Using Social Media to Amplify the Voice of the
Customer at Taco Bell
Linda AshbrookTaco Bell Consumer Insights
May 16, 2011
The first Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell in 1962
Taco Bell has almost 50 years of development experience
• Food trends• Chefs• Competitive audits• Internal wisdom• Customer input
Competition is fierce
“Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music - combined.”
-- Fast Food Nation
We need more
customer input sooner
It’s time to organize around the customer
Customer Loyalty
6,502,851 fans
Customer Insights
“We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're going to live on the internet!”
-- The Social Network (2010)
Why Social Media?
With so much competition for our customer’s attention, we need to play on their playground.
Better?
Faster?
Cheaper?
Cheaper?
Three month ethnographic panels for under $10,000.
Three week ethnographic panels for under $5000.
400-600 respondent early guidance screening panels for under $3000.
Faster?
“What one item would you bring with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?”
– 64 responses in 2 minutes– 86 responses in 4 minutes– 111 responses in 9 minutes– 122 responses in 11 minutes– 207 responses in 30 minutes
We had over 400 answers in a few hours.
Faster?
What would they bring with them?– GPS– Cell Phone– Ipad– A Boat– A stranded on a desert island survival guide– A knife
Better?
Case Study
?
• By location
• By university
• By age
We turned to Facebook to recruit . . .
Three month longitudinal ethnography– Where they eat– What they eat– What trade-offs they make– Who does value well, who doesn’t
Daily engagement– Daily posts, videos and pictures– Sent them to our stores to experience a variety of
products and provide feedback– Sent them to competitive QSRs to do a value
comparison and product evaluations– Communications exposure
And got even more than we expected . . .
But we were able to take it beyond an ethnography and incorporate these consumers directly into our product development work . . .
. . .we invited them into our test kitchen
Time for Lunch?
Case Study
• Ethnographic deep dive• Ethnography video• Early screening panel• Food innovation panel
• Technology innovation panel
We again turned to Facebook for a multi-phased research project . . .
Ethnographic deep dive
• The most rushed meal of the day• Functional but critical• A solo event• Often a trade-off• Portable food is premium• The car is sanctuary• Dining in is a mixed bag
The Time Crunch Lunch
Participants recruited online via Facebook
Ethnography video
Food Innovation Panel
Technology Innovation Panel
What’s next?
Ethnography research
Early guidance screening
Quantitative exploration