There’s an old saying that it’s better to give than to receive. But when brands give back to their customers, they often end up gaining more, too. Indeed, a generous brand will bring in fans, even when that’s not its primary objective.
Wingstop experienced this firsthand this past summer when we decided to use our brand power to enrich the communities we serve. The decision led us to launch our Flavor Tour, a multi-city journey during which we worked alongside other brands to spread goodwill through various charitable projects.
Charting the course
We developed the Flavor Tour as a way to give back to communities across the country that have embraced the Wingstop brand. Our expedition would take us to 10 diverse cities where we participated in inner-city and low-income community renewal projects, such as building and rehabbing playgrounds and community basketball courts. These projects addressed issues like safe summer programs and hunger prevention and assisted the underserved youth and families living in these communities. We wanted to be a voice for these community members with the hope of garnering support for those who need it most.
So, with our Wingstop on Wheels food truck leading the way, we hit the road, got to work, and along the way served wings to local fans—many of whom shared their support through social media.
Rolling, rolling, rolling
To meet our objectives, we partnered with Coca-Cola, the NBA, its charitable arm NBA Cares, and local charities such as Hands on Atlanta, the Food Bank of the Rockies, and the Boys & Girls Club. In four of the 10 tour cities, local NBA players helped build and rehab playgrounds and basketball courts. We held a celebratory event when each playground and court was unveiled, and local youth were invited to attend basketball clinics hosted by the city’s NBA team, as well as enjoy a free meal while listening to inspirational stories from current and former NBA players. The local organizations spread the word to those in need about our food truck’s free community feeds, and Wingstop made a monetary donation to every charity we partnered with.
But we wanted to get the word out even more. So, we had our social team on-site at every event to engage attendees, as well as encourage conversation about the event and community on social media. Fans could join in the conversation by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and using the hashtag #WingstopTour. In addition, we chose a tour spokesperson at the start of our tour who would be our voice to the media regarding the goals and accomplishments of the overall project. We coordinated with local media in every city to announce the events, appear on morning shows, and publish interviews all in support of the purpose of the tour and the charities we partnered with.
To drive additional engagement, we invited fans to vote for our 10th and final stop on the tour by visiting www.wingstoptour.com. After visiting Brooklyn, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Oakland, and Los Angeles, fans voted for San Antonio to be our last destination.
Power of good deeds paid dividends
Most major brands would measure their campaigns in cash register receipts, but we instead delighted in accounting for success by looking at the amount of charitable donations, people fed, and fans engaged. Throughout the course of the tour, we were able to donate more than $250,000 to local charity organizations, provide food to more than 3,500 children at afterschool and summertime service organizations, and serve more than 100,000 free wings to fans across the country. A fringe benefit was that we were able to pick up some new brand fans along the way.
Additionally, we earned more than 138,000,000 media impressions, accumulated 888,300 social media mentions, and generated 25,260,951 social media impressions.
Spreading goodwill and serving flavor never felt or tasted so good.
About the author:
Flynn K. Dekker has served as Wingstop’s CMO since February 2014. Prior to joining Wingstop, Flynn was CMO of Rave Restaurant Group. Before that, he owned his own upscale restaurant, Home & Dekker, in Dallas, ; he also served as CMO for Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse chain. With more than 20 years of leadership experience, Flynn has also held senior marketing positions with Metromedia Restaurant Group, FedEx Kinko’s, EMI Music Distribution, and Blockbuster.
