Dive Brief:
- Wendy's has partnered with collaborative ad platform Tiger Pistol to power its national-to-local social ads, according to a press release.
- Tiger Pistol and Wendy's social team will create brand-approved, templated campaigns that can be deployed through the chain's local agency teams. Likewise, local teams can submit imagery and messaging for national approval through Tiger Pistol's Workflow Approval Engine.
- The partnership comes as the QSR chain sought a "dedicated Meta innovation partner" that would allow for more flexible social ad targeting. Tiger Pistol has a long-standing relationship with Meta and bills itself as the largest third-party publisher of collaborative social ads.
Dive Insight:
Wendy's has teamed with Tiger Pistol to streamline its social advertising, making it easier for its various stakeholders to be on the same page when creating, targeting and running local campaigns. The partnership will allow for Wendy's to advertise by region and designated market area, at the restaurant-level, or through combined targeting.
"Tiger Pistol strengthens the level of collaboration between Wendy's, our regional agencies, and our restaurants, enabling high-performing social advertising at the community level," said Kristin Tormey, manager of social media and gaming at The Wendy's Company, in the press release.
In the QSR space, long-standing tension between franchisors and franchisees has intensified as national chains look to build their brands while local operators remain laser-focused on sales amid a panoply of labor, supply chain and inflationary issues. Partnerships such as the one between Wendy's and Tiger Pistol could point a way forward for chains looking to align the needs of national and local marketers.
While not specifying all of the platforms the partnership will oversee, press materials call out Tiger Pistol's relationship with Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, as Wendy's focus. While Meta is still an ad giant, reporting $27 billion of revenue in the first quarter, it faces several headwinds that are beginning to impact revenue after a decade of growth. Wendy’s continued investment in ads on Meta platforms is welcome news for the company.
As its ad business grapples with the effects of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework, Meta has prioritized investment in other areas, including the metaverse, around which it is making a big bet. Wendy's in March opened a virtual restaurant on the company's Horizon Worlds platform, reaching 52 million users and improving the chain's brand and message awareness, per Meta.
In addition to its focus on Meta, the partnership will integrate Tiger Pistol's platform with Wendy's Yext local listing profiles, allows ads to better apply local store data. Wendy's first teamed with Yext in 2018 to manage online information for more for 6,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.
Wendy’s same-store sales rose 1.1% in the U.S. in the first quarter, with digital sales now making up more than 10% of global sales, per the chain.
