Qdoba Social Media Blitz

Worked completed as Chief Digital Strategist at GatesmanMarmionDrake+Dave.

Qdoba Pittsburgh Franchise Owner Chad Brooks noticed that the Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma would come into the Grant Street location and eat a burrito before some of the games. When he made it – the Penguins Won. When he didn’t – they lost. As the Pens began the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Coach started coming in before every game and even took a burrito with him on the road. A playoff superstition was born … and Chad came to the team at GMD+D to see if he could turn a simple superstition into publicity and attention for his restaurant. And we did.

When I got the call on Sunday night from the G in GMD+D (a friend of Chad’s) … I immediately got on the phone and online with Chad, collected some information and had a Facebook page up within hours. The next morning we began seeding the page with agency friends and family – and we launched a cost-effective Facebook ad campaign. The agency PR team began tweeting and contacting the media. Soon momentum began to roll, the story spread like wildfire, the Facebook page Fan count jumped … and mass media ate it up. The results?

• Over 30 local and national media stories placed in 72 hours
• Close to 2,000 Facebook Fans in 72 hours
• 20% increase in same-store sales in just two weeks

This was a perfect storm of several success factors that make a great viral / social campaign:

• Timing – Current Stanley Cup Playoffs
• Unique – Unusual but True
• Loyal Fans –  Pens fans want to interact and get involved in the ways that they can.
• Active & Interactive – The agency and the client participated but were not heavy handed. They let the Fans handle it.
• Created News – Using Tweets and local media relationships created news around the Facebook page itself!