For all the spicy mamas out there

I attended UBCMA’s Gateways conference today and found the keynote speech quite interesting. It was actually a collaboration between A&W’s director of Marketing and Glen Chalcraft from a Canadian ad agency called Rethink. Basically, they were the guys responsible for creating the print and tv ads for A&W’s limited edition spicy mama burger. I enjoyed hearing about all the work that gets put into a 30-second commercial! They talked about how A&W is now the second biggest fast food retailer next to McDonald’s and how they company’s primary market are the baby boomers. (As if you couldn’t already tell by their storefront, diner atmosphere and ROOTBEER!) To come up with a recipe that was spicy but not too hot, the test kitchen tried nearly every combination of ingredients and ended up choosing jalapeno cheese and chipotle mayo for the perfect spicy factor.

Only $1.99

If you’re not familiar with A&W’s commercials, they typically all include a cute but nerdy employee named Ryan and his manager Allen. I find their commercials to be quite wholesome and memorable but on the marketing side, it’s brand consistency. A&W wants to create a down-to-earth environment that focuses on good food and good times. (Let’s not forget the family, assuming baby boomers all have large families now.)

The commercial that did run involved Ryan handing out flyers of the spicy mama deal to only hot women (i.e. “hot mamas”), thus misinterpreting the purpose of the promotion. His manager tries to correct him by explain that the deal is for everyone but Ryan thinks Allen wants to be considered a “hot mama” as well. According to Glen, the commercial was very successful and received positive feedback. A&W also sold out of their product earlier than expected.

I want to talk about how A&W is effective at adding customer value. Their whole concept of “family” burgers and rootbeer is truly their own brand, and it’s an example of product excellence. I’ve never worked at A&W nor am I a regular customer but I can see how they would retain customers through good service. Their locations are quite convenient and I see no problems with their supply-chain management. Their internet presence is also quite rich, having used Twitter to track people’s reaction to their new burger.

And without further ado…the finished commercial.