There’s never a dull moment when brands on social have beef, or in this case chicken. I put my social listening, strategic thinking and creative skills to the test by writing a mock strategic approach for how Popeye’s could announce the newest addition to their menu and drive consideration across social, following the infamous Chicken Sandwich wars.

The Gist

I researched the landscape and decided to bet on sauce-lovers as the key to energizing QSR fans and drive the question that can only be answered by trying our new offering.

Below is an excerpt from my presentation:

“But love of the sauce isn’t unique to Popeyes and their patrons, Chili’s and countless others are banking on their sauces as well.

As we observe competitors, everyone is talking about why their sandwich is the best, it’s been happening for the first two years.– In politics, good politicians play the game, the best politicians call out the game. 

We believe the people have already spoken and continue to say which chicken sandwich is the best.We know there is no competition without Popeyes. . .

So let’s bet on that. (There’s a tension in leaving the final result up to public opinion). 

If people can continue to make comparisons we’ll bolster that conversation as it happens and drive the question of where this new sandwich ranks based on their opinions.”

Before the 15 deck slides, there were single-page memos and POVs. The following one-pager exhibits my distilled thinking around introducing the QSR’s next spicy offering. My aim is to provide those qualitative signals that give context, followed by social-first thought-starters that help guide Creative teams.