Food and Beverage Companies Go Crazy Over Mobile

Check out this list of companies active within the mobile world: Burger King, Denny’s, Taco Bell, Walgreens, Pabst, Domino’s, Coca-Cola, Coors Light, Nestlé, and McDonald’s to name a few.  These are some big name companies, so there must be some unique benefits to mobile in the Food & Beverage and Quick Serve Restaurant industries.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve noticed that more and more F&B and QSR companies have been adapting and integrating mobile elements.  While it’s easy to see the penetration these industries can gain from mobile – check out this article of how Pizza Hut saw 2,000 opt-ins in their 1st 2 weeks – it’s interesting that many are jumping on the wagon at the same time.  Don’t get me wrong, I applaud all the QSR and F&B companies, but what is it about mobile that they find so interesting?

Check out some of these stats:

A Roanoke, VA Cold Stone Creamery store received nearly 500 text messages in three days and had a redemption rate of 26 percent

Source: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/2812.html

A recent Dairy Queen mobile ad campaign saw a click-through-rate of more than 22 percent

Source: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/3124.html

Why do these industries embrace a fairly new medium?  Because it works and it works well.  QSR and F&B companies have always strived to find unique and interesting methods of engaging users.  One of the reasons that Coca-cola is so popular today is because it spent it’s first years literally giving away it’s product.

F&B and QSR always lead the pack of new and invigorating marketing and advertising methods, so maybe it’s time for other companies to follow suit.  However many smaller companies tend to cling to traditional methods and find second-rate excuses: legacy back-end POS systems? Potential lackluster results? Mis-information/interpretation of possibilities within the mobile space? There are tons of excuses brands might give to not move into the fastest growing and soon to be biggest space, but at the end of the day they are just excuses. If a company like Domino’s can implement a new ordering system throughout their 8,000+ franchise, then a smaller brand can easily add a mobile component.  Just because you see limitations, doesn’t mean that mobile marketers can’t find ways around them.  Come on local Orange County QSR’s, jump on board!  Just saying.