Article
Tapping the power of parent blogging
QSRs reach out to mom bloggers to spread positive message
September 29, 2008
When Burger King launched its BK Fresh Apple Fries as a new side in its kids' meal, the company went beyond developing a marketing campaign. The chain also turned to an unlikely message carrier: mom bloggers, women whose online posts typically cover aspects of their parenting experiences, including dining out.
Burger King mailed samples of the Apple Fries to a select group of mom bloggers to test the new product and write about it on their sites. The women apparently liked the samples and spread the word, and Burger King saw the campaign as a success.
Cindy Syracuse, senior director of marketing impact for Burger King, said contacting the moms was an extension of the company's social media marketing plan. But instead of broadcasting to a large audience, the effort used mom bloggers to hone in on the product's target audience: mothers who would be buying the Apple Fries for their children.
"Moms trust information provided by ‘people like themselves,'" Syracuse said, "and the blogosphere was an ideal place to get this discussion started.
Inviting posts from bloggers has its risks because of the potential for negative brand messaging to spread quickly. But by choosing the right bloggers, the right approach and the right product, QSRs can find the positive word-of-mouth from bloggers, particularly parent bloggers, beneficial.
"Of course it's an uncontrolled medium, which means we can't be sure how people will respond," Syracuse said. "In the case of the Kids Meal launch, however, we were confident we had a great story to share — with our Apple Fries product and BK Positive Steps (better-for-you) message overall."
Having a good story — and reaching out to bloggers who will respond positively to the campaign and then share it with others — is key to the success of a QSR-parent blogger viral marketing effort, said Susan Getgood, an independent blogging and marketing consultant with Hudson, Mass.-based Getgood Strategic Marketing.
"The last thing any of these companies ... should do is get a big list of mom bloggers and spam them with an invitation," Getgood said. "You really need to look at this and (consider), ‘Who are the right 15?' It's not just any 15. You want it to be the right 15. You want them to be moms who are relevant because you want hem to care about this category, and you want them to be moms who are interested in what you have to say."
Taking the risk
QSRs that attempt parent blogging campaigns need to follow a new set of rules.
"Blogging is redefining the rules of corporate communications," said Aaron Allen, founder and chief executive officer of Orlando, Fla.-based Quantified Marketing Group. "Publicists and communication professionals around the world are grappling with these issues."
Whereas brands retain tight control over their message with advertising and what they share in public relations, "with blogging the corporate entity has even less control and has a much wider audience of participants (than media relations alone)," Allen said.
Tips for reaching out to consumers through blogging campaigns |
Use real language. Remember you are talking to a customer, so use conversational language, not marketing jargon. And don't send press releases. Create relevance and value. Your topic/product needs to be relevant and valuable to the blogger. In other words, a new product launch is not important in and of itself but needs to translate to something the blogger can use. Know the difference between a marketer and a blogger. The blogger often has his or her own agenda, which typically is not to promote a brand's product. "Their ‘job' is to take care of their family, not promote your products," Susan Getgood said. "So if you want them to talk about your products and promote your products, you've got to make it meaningful for them." Susan Getgood, Getgood Strategic Marketing |
Getgood said that a brand mention in a parent blog has a high reference value.
"Some of these blogs have thousands of readers, " Getgood said. "Not only are they reaching a lot of readers, they're reaching a lot of people who are ‘friends,' (per se). It's different than reading something in a print magazine or even in an online portal."
Allen said the speed of messaging has never been as fast as it is today in the digital world.
"Messages can become viral far more easily with digital technologies/marketing such as blogs, podcasts, You Tube, etc.," he said. "Bloggers can be a powerful weapon for or against a company."
Allen gave the example of how Perez Hilton transformed from a "geek that blogged about celebrities" to someone whose site perezhilton.com is now so influential that "he can make or break a new movie," Allen said.
"As such Hollywood panders to him versus the other way around," Allen said. "That is real power, and it is power enabled by blogging. We will soon see the Perez Hilton of the QSR world."
Creating a new medium
In addition to targeting parent bloggers product samples, Burger King has reached out to parent bloggers with a sweepstakes on Parent Bloggers Network, a blog site that features product review posts. The sweepstakes promoted the chain's limited edition Crayola Kids Meal toys while inviting bloggers to write about fast food horror stories and how parents prevented such reoccurrences. Two winners were drawn at random to receive $250 Visa gift cards.
McDonald's is another brand reaching out to parent bloggers. The company has gone beyond reaching out to blogging communities to create its own program, Moms' Quality Correspondents. In that program, a handful of mothers visit the chain's suppliers and journal about their experiences.
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Tara Hayes, manager for McDonald's U.S. communications, oversees the MQC group and its activities. She said the program has achieved its goal of providing consumers a look inside the company's supply chain and food production.
"There's always going to be those naysayers out there saying, ‘How do you know you saw everything,' . . . but really, the opportunity to share the truth outweighs the risk at this point," Hayes said. "It certainly has been beneficial in helping build trust with our customers around the country as moms have continued in their own voice to share what they've seen."
The MQC program had its critics originally, including marketing and communications experts who said the program was risky, "but smart," Hayes said. However, the program has been the subject of at least two case studies lauding the company's efforts in issues of "Word-of-Mouth Marketing Success Strategies" (Fall 2007) and "PR News" (July 21, 2008).
A greater sign of the program's success is that McDonald's Canada is replicating the program there and is in the process of choosing its mom. In the United States, the program also has two regional variants, including one in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area.
MQC participant Gilda McHenry of Downingtown, Pa., said she applied to be part of the national program because she wanted to learn more about the food her family, including her three children and a stepdaughter, were eating. What she gained was reassurance of the brand's quality — and the chance to share that with others.
"I think we are making a difference," said McHenry, who does not have her own blog. "As mothers you want to feel like you're making the right decisions and not feel guilty about having a special treat. We're kind of helping mothers to at least make informed decisions."
Hayes agrees.
"It certainly has been beneficial in helping build trust with our customers around the country as moms have continued in their own voice to share what they've seen."
