How come more brands don’t act like Taco Bell and Old Spice on Twitter



Contributing Writer
Photo: Chihuahua Credit: Garann Rose Means


The first shots of a social media revolution happened on Twitter this week.   Old Spice said something about Taco Bell’s hot sauce, THEN Taco Bell fired back about Old Spice deodorant and people loved it.   Stuff White People Like-style loved it:  ”All brands should use social media like this,” “keeping it real on Twitter,” “greatness.”  Brands everywhere are ceasing with the civility and morphing into professional wrestlers.

The truth of the matter is that the Taco Bell and Old Spice Twitter spat was a tepid, milktoast novelty.  It didn’t differentiate either brand from their competition, it opened up a conversation that allowed people to make snarky remarks about the brands, and it didn’t put either brand in the best light.   They generated a little bit of cheap buzz and that’s all.  The consequences of this may be that more brands will use this tact to generate their own cheap buzz (as a few users suggested), and most likely someone will get Rebecca Black- type ridicule for it.

I saw a commercial for Progressive insurance the other day with their iconic “Flo,” and they (being Arnold Worldwide) have done a fantastic job of  framing Progressive’s services through that character.  I couldn’t tell you what was on a Taco Bell menu, and I’m only familiar the scent “Swagger” from Old Spice because that’s the sample that came free with my shampoo, but I do know that Progressive does business insurance because I saw Flo working alongside a bunch of  people in a commercial.  And I’ve only seen that commercial one time.  The Flo campaign has been around since 2008 and substantiates the value of a consistent brand identity versus cheap buzz.  Progressive won’t be calling out Pier 1 Imports on Twitter anytime soon, because they don’t have to.

Point being, all press may be good press, but resources are finite.  My argument against the Taco Bell / Old Spice social throw-down is that it’s fairly worthless in how it perpetuates the brand story.  The reason that a throw-down works so effectively in pro wrestling is that IT IS the brand story, so even by pro wrestling standards this is bad brand marketing.  For those people who feel differently about this that me I propose two questions:  #1 – If more brands chided each other on Twitter, would their tweets cause you to consider using their product more?  #2 – Is this the most effective thing in the social space that you can imagine brands engaging in?

If you answered “Yes” to either or both of those, then we’ll have to agree to disagree.  Brands in the social space have an unprecedented opportunity to touch consumers in a meaningful way.  There has to be a better way to go about it than beating up on a deodorant (especially one that gives me such “Swagger”).  And there are much funnier things to read on Twitter than Taco Bell’s tweets (see below).

Brands (and people) shouldn’t act like this:

Unless you’re in the business of being really funny. Like this:

 

 

 

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

Writer and chief of miscellany at leaderswest.com

I aspire to give people something to think about rather than tell them what to do. My favorite Google Alert is “social media research,” I am increasingly compelled by Gen Z, and I appreciate good writers agnostic of where they write. At one time I was Kred’s 12th most influential social media blogger and Klout’s most influential person on the topic of David Hasselhoff. Transplant from Seattle living in Cincinnati. Haven’t entirely adopted the local sports teams yet.

Jim Dougherty

@jimdougherty

Writer about social media and tech at Leaders West, I also tweet as @leaderswest.

Facebook advertising strategy, the “no-bull****” approach. http://t.co/8FxCBv6MjA – 7 hours ago

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

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  • http://glomotech@wordpress.com Ari Fuld

    I think there is a time and place for everything and for everyone. There is one major positive effect form the OldSpice TacoBell love affair, it humanized both companies.
    One of the advantages of social media for us, the consumers, is the interaction and personalization between our deodorants, restaurants and our own lives.
    I would suggest both companies not keep this game going for to long as it will leave the funny zone and enter the ridiculous place.
    When it comes to goods or services that are a bit more important I would say the funny tactic should be off limits.
    In terms of the get off the toilet advice? Now there’s some good tweeting for us social media geeks
    Great post, keep em coming.

  • Matthew Lebo

    I see Taco Bell on social the same way I see Jack In The Box on television. Being a fat kid at heart, I follow the fast food brands over various different platforms quite often. Fast food companies are notorious for giving each other a ribbing through commercials for quite some time, and I think that’s why Taco Bell is able to get away with it online. One thing both of these companies do well is imitate the voice of their target audience. Not every company online is going to be able to have the freedom to act like a flippant 20 something and get away with it. But companies like Old Spice and the edgier fast food chains are trying to make content and conversation that’s going to pull in their target audience.

    1. Yes, I’ve become more aware of Taco Bell because of it. The main thing is here is that they are a fast food chain. I’m not relying on them for important information from something like my bank, webhost, or mobile provider
    2. No. Engaging with competition or other brands leaves you open to more criticism than opportunity to grow. A company would be looking at a brief win, but the possibility of more negativity in the long haul.

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    “Not everyone is going to be able to act like a flippant 20 something and get away with it” – that’s a great insight. I can’t imagine that “Swagger” is made for a guy in his mid-thirties so maybe I’m biased! Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Matthew. All good points – I understood from the reaction on Twitter that mine was the contrarian view! Cheers!

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Hi Ari – thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment. Great insights – and Jenny Johnson is hilarious.. though that was probably one of the only one her tweets that I could embed and avoid offending someone! Cheers!

  • http://tedrubin.com Ted Rubin

    I think experimentation is at the heart of social and both brands and marketers can learn from this and other attempts at engagement, awareness, fun, and branding.

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks Ted for taking the time to read and comment. I think many people agree with you (and I do to an extent about pushing boundaries), but your popularity and reputation are a perfect example of how the high road is the best tact for the long term. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts, Ted!

  • https://twitter.com/zombiemomm ZombieMommy

    I think a little play is great. Twitter is a tool to be used just like everything else. Some people do really well with it, in offbeat ways. Take Alton Brown for example. He writes Post It notes responses to Twitter questions and takes pictures of these Post its. Its very funny actually. The interaction with his followers is awesome. They hang on every word, er well, Post it note.

    If you know your audience it’s fun to watch the line “realness” come through the usual stream of boring meatloaf.

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Alton Brown does that? I love him. I’m going to have to check that out! As for the Taco Bell bit, ten or twenty tweets from now will you still be thinking about their throwdown or will you focus on the message? In my mind it’s just a distraction. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment (and for turning me on to Alton Brown’s post-it tweets)!

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  • http://GinaRau.com Gina Rau

    There’s a few points to the story that are missing.

    First, I’m going out on a limb to guess that you are not the target audience and therefore, Taco Bell doesn’t care whether you’re familiar with their menu. Both brands target a young, adult male who gets late-night cravings. So the fact that this tactic didn’t attract you to their brand is quite fine for them.

    Second, both of these brands are irreverent (in order to appeal to the late-night munching young adult male) and therefore, act in ways that young men would…just like this Twitter exchange.

    That said, this type of exchange or approach doesn’t work for most brands not because its an ineffective tactic, but because it doesn’t fit within their brand personality. Moms would abandon their favorite diaper if Huggies and Pampers participated in a throw-down like this. Right?

    In my opinion, this is a great example of brands using social media to engage their target audience that is totally aligned with their brand persona. Whether it was staged or not, it had impact for both brands and likely reinforced the brand promise.

    full disclosure: I worked on the Taco Bell brand over a decade ago. Even back in the chihuahua days, we would’ve responded in the very same way…had Twitter been around.

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Oh Gina, yesterday when I was getting my haircut the stylist said to me “you’re too young to have all of this gray hair,” and now you’ve outed me from the Taco Bell demographic. I feel old. :)

    In all seriousness, all good insights. Although it’s probably telling that Taco Bell distanced themselves from the messages afterwards. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!

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