Geofencing Marketing | More Than a Mouthful | Velocity Agency

Geofencing marketing is the practice of using global positioning or radio frequency identification to define a geographic boundary, and it’s being utilized more than ever! This week, Burger King made headlines with their latest marketing campaign. Beginning on Tuesday, consumers can open a newly revamped Burger King app and venture within 600 feet of a McDonald’s location. This will trigger a deal within a geofence that allows them to order a whopper for one penny. Consumers are re-routed to the nearest Burger King location for pick up. This promotion has been named #WhopperDetour and will only run through December 12th. As silly as this sounds, there’s a more to this marketing promotion than geofencing. Velocity Agency is always here for the latest marketing gossip. Let’s explore what made this plan effective.

It’s Petty.

We all know that marketing is hard, that’s why marketing agencies exist!  In this digital age, it’s so hard to stand out. Every company wants their marketing messages to be memorable, effective, and impressionable. To stand out, it’s all about understanding emotions. When we understand that emotions inform our decisions through their linked association, it’s easier to see how you can use this information when planning your marketing strategy. Traditionally, marketers focus on positive emotions when promoting products and brands. Today, the most successful brands are doing something much different in a trend known as troll marketing.

Troll marketing is when companies put something controversial in their audiences eye usually in the form of a tweet and striking up conflict. The social media generation is the most media-saturated group of consumers and trolling is ingrained in their minds. When a brand troll their younger audiences, people view the brand as a funny friend. In many examples, brands will actually troll their audience. This increases engagement because consumers will be more inclined to interact with their brand. 

However, Burger King went straight to their biggest competitor: McDonald’s.

Cryptic Tweets

From retail, to food, to the music industry, to politics, cryptic tweets are wildly popular. Earlier this year Olive Garden and Ihop both launched cryptic promotions. The art of the tease is not just used in Burlesque! Consumers love to be mystified by brands so they can come to their own conclusions, just like movie viewers love a twist ending.

Olive Garden tweeted this with a link to a mystery countdown clock on their website. Not only did it increase engagement, but it led people to their site like crazy.

Around the same time, IHOP announced they were changing their name to IHOB and the internet was on fire trying to decide what the B would stand for. On June 11th, they announced that the B stood for Burgers instead of pancakes.

Before Burger King launched the announcement of #thewhopperdetour, they tweeted this:

Will you be buying a Whopper for a penny? At just a penny, it’s practically free! Velocity Agency loves a good marketing scheme, even if it is on the petty side. If you feel as if your brand has been stuck in the past, trust Velocity Agency to propel you into the future with our knowledgeable and creative marketing team!