For today’s consumers, trust in brands has declined, but trust in their peers has increased, Matt Prince said, citing Edelman’s Trust Barometer. “Whatever we can do to reflect consumer behavior is where we have the most success” in marketing, said Prince, Taco Bell’s director of brand communications and PR.
With Gen Z, “if your brand is not reflecting their values, then they’re not going to give you the time and energy,” he said. “Being able to show up like a consumer that’s reflective of your audience is key.”
Prince was the guest for Strategies & Tactics Live on LinkedIn, Oct. 17, broadcast from PRSA’s ICON 2024 in Anaheim, Calif. Host John Elsasser, editor-in-chief of PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics publication, asked Prince to describe Taco Bell’s brand voice on social media.
“We try to have a very youthful and energetic brand voice that evolves as the consumer evolves,” Prince said. “It’s the humor, the visuals, where it’s showing up and how it’s showing up when it’s showing up. That witty, youthful approach has always been a target for us.”
Even as Taco Bell tries to capture that youthful energy, it’s long been a nostalgic brand for consumers, too. Now, with Gen Z, “We’re dealing with the first generation that doesn’t have that historic and nostalgic tie to the brand,” Prince said. “It’s almost a reintroduction for us with the younger generation, a great opportunity and a great challenge. But it’s fun to balance the nostalgic version of our brand with older consumers with how we approach younger consumers.”
Through social media listening, “we take inspiration from our consumers, from culture” for Taco Bell’s digital content, he said.
Humor won’t please everyone
Elsasser asked how Taco Bell’s humor stays true to the brand’s core values.
“Humor is tough because it’s subjective,” Prince said. “And there are great generational divides of what humor looks like. There’s a really important lesson to be had here in leadership, which is, ‘You’re not gonna get it sometimes, and that’s OK.’ That’s when we know we’re in the right spot because that person is not in the target audience.”
Using humor in social media and other marketing “really starts with having a strong understanding of who you are as a brand and a strong reflection of the type of humor you have built up over time,” Prince said. “I think we have a really great understanding of who we are as a brand, and you can see that in social and all that we execute.”
How does Taco Bell’s humor both reflect the brand’s core values and resonate with the values of its audience?
“We have these values-oriented generations that are driven by, ‘Do you stand for what I stand for?’” Prince said. “It’s getting harder to appeal to everybody. You’re not going to be everything to everyone, and that’s OK. But for the community that it’s meant for, it will really be impactful.”
When you have fun with your marketing campaigns, Prince said, “good results happen.”
Watch the full episode here.
[Jim Cowsert/Grapevine Photo]
The post S&T Live From ICON 2024 Recap: Taco Bell’s Matt Prince Talks Humor, Values in PR first appeared on PRsay.