Taco Bell made a bold move this week to funnel users towards its app. It blacked out its Twitter– posted a black image as its profile image and hid its its 1.4 million Twitter followers – to promote its new app which will build customized orders, find nearby location, enable wallet-less checkout and save favorite items. On Instagram, Taco Bell posted a collage of photos that said “The New Way to Taco Bell Isn’t On Instagram. It’s #OnlyInTheApp”, the hashtag that has since been used in all of its post.
L2’s Intelligence Report: Mobile & Tablet finds that brand apps have little chance of traction. While consumers spend 86% of their time on mobile devices (2 hours and 42 minutes), most of that time is spend on YouTube, Facebook, and gaming.
Yet brands and retailers continue to release apps, particularly in the Beauty, Watches & Jewelry categories. IOS apps in these categories have steadily proliferated.
Perhaps in the saturated brand app space, over-the-top marketing tactics like Taco Bell’s are needed.