We recently had a marketing executive from A & W come to visit in our class, and I must say I was really anticipating this lecture. Having guest speakers come to the Sauder School of Business is always a privilege, as they are certainly taking the time out of their busy schedules to be with us. I found it quite interesting that this particular fast food chain was one of the last, if not the last major food corporation join the social media scene. In fact, it had avoided it for years sticking to traditional forms of advertising such as T.V., print, and radio. The brand awareness itself is rather large and highly significant, however there is a clear trend towards taking businesses online.

The type of campaigns run by the company were very interesting to hear about, as A & W attempts to focus on the “lifestyle change” and how its food (particularly its beef) is grass fed, locally raised, and trustworthy in the health department. Many other companies by the likes of McDonald’s and KFC have had to endure many legal battles in courts proving that its food is healthy, sometimes rather laughably whether its even really or not (i.e. McDonald’s chicken nuggets apparently contain sawdust in them). This company has fortunately been able to avoid the limelight and shine when it truly matters. It has also developed a character (Andy the Manager) that many people resonate with for its T.V. campaigns, as many successful businesses have followed the same tactic (i.e. Kokanee with the Ranger and Sasquatch).

An interesting question was brought up though, considering that many students such as ourselves who attended this lecture do not own an T.V. (as we do not live at home anymore of course, and the fact that cable is expensive), what devices do we make use of the most? It’s a simple answer-LAPTOPS! Personal computers have paved the way of the future, and that requires companies to be able to have a heavy presence online if it hopes to have a shot at garnering the attention it desires from the potential target market. It was amazing to hear about A and W’s Facebook campaigns, and how they have taken advantage of this and it will be interesting to see how it moves forward in the future.