Tag Archives: Food

by | Thursday, June 8, 2023 · 7:52 am

The Wienermobile of Love – Oscar Mayer’s mobile Wedding Chapel

We love it when brands come up with unique and fun ways to market products. A recent example that comes to mind is the Cheeto Duster product – a device that turns Cheetos into ground up dust.  

And we can’t forget Taco Bell with its pop-up hotel – matched by Oscar Mayer with its Wienermobile Hotel for rent on Airbnb.

Another big success for Taco Bell is its wedding chapel in Las Vegas. Now Oscar Mayer is matching that with its own ‘Wienermobile of Love.’

Yes, folks, the Wienermobile of Love held two-days of hot-dog weddings in Las Vegas in early April. The happy couples shared a live Wiener Whistle Quartet, wedding cake (in wiener shape of course) and a ceremony performed by the company’s Hotdoggers. All expenses were paid by the company and slots quickly snatched up.

We love the concept of ‘The Wienermobile of Love ‘ – it makes a lot of sense as a promotional tactic. The Wienermobile is a celebrity on its own; the company gets thousands of requests each year to have the Wienermobile appear at proposals and weddings. It’s a three-dimensional brand ambassador that travels the country staffed by a crew of Hotdoggers. It’s big. It gets noticed. Having it become part of couples’ love stories not only brings smiles, it generates a lot of positive feelings for the brand and keeps fans loyal.

Shall we get a hot dog and tie the knot?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss using unique promotion tactics for short time periods. 
  2. Show the Wienermobile of Love link: https://www.oscarmayer.com/elopewithus
  3. Video link: https://youtu.be/SYUeGs9kInQ
  4. Taco Bell Wedding Chapel link: https://www.tacobellwedding.com/
  5. Poll students: Would they consider a wedding at the Wienermobile? Or Las Vegas Taco Bell?
  6. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a brand that has a visible icon similar to the Wienermobile. (Example – Planters’ Nutmobile.)
  7. Have the teams develop a marketing plan to bring that icon to life in a new way. The plan should include setting SMART objectives, along with description of event and timeline.

Source:  Century, S. (13 April 2023). Oscar Mayer ‘Wienermobile of Love’ becomes the wedding venue of superfans’ dreams. Advertising Age.

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by | Thursday, April 20, 2023 · 7:46 am

No Card Needed: Pay at Panera using your Palm

Have you ever bought something only to realize you did not have your credit/debit card with you? Oops, how embarrassing. But that may be a problem of the past at Panera Bread (at least in St. Louis).

Panera Bread is now testing Amazon’s palm-screening technology at two of its St. Louis restaurants. This means that instead of using cash or charge, just place your palm on the scanner to pay for your meal – and connect to the Panera loyalty program. Panera has long been considered a leader in using technology in its restaurants with more than 2,000 locations and 52 million loyalty members.

While there has been consumer concern about palm-scanning, the positives are that it’s contactless and biometrics give a unique identifier for customers. No two palms (like fingerprints) are identical. Biometric data is also common for consumers who use face ID or fingerprint scanners. Palms provide yet another option.

Amazon’s palm-scanner technology is already being used at its Whole Foods stores in California as well as Amazon Go stores plus a handful of sports arenas such as T-Mobile Park.

How will you pay?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has used face ID or fingerprint scanning? What has been their experience.
  2. Divide students into teams. Have each team list the positive and negative factors for using palm-screening for consumers? (Can do the same poll for Face ID as well.)
  3. What are the positive and negative factors for businesses?
  4. Show Amazon’s information page about the scanning: https://one.amazon.com/how-it-works
  5. Show video about Panera’s use of palm-scanning: https://youtu.be/7ZuYHXuesGA
  6. Also check the site for Amazon one locations in your geography. If there are any, consider having students shop at those locations to try the scanners and get their feedback.
  7. How should Panera explain and market the new scanning?
  8. Have each team develop three different promotional tactics to ease consumer fears about the technology use.

Source:  Panera Break tests Amazon’s palm-scanning technology in St. Louis. (22 March 2023). CNBC.; NPR; The Guardian; The Verge; other news sources.

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by | Thursday, April 13, 2023 · 7:36 am

The Changing Face of Takeout Restaurants

America’s biggest chain fast-food restaurants are changing how they operate. Responding to the changing consumer behavior during the pandemic, stores are delivering food, but in a new way. Takeout food is now often ordered ahead via online and apps. To respond to the new ordering process, restaurants are eliminating seats and expanding drive-through service.

For example: A new McDonald’s restaurant in Texas has no seats or tables for customers. Instead, a conveyor belt sends food to drivers who have ordered ahead. And it’s not just McDonald’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Taco Bell are also considering new formats including a four-lane drive-through.

Why the new strategy? Building operations around large drive-through and digital orders can reduce staff and make the sites more profitable and efficient. America saw takeout foods rise during the pandemic. In 2022, 85% of all food orders as fast-food locales were taken to-go instead of eaten onsite.

Even Starbucks, long known for being a place to meet and linger, plans to add roughly 400 stores that offer delivery and pickup only. Why? Starbucks cafes are often jammed with orders for pick-up, drive-through, delivery, and in-café, leaving customers unsatisfied with the long lines.

What would you like for dinner tonight?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the changing takeout habits of the students. What do they like? Dislike?
  2. Poll students: Who has switched to mostly takeout? How do they place orders?
  3. Show video of new McDonald’s: https://youtu.be/S-uAsMf1__E
  4. Discuss the importance of environmental scanning: technology trends, social trends, laws and regulations, competitive trends, and economic trends.
  5. What trends are these restaurants responding to?
  6. Have students outline a promotional plan for communicating the value of the new concepts.
  7. Optional: Have students go to a fast-food restaurant (such as McDonald’s) and observe (a) how people order, and (b) how many people eat at the restaurant (versus leaving with the order).

Source:  Haddon H. (28 January 2023). Americans are gobbling up takeout food. Restaurants bet that won’t change. Wall Street Journal.

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