How Wendy’s Revolutionized Corporate Social Media Accounts
From Twitter to Twitch
In 2017, one of the biggest memes on the internet was Wendy’s Twitter account. One of the most unexpected things for a fast food joint to do in order to get an edge on their competitors, Wendy’s started roasting other Twitter users and brands in order to gain popularity.
Wendy’s Twitter account quickly became one of the best places on the internet if you wanted to search for roasts or memes. This quickly made Wendy’s popularity increase both on Twitter and in house. In 2017 Wendy’s Twitter account went from 2.1 to 2.4 million followers in just six months, and their account currently has 3.7 million followers.
Financially this also proved to be an ingenious marketing move by Wendy’s as their net income increased from $129.6 million to $194 million. For those of you that don’t want to do the math, that is a 49.7% growth in one year. For any brand, that kind of growth would be wildly impressive but it is even more impressive from an established brand that many people might assume has already reached most of their consumer base.
The Reinvention of Many Other Brands Social Media Accounts
Many other brands took note of Wendy’s social media use and decided to take their own shot at it.
As you can see, both Gushers and Fruit Roll-Ups decided to post memes on their Instagram accounts, this also isn’t the only time when they have interacted through posts on Instagram and both companies post memes on their pages quite frequently.
Slim Jim is another brand that has embraced the idea of making their social media account a meme and for them, it has paid off in dividends. In the fall of 2018 Slim Jim hired a fan named Andy Hines to run their Instagram account. At the time of hiring Hines, Slim Jim’s account had only 5,000 followers but currently, they have amassed 1.2 million followers. This is a remarkable amount of growth to have had in the span of around two years.
Wendy’s Back at It Again
Wendy’s making sure to not be outdone at their own game decided to take the whole social media game to a length that I don’t believe anyone expected a large corporate brand to ever do.
Wendy’s decided to start a Twitch account and start streaming. This wasn’t just a one-time joke either as you can see from the screenshot. They consistently stream games and have been since Nov 29, 2018. Wendy’s Twitch account has amassed 106,000 followers — this is just another step Wendy’s has taken to be the leading social media brand.
Wendy’s didn’t just make a Twitch account however they also earlier in the year decided to drop a diss track since they were very popular throughout the internet at the time. Wendy’s diss track involved five songs totaling 10 minutes long and is called We Beefin’?
Conclusion
Finally, Wendy’s has changed the way that brands look at social media in an extraordinary way. More and more brands are reinventing themselves through social media and are gaining even more recognition through their memes, roasts, or even streaming.
I imagine that most brands that hope to stay relevant in the future will adopt this method of brand awareness or reinvent themselves in a similar way that Wendy’s did.
