Carl's Jr. catches 'Famous Stars' for multichannel influencer campaign

Dive Brief:

Fast food brand Carl's Jr. is teaming up with Australian comedian and Instagram star Celeste Barber on the new campaign "Famous Stars, Eating Famous Stars" to promote its Famous Star Burger, according to a news release provided to Marketing Dive.
The campaign, created with Havas Chicago, includes a series of 15- and 30-second spots featuring Barber, as she comically tries to perform everyday activities, like washing car seats and cleaning up toys, while enjoying a Famous Star Burger. The ads will air across network and cable TV, as well as spot TV, spot radio, paid social and free-standing inserts.
Carl's Jr. is also creating "Famous Star" Instagram posts that showcase celebrities, including singer-songwriter Ashlee Simpson Ross and others eating Famous Star Burgers. The campaign includes actresses Hunter King and Joey King eating Famous Stars at events, like the Just Jared Halloween Party.

Dive Insight:

Carl's Jr. is building on its "impossible to ignore" brand image with a light-hearted approach and celebrity- and influencer-packed campaign. The partnership with Celeste Barber seems like a good fit, as she is known for not taking herself too seriously and spoofing perfectionism, often taking her own versions of fashion and celebrity photos and posting them on Instagram. Barber also has more than 5 million Instagram followers, which could help Carl's Jr. expand its reach.

Fast food brands are embracing quirky creative and unique partnerships and leveraging social media to stand out and attract Gen Z consumers, who are showing more of an interest in fast food. Gen Zers are 20% more likely to visit fast food restaurants than other generations, according to Foursquare and Carat, including millennials, who haven't embraced fast food, instead opting for fresher food options.

By tapping influencers for the new campaign, Carl's Jr is seeking to reach younger consumers, grow its social media reach and build brand awareness. Influencer marketing is a popular tactic for brands, and 43% of marketers are planning to increase their influencer marketing budgets over the next 12 months, according to an Association of National Advertisers study. Instagram is one of the top platforms for influencer campaigns, and "quality of followers" is the most important criteria for 96% of brands, according to the World Federation of Advertisers. Most marketers, or 74%, are tapping influencers to reach targeted and new audiences.

"Famous Stars, Eating Famous Stars" follows other Carl's Jr. campaigns aimed at engaging with consumers and driving engagement. Last month, the brand created a Change.org petition to get the term "condimeat," referring to any meat that can top a burger, added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary to promote its Pastrami Thickburger. Carl's also unveiled a Twitter awards campaign called #TheThickies, named after the brand's Thickburgers, earlier this year, where followers were given awards in several categories, like Best Food Selfie, Best Hater and others.