Wendy's: #Nuggsforcarter [image]

Credits & Description:

Title: #Nuggsforcarter
Agency: Vml
Brand: Wendys
Country: USA
Entrant Company: Vml, Kansas City
Advertising Agency: Vml, Kansas City
Media Agency: Mediavest|Spark, New York
Pr Agency: Ketchum, New York
Global Chief Creative Officer: Debbi Vandeven (Vml)
North American Chief Creative Officer: John Godsey (Vml)
Executive Director, Client Engagement: Jennifer Mcdonald (Vml)
Executive Creative Director: Chris Corley (Vml)
Group Planning Director: Bret Smith (Vml)
Group Creative Director: Pat Piper (Vml)
Senior Art Director: Alison Radke (Vml)
Copywriter: Francis Labelle (Vml)
Associate Creative Director: Jess Elwood (Vml)
Community Manager: Matt Keck (Vml)
Associate Channel Director, Social Strategy: Christina Miller (Vml)
Supervisor, Analytics & Insights: Emily Cray (Vml)
Director, Client Engagement: Kelly Gartenmayer (Vml)
Channel Manager: Jessica Wiggins (Vml)
Channel Manager: Sam Schuster (Vml)
Chief Concept & Marketing Officer: Kurt Kane (Wendys)
Vice President, Advertising, Media & Digital: Brandon Rhoten (Wendys)
Social Media Specialist: Meredith Ulmer (Wendys)
Digital Marketing Director: Mike Bueno (Wendys)
Vice President, Digital & Strategy Director: Ryan Kefer (Mediavest Spark)
Senior Vice President, Cause Marketing & Client Service: Melissa Golden (Ketchum)
Vice President, Media Specialist: Marissa Kandel (Ketchum)
Creative Director: Tony Marin (Vml)
Program Manager: Annie Gerker (Vml)
Strategy:
An important factor in our brand health scores and our general popularity is being rated highly on the metric “Wendy’s is a brand for people like me.” That means our voice needs to be familiar, and we need to be able to engage our audience in topics and conversations that are interesting and meaningful to them.It’s also very important that our reach and exposure are driven organically. We want all our interactions to be authentic and strike a chord with consumers in such a way that they want to share on our behalf. So when we responded to Carter’s request for free nuggets, we did so as one of his friends might. We issued a challenge with a wink and a smile. The reactions that occurred next no one could possibly have predicted.
Relevancy:
When you break records, you make noise. And Wendy’s #NuggsForCarter conversation created more than noise beyond the Twittersphere — the world got into formation, from fans and brands to presidents and celebrities, so Carter could get his free chicken nuggets. With more than 1 billion earned media impressions to date, and no paid support, this social moment earned coverage from international and national top-tiered media, and the movement was supported for weeks. This moment is a case study on best practices when PR and social media were swift to capitalize on a real-time conversation.
Campaign Description:
@carterjwm tweeted Wendy’s and asked how many retweets it would take to get him free chicken nuggets for a year. We responded “18 Million.” Before we knew it, celebrities and brands championed Carter’s “cause,” getting it mainstream media attention. As Carter began to rack up more than 2 million retweets to become the second-most-retweeted tweet of all time (surpassing notable tweets from President Barack Obama and famous pop band One Direction), we reached out to the owner of the most-retweeted tweet ever, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, whose Oscar selfie stood atop the list for years with more than 3.2 million retweets. At this point, we upped the ante and tweeted that when Carter’s tweet beats Ellen’s, we would donate $100,000 to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption charity in Carter’s name. Ellen included the story in her monologue that week, and Carter even appeared on her show.
Outcome:
•Carter’s tweet about Wendy’s chicken nuggets earned 3.5 million+ retweets — the most-retweeted tweet ever •Won a retweet challenge against Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted Carter on her nationally syndicated show •Generated over 2.5 billion earned media impressions from 1,076 placements, including top-tier outlets like Fast Company, The NY Times, the TODAY Show, Time, NPR, USA Today and more •Over 5 million online mentions of Carter’s quest for Wendy’s nuggets, also organically boosting conversation mentioning Wendy’s 376% year over year •Other brand accounts like Guinness World Records, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft and Google chimed in — along with celebrities like “Breaking Bad” actor Aaron Paul, comedian Andy Milonakis and T-Mobile CEO John Legere •Twitter verified Carter’s account AND donated a custom emoji triggered by the #NuggsForCarter hashtag, used 234,000+ times •@Wendys earned 213,000 new Twitter followers and 23.9 million visits to its Twitter profile •Wendy’s gave Carter his year of free chicken nuggets
Synopsis:
Most brands are skittish about genuinely engaging in real time with their social media audiences, but Wendy’s community management is all in, loving on fans and playfully roasting haters every day. We’ve done it by combining a consistent, conversational voice with topical, relevant humor and playful sarcasm. This formula has given Wendy’s community management the ability to do some pretty amazing things with its social community.Such was the case in April when 16-year-old Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) tweeted Wendy’s and asked how many retweets it would take to give him free chicken nuggets for a year. Our brief exchange went viral organically and led to a mainstream media blitz unlike any we’ve ever seen. Moreover, it led to Carter’s tweet about Wendy’s chicken nuggets being the most-retweeted tweet of all time!
Execution:
This exchange was the culmination of a refined social voice meeting the right opportunity. And it went like this:@carterjwm: Yo @Wendys how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?WENDY’S: 18 Million@carterjwm: Consider it doneThe rest is Twitter history.