Chicken chain El Pollo Loco is turning to its customers for its newest branding initiative. Capitalizing on its strong social media following, the chain is taking submissions via Twitter and Facebook for its #CrazyYouCanWear slogan competition—the winning slogan will be featured on El Pollo Loco’s new crew uniforms come fall.
“We have the best, most loyal social media community out there, and we’re really excited to call on them to crowd source some new ideas for our new uniforms,” says Mark Hardison, the brand’s vice president of marketing.
Through May 2, fans can submit ideas using the contest hashtag. Hardison says he and the El Pollo Loco team want the slogans to reflect the brand’s commitment to fresh ingredients in a witty and humorous ways.
Three finalists’ slogans will be posted on El Pollo Loco’s Facebook page, where fans can vote for their favorite entry. The finalist, to be announced May 12, will also win free El Pollo Loco for one year in addition to having their slogan included in the final lineup of new crew uniforms.
“Some of the slogans we already have include, ‘We’re Guaca-holics. Our avocados get smashed daily,’” he says. “They’re fun, but they also teach the guest something about our brand and reinforce how we use fresh ingredients.”
Other slogans that will adorn the new uniforms include, “Loco-ly made (We fire-grill fresh chicken)” and “You had me at pollo (All natural cage-free chicken).”
These slogans resonate with the values of El Pollo Loco’s consumer base, which is “a little older than the typical fast-food consumer; it’s about a 25–49 age range, and we balance between men and women,” Hardison says.
He adds that the brand built its loyal social media following, which includes 14,000 Twitter followers and 101,487 Facebook likes, by engaging with consumers on a daily basis. He says this crowd sourcing campaign will be popular because consumers increasingly respond to brand engagement.
“I think it’ll be really cool for someone to come into the restaurant or show their friends the new shirts and say, ‘That’s something I came up with,’” Hardison says.
By Tamara Omazic
