Instead of going the traditional way and spending big bucks on an OOH campaign, Wingstop, a chain of restaurants that specialises in chicken wings, moved its advertising budget to hoodies.
The chain created ‘Wearable Billboards’ – merch with Wingstop branding and put 1000 pieces up for grabs online.
Customers who agreed to post a picture of themselves on Instagram sporting the merch were sent the sweatshirts for free, and even paid $10 via Venmo by the fast-food brand. The merch went out of stock in 3 hours as fans were eager to support their favourite chicken joint.
Wingstop could have chosen influencers with large followings for the campaign, but chose to mobilise its army of loyal fans instead, not only winning the hearts of its customer base but also creating a splash on media channels which covered the campaign.
While fans gladly showed off their branded sweatshirts on Instagram, a few Wingstop enthusiasts took it to the next level by wearing them to a basketball game that aired on national television – creating millions of impressions for the brand for free.
The gimmick proved that fans were more cost-efficient than the average billboard, costing 94% less per impression.
