• by Teresa Buyikian , 5 hours ago

Yet another QSR has entered the Chicken Wars, and this one’s so confident they’re the best they are asking customers to swear their allegiance to the brand on rivals’ socials. 

A&W released its own Chicken Sandwich -- available in crispy, deluxe and Nashville hot varieties -- earlier this month. The drop marks the first time in the chain’s 107-year history it has had a national chicken sandwich lineup. 

To support the launch, A&W offered customers a BOGO promotion on the sandwich from Aug. 17-23. But it is the brand’s social efforts that are really getting customer attention. 

Working with Cornett, A&W invited fans to “declare their allegiance” to the brand by posting their commitment in the comment sections of its rivals’ Instagram feeds, such as seen here.

Customers were directed to AWAllegiance.com, where they found a scripted pledge to post to Popeyes' and Chick-Fil-A’s Instagram accounts, along with the A&W "Hall of Heroes" digital display wall, where the brand posts the Instagram handles of those who have publicly stated their allegiance. 

“Every restaurant claims to have the best chicken sandwich, but we were so confident in ours that we knew fans would back us up,” Amanda Potts, vice president of marketing and innovation at A&W Restaurants, tells Marketing Daily.

“Asking guests to publicly declare their allegiance in the comment sections of competitors was our way of announcing our arrival and shaking up established fast-food loyalties.”

The stunt apparently paid off, as the brand reports the campaign has earned more than 3.25 billion impressions. 

“The response has been incredible. Fans showed up, same-store sales climbed consistently throughout the campaign, billions of impressions were earned and more than half of landing page visitors actively engaged with our pledge,” adds Potts. “Turns out, when you make a great sandwich, people want to tell the world about it.”

A social video, seen here, supports the “allegiance” effort.