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On the cusp of Halloween, many brands start to roll out their spooky season campaigns featuring ghoulish hijinks. And while these activations are mostly standard fare, no one expected Wendy’s to release a true crime-style branded podcast ahead of the most frightening day of the year.
As it grows across the U.K. with 20 locations so far, the quick-service restaurant chain has released a seven-episode series called The Burger Files as part of its awareness-raising strategy of both the brand and its hero product—the Baconator.
With the accompanying tagline “Lifting the bun on burger crime,” it’s fairly clear this isn’t the most serious of shows. With more than 21 million listeners tuning into podcasts each year, the platform was chosen by the QSR burger brand and creative agency VMLY&R (soon to be VML) as the place to relay Wendy’s sense of humor.
“Podcasts are a huge and growing opportunity,” said Lisa Deletroz, regional marketing director of Wendy’s, who has relocated to the U.K. for a few months to guide its plans into next year. “Everybody loves true crime, but they also love comedy. And it’s the ability for us to do our tongue-in-cheek approach that we still pride ourselves on.”
Behind the production is comedian Sarah Barron as host and comedy writer Joel Morris, who has worked in television and film on projects such as Paddington, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and That Mitchell and Webb Look.
To create the series, more than 100 pages of scripts were written, investigating crimes against burgers, with the first six leading up to the seventh Halloween-themed final episode that ties all the cases together.
Dayoung Yun, creative director for VMLY&R, explained that the initial idea had been around for a while, but the timing hadn’t been right until this summer. With a number of restaurants opening, there was a requirement to find a way to communicate the quality of Wendy’s products.
“Wendy’s has a long history of innovation in telling their brand story in culture, and as one of the most popular genres of podcasting in the U.K., a spin on true crime seemed like the perfect way to tell consumers they have been settling for convenience over quality in their burgers,” Yun said.
The series is part of the campaign that includes paid and organic social as well as out-of-home and bus sides, alongside a trailer for the podcast released through YouTube. Its aim is to reach as wide a consumer audience as possible, especially those who have not experienced a Wendy’s restaurant before, as it offers an alternative in the market.
