Wendy's delivers free Baconator in DoorDash deal

Brief:

Wendy's is offering its Baconator cheeseburger for free when ordered through DoorDash, which won't charge a delivery fee on orders of $10 or more, the fast-food chain announced. Customers must place an order on DoorDash's website or app and use the promo code FREEBACONATOR to redeem the offer.
The promotion kicked off on Jan. 28 and lasts through Feb. 4. The promo code can only be used once for each DoorDash account, but $0 delivery from Wendy's is available all week. The delivery is available in select markets at participating restaurants while supplies last.
In addition, Wendy's also changed its Twitter account name to "Freebaconator" as part of the promotion, snagging more than 2,000 likes in the first 15 hours of posting a video for the free bacon cheeseburger.

Insight:

The partnership with Wendy's is DoorDash's latest attempt at dominance in the mobile delivery space. The food delivery app this month extended its reach to all 50 states with operations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. DoorDash is available in more than 3,300 cities in the U.S. and Canada, and also delivers Wendy's rival McDonald's in select markets.

The Wendy's partnership follows several promotions that DoorDash has run with competitor Burger King over the past year. The burger chain last week partnered with DoorDash to let customers order a "Mystery Box" that's tied to an upcoming Super Bowl play. Burger King in November worked with DoorDash on the introduction of the "Dogpper," a bone-shaped dog treat with flame-grilled beef flavor. The Dogpper promotion arrived a few weeks after the companies partnered on a tie-in with Activision for the launch of video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4."

Along with the delivery deal, Wendy's has worked to milk the most out of its marketing budget with a memorable social media presence to take on bigger rivals like McDonald's and Burger King. The Wendy's account has 3 million Twitter followers, compared to 3.52 million for McDonald's USA and 1.72 million for Burger King. Wendy's Twitter account has run witty viral campaigns that boosted its following by about 1 million last year and spurred a 113% jump in social media mentions, demonstrating how a solid social presence can increase engagement and brand awareness beyond more traditional marketing efforts.