Dive Brief:

• Taco Bell has launched a content marketing campaign called “Taco Tales” in the form of weekly videos on its YouTube page, as reported by Ad Age.
• The weekly videos feature stories about things that could only happen to Taco Bell fans, per the company. Ryan Rimsnider, Taco Bell’s senior manager of social strategy, told Ad Age that Taco Bell is already mentioned in around 2% of all YouTube food-related videos.
• The campaign was created with L.A. content studio Madison & Vine and ideas for the videos come from posts to Twitter and Reddit that are then turned into two- to three-minute vignettes.

 Dive Insight:

Taco Tales comes as an effort to get away from the “sea of sameness” around brand messaging on social media, Rimsnider told Ad Age, and it has a distinctly narrow focus in that regard. The campaign will only be found on Taco Bell’s official YouTube page despite sourcing story ideas from other channels, avoiding the habit of brands repurposing the same content across multiple platforms.

In an era where more digital platform flexibility and variety is highly valued, keeping Tales limited is an interesting play that shows catering to channel specificity may hold more value than sheer reach.

Original content that focuses on telling a brand story rather than pushing a product is another trend Taco Bell is seizing on. Other companies like Marriott have dedicated significant time and marketing effort to creative branded campaigns like the Two Bellmen series, which has gone viral for the hotel chain and even started earning its own revenues. With Taco Tales, Taco Bell is likely aiming for similar standalone success, turning the effort into a weekly series as opposed to a one-off collection of spots.

Better storytelling is one of the significant advancements made by digital marketers in year when consumer frustration with traditional ads has grown.

Taco Bell has been one of the big food brands more willing to think outside the box when it comes to digital advertising. For Cinco de Mayo, the Yum! company brought out a record-breaking Snapchat lens that reached 224 million views and, in October, it partnered with Airbnb for a promotion that turned one of its restaurants into an Airbnb rental property for one night.

Article Written by David Kirkpatrick of Marketing Dive