• by Karl Greenberg , January 3, 2008

Chick-fil-A is running a social media campaign to celebrate its 40th anniversary, now in its closing weeks. The effort, "Biggest Chick-fil-A Fan"--via Vitrue, Inc. and The Foundry Agency, both based in Atlanta--lets consumers upload videos of themselves to a video "community" at chick-fil-a.com/biggestfan.

The site includes various Web tools for editing consumers' minute-long videos about why they believe they are the brand's most passionate fan. The grand prize for the best: 40 months (that's three years plus) of free Chick-fil-A Combo meals. Videos can be submitted through Jan. 15.

Mark Baldwin, Chick-fil-A's senior communications supervisor and project manager of the video contest, says the new element is the last leg of an anniversary promo that started last summer. "We did in-store promotional campaigns in July and September, which was really the height of the campaign," he says--adding that the company, which has 1,350 stores in 37 states, eschews heavy traditional advertising, opting instead for activity around its sponsorship of college sports.

The company did a similar program last year, aligned with its 13-year-old brand campaign, "Eat Mor Chikin," via AOR The Richards Group, Dallas. The kid-centric online photo contest, "Show Us the Cow," had consumers bringing a small plush version of the "Eat Mor Chikin" cows with them on vacation, photographing the cow and uploading the shots for a chance to win children's books.

"We do traditional ads, but compared to the competition, it's a drop in the bucket," says Baldwin, adding that Chick-fil-A restricts traditional advertising to sponsorship of Atlantic Coast Conference, SEC and Big Twelve college sports, because their combined geographic footprint matches the company's core retail footprint, focused in the so-called "smile belt": Southeast, Eastern seaboard, Southwest and California.

"We sponsor all championship events for all college athletics, whether baseball, football, basketball or lacrosse--any of the branches of college sports. We do promotions for some 50 events per year," says Baldwin.

The company last year achieved about $2.3 billion dollars in sales (a 15% increase overall, and 8.5% increase in same-store sales.) This year, per Baldwin, it's likely to be over $2.5 billion.

He says the company competes with both the leading fast feeders and with "quick casuals," like Panera Bread, where one can sit down for a meal in a dining room without wait service, but also without a fast-food feel.