respond isn’t necessary as its a conflict based off of the customers preferences.

(The only time I've seen Wendy's reply to a complaint)

    Another common topic that gets brought up is the functionality of the Wendy’s app. A notable amount of comments can be found on just about any post about how their app is not working for the customer. A lot consist of the app being down or plagued with error messages. It would seem that they don’t reply to these comments at all. I think at least some response to these would be a good idea, however, the brand Wendy’s has built online doesn’t really lend itself to inquiring customers about their issues.

    One of the other complaints you might see in the comment section is someone sharing a negative experience with a specific Wendy’s location. These comments are not as common, but there are still a few for each post. There are no replies from Wendy’s addressing these comments either, likely for the same reason as the lack of response for the app comments.

    Another common topic that gets brought up is the functionality of the Wendy’s app. A notable amount of comments can be found on just about any post about how their app is not working for the customer. A lot consist of the app being down or plagued with error messages. It would seem that they don’t reply to these comments at all. I think at least some response to these would be a good idea, however, the brand Wendy’s has built online doesn’t really lend itself to inquiring customers about their issues. One of the other complaints you might see in the comment section is someone sharing a negative experience with a specific Wendy’s location. These comments are not as common, but there are still a few for each post. There are no replies from Wendy’s addressing these comments either, likely for the same reason as the lack of response for the app comments.

    If I were the brand manager, I think I would try to not only be the fun and interesting social media presence Wendy’s already is, but also add an amount of customer service to the social media platforms to help address complaints. Wendy’s at the moment seems to be choosing between the normal brand interactions in comments of addressing complaints or interacting with customers in its fun and unique way. I think the best way of doing this would be having responses on complaints in the comment section. I think something I will take from this research is that something that can be seen as risky can be worth it when marketing. Most brands would see the comments and posts Wendy's make as risky and something that could pollute the company name. Wendy's owns its style and people have come to enjoy its unique approach as opposed to the bland, normal approach of most brands. Wendy's social media tactics are a good example of doing something remarkable.