Monday, September 14, 2009

The Woody Effect: TGIF Says TYSM (Thank You Social Media) as the Woody Campaign Tops 500,000 Fans.

It’s official; TGI Friday’s “Woody” campaign is a hit. Less than a month ago, the popular restaurant chain put out a social media campaign focused around an average guy with a serious soft-spot for the chain’s burgers. What was the goal? Gaining 500,000 fans through Facebook. What was the incentive? The first 500,000 would get a free Jack Daniels Burger for signing up. Well, it’s been less than a month and Woody is rocking 565,739 fans. How long did it take him? 12 days.

Now for some of you, this might have you wondering. Alright, they got the fans, but now they gotta give away the burgers. In fact, that was my first reaction too. The key to success is digging a little deeper. Sure, they’re going to be giving out 500,000 burgers, but people will bring friends, buy drinks, buy appetizers, deserts, gift cards, and, if they like what they eat, will return back and become brand loyal customers. The return on investment for this campaign, whose budget must have been rather low, has the potential to be extremely high.

Only time will tell how well this promotion will carry on into the future, but if they keep the strategy interesting and the Woody character appealing, I think they might have a long-term social media strategy that’ll put them one step ahead of competitors.

Check out Woody’s Facebook page here:

Follow Woody on Twitter here:

One of the videos promoting Woody:

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