Reasons That Taco Bell Can Have All My Money
By Kassandra Lopez, Global Strategic Communications graduate student at the University of Florida
As the title implies, Taco Bell is exceedingly popular. Primarily within the teenager to the young adult range, in which I (thankfully) still reside. While Tacos are hard to dislike, Taco Bell has created a persona that continuously evolves and adapts to their audience. While “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to most things, Taco Bell’s many reinventions of their marketing strategy and overall branding have kept up interest in the brand alive for decades. Who can forget the Miami vice colored Taco Bell decor that reminded us of 4th-period geometry class?
Taco Bell’s brand look (color scheme, font, and style ) and voice is ever-changing. But once a new era of Bell is established, they do well to keep the aesthetic image fluent in all their advertisement and marketing materials. Additionally, Taco Bell has also kept a jovial and friendly brand voice. To match the current, more playful environment displayed by other major fast-food brands on social media, Taco Bell has expanded on that playful tone. This goes to show that while restaurant decor has shifted to mimic the modern aesthetic currently on-trend, Taco Bell as a brand has remained fun.
From my own, extensive and sometimes obsessive consumption of Taco Bell. I have grasped that their mail customer service strategy is simple: give the people what they want, and make it delicious. From their prompt replies to my fangirl tweets, or even their willingness to allow alterations to orders, they listen to costumers. While their decor might have grown up, they maintain a playful voice. Responses to customers are fun and Taco Bell maintains a positive tone, inclusively they manage to remain professional while doing so.
As more and more of their target demographic, arguably 15 to 35 years old, embraces a meatless life style, Taco VBell has adapted to meet those demands! This is demonstrated by “… vegan options on the menu. This is why they’ve added better options for those late night snackers, like bean burritos and veggie bowls.” (Mertes, Alyssa)
But bean burritos aside, Taco Bell also keeps these customers (and our tastebuds) entertained! They do so by being “…different and (doing) bold things that appeal to the millennials they want to target. The Doritos® Locos Tacos Supreme made $1 million a day when it first debuted, and in 2019 Taco Bell’s pop-up hotel sold out of reservations.” (Mertes, Alyssa)
While I won’t be planning a Taco Bell wedding anytime soon, the fact they’ve come up with such a package (which can be found here) demonstrates the cult-like following they have amassed. I am glad they’ve never changed their “Live mas” slogan, as the throngs of fans with the saying tattooed would be mighty disappointed!
Works Cited
Mertes, Alyssa. “The Crunchy Genius Behind Taco Bell’s Marketing Strategy.” Promotional Products Blog, 13 July 2020, www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/marketing-taco-bell/.
