IHOb Goes Viral and Those Who Hopped Up to the Opportunity Cashed In
By
Ken Wisnefski

Social media can be used to report on and generate conversation around today’s most important and impactful headlines, but it can also provide a welcomed source of levity and provide brands with free advertising as was seen in the recent example of how some company’s Twitter accounts reacted to the news of IHOP changing its name to IHOb—the “B” now standing for burgers instead of “P” for pancakes.

The brands that jumped on this opportunity have shown just how impactful leveraging the viral bandwagon on social media can be.

I probably wasn’t the only one who got a good laugh when they saw how Wendy’s Twitter account responded to a user who asked them about IHOb now becoming a competitor. The account with 2.64 million followers wrote, ““Not really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard.”

 

 

 

 

 

This not only was humorous, it also was incredibly effective in terms of bringing more attention to Wendy’s brand.

The tweet generated nearly 104,000 retweets and 300,000 favorites. These are absolutely insane numbers that didn’t cost Wendy’s a penny to produce. All it took was a witty and timely social media team.

Other brands such as Burger King and the Philadelphia Phillies also had fun with the story by implementing quick logo changes on social media. Burger King changed their official Twitter name to “Pancake King,” which helped the company quickly get mentioned by hundreds of thousands of Twitter users as well as various media outlets around the world.

The Phillies Twitter account released a video that turned the “P” upside down to change the team’s name to “bhillies.”

 

 

 

 

Major brands such as Netflix, Qdoba, TimeHop, and White Castle also got in on the action.

 

 

 

 

Certain brands even went on the defensive and poked fun at IHOb’s identity crisis.

 

 

 

 

But regardless of each brand’s take on the matter, they all hopped on a valuable opportunity and cashed in on the free publicity.

The aforementioned examples combined creativity and timeliness to make a big impact on their respective brand. We’re in the age of social media, so it’s all about what’s trending at the moment. From my experience as a social media marketing expert and owner of the digital marketing agency WebiMax, I believe one of the most effective forms of marketing these days is finding a way to put a unique slant on emerging stories as they’re unfolding. Doing so can provide brands with immense amounts of valuable marketing with very little work having to be done on their end. And with Facebook making it more and more difficult to pay for engagement from a targeted audience, especially on a budget, it’s never been more important to work smarter not harder on social media

Furthermore, all public figures should utilize Twitter and other platforms to engage with their audience to build their brand. Marketers and businesses need to constantly be monitoring the news in order to capitalize on the latest trending stories. Wendy’s and others proved that you can’t just be promotional on social media. You need to have a sense of humor or inform your audience in a way that keeps them engaged and coming back for more.

Ken Wisnefski is a seasoned web entrepreneur and the founder of several successful startup companies. In 2008, Wisnefski launched WebiMax with the intention of providing clients a reputable partner that could truly help them grow their overall online presence. WebiMax is proudly celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. 

 

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