Taco Bell hopes to draw customers into its stores

By Sara Ganus
Business Writer

Baseball fans can put away their bags of peanuts and boxes of Cracker Jacks — and instead reach for a taco.
That's what Taco Bell is hoping for anyway.

Months before the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series kicked off in Boston, Taco Bell partnered with Major League Baseball for the fifth consecutive year to create a free taco promotion and generate some buzz about tacos and baseball.

This is the first year Taco Bell will make good on that deal.

Instead of tying a promotion to a somewhat unlikely play, as in years past, Taco Bell decided for the first time to build a promotion around something bound to happen.

Thus the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion was born, ruling that any player who stole a base during regulation or extra innings play for either team would guarantee a free, seasoned-beef, crunchy taco to anyone — baseball fan or not.

Now after buzz about the promotion and the news that Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base in the second inning of Game 2, the taco chain will be giving away a free seasoned beef crunchy taco today to anyone who goes to a participating Taco Bell store between 2 and 5 p.m.

After five years of touting free-taco promotions, Taco Bell is hoping this year's marketing scheme will hit a home run.

"We've wanted to do this for a while,” Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said. "It's our way of showing our appreciation for baseball fans. No matter what team you root for, you're the winner of a free taco.”

Although Taco Bell isn't releasing dollar estimates, Poetsch said the company expects to give away "millions and millions” of tacos, which retail on average for 77 cents each.

On Monday, 41 Oklahoma City area Taco Bell locations were gearing up for the free taco frenzy, scheduling extra staff for the three-hour period and preparing ingredients for a crowd.

Rick Martin, an area coach for Oklahoma City, who manages six Taco Bell franchises, said he started preparing for the promotion as soon as he saw the stolen base last week.

"We knew the promotion was coming three to four weeks before it actually happened, so we had plenty of time to be ready,” Martin said. "All of my general managers knew they stole the base before I even got a chance to call them, so they were all very aware of what was going on.”

Martin said some Oklahoma City Taco Bell locations will have up to 12 people on staff during the afternoon hours.

"What we're gearing for is an extended lunch period,” he said. "This will drive people to our business, but we also want to make sure that what we're giving those people during that period of time is the highest quality product we can.”

Consumers also are marking their calendars for the giveaway — at least those who know about it.

"I haven't heard of it,” said James Brashier, 34, of Oklahoma City, who was eating at the 220 NW 23 location.

Those sentiments also were the responses of 10 other people at the same restaurant during Monday's lunch hour — which could be a sign of how successful the promotion will be, said Moose Tyler, advertising and public relations professor at Oklahoma City University.

"There's a very select demographic that watches the World Series,” Tyler said. "If you didn't watch the World Series, you may not have any idea about this, or if you had it on in the background and you weren't really paying attention, you wouldn't know anything about this.”

Still, the marketing tactic could prove to be a success. As a World Series sponsor, Taco Bell also got a media buzz boost from several live interviews between players, not to mention with Rob Savage, chief operating officer of Taco Bell, during the game.

"What this does is it gets people into Taco Bell, and no one who goes into Taco Bell is just going to take one free taco and go,” Tyler said. "They're going to buy a drink or cinnamon twists or what have you. The taco gets them in the door, and then they'll send more of their products to people once they're inside. As far as that goes, it's a very smart marketing tactic.”

But it isn't a new one.

In June, Sonic Corp. led a four-hour promotion, serving free 10-ounce root beer floats at 3,245 locations.

Spokeswoman Christi Woodworth said the promotion was a way for Sonic to reward its customers and garner new ones.

"You can sell anything to anybody one time,” Tyler said. "What's even harder is that repeat person, that second purchase. A lot of times, companies are not only trying to get people in there, but they're also trying to get repeat purchases from them.”

With giveaway promotions, the younger demographic is often a major player, Tyler added.

Patrick Gillock, 17, a student at Edmond Memorial High School, said he read about the promotion on the Internet and "definitely” plans on going to get his free taco on Tuesday.

"All I heard is if someone stole a base at the World Series, they were going to give away free tacos,” he said. "That's pretty awesome.”

Gillock's friend, Hannah McMillan, also 17, said the giveaway was a big topic of conversation at school.

"A lot of people are coming tomorrow,” she said. "I don't think a lot of people know why they're getting free tacos, they're just like, ‘It's a free taco. Let's go.'”

All of this is part of Taco Bell's attempt to dip into word-of-mouth marketing, Tyler said.

"The world of advertising is changing,” she said. "It's not going away — it will never go away — but it definitely is changing in the fact that a 30-second TV commercial isn't nearly as effective as it used to be. Now it's moving into this whole one-to-one marketing where you get a customer, and they refer their friends to your business.

"You always need traditional advertising, but I think the brands that are combining traditional advertising in these new guerilla marketing efforts are going to be more effective in the long run.”