Now I don't know if you've been following the news media today in America.
But there were a bunch of people waiting for McDonald's for a limited one day run of Szechuan sauce. This was because it was mentioned in the popular tv show Rick and Morty and customers demanded McDonald's release it.
They did today. It was a disaster. They massively underestimated the demand for the sauce. Customers were outraged when most stores ran out of sauce in a fairly short amount of time.
Here's an article with more details: 'Rick and Morty' team 'not happy' with McDonalds sauce fiasco
Are there lessons to learn here? Yes, several.
1) If you promise something to customers, you better deliver. And you better deliver big. There are tons of videos online now of people screaming and yelling outside and inside McDonald's for sauce. While amusing, it underpins a lack of communication. As an entrepreneur, if you make big promises, you must make big deliveries.
2) These people are sidewalkers. Literally standing on the sidewalk waiting for...what? Sauce packets? And for what purpose? To emulate their current favorite fictional cartoon tv character. Wow. Drink in the majesty of that. I sincerely hope none of you waited for this today. It reminds me of the free $6 bucket of chicken story in The Millionaire Fastlane , but worse. Sidewalkers think their time is infinite and as such will wait hours and yes, days to get a sauce packet. Yes, not minutes, but days.
3) Piggybacking off of number 2, brand loyalty. People are loyal to Rick and Morty. So much that they will wait hours just to be a little more like them. This is brand power and brand loyalty. If you get your customers ramming down the door, you have power. A great deal of power. Create loyalty. Create power. Shape destiny.
But there were a bunch of people waiting for McDonald's for a limited one day run of Szechuan sauce. This was because it was mentioned in the popular tv show Rick and Morty and customers demanded McDonald's release it.
They did today. It was a disaster. They massively underestimated the demand for the sauce. Customers were outraged when most stores ran out of sauce in a fairly short amount of time.
Here's an article with more details: 'Rick and Morty' team 'not happy' with McDonalds sauce fiasco
Are there lessons to learn here? Yes, several.
1) If you promise something to customers, you better deliver. And you better deliver big. There are tons of videos online now of people screaming and yelling outside and inside McDonald's for sauce. While amusing, it underpins a lack of communication. As an entrepreneur, if you make big promises, you must make big deliveries.
2) These people are sidewalkers. Literally standing on the sidewalk waiting for...what? Sauce packets? And for what purpose? To emulate their current favorite fictional cartoon tv character. Wow. Drink in the majesty of that. I sincerely hope none of you waited for this today. It reminds me of the free $6 bucket of chicken story in The Millionaire Fastlane , but worse. Sidewalkers think their time is infinite and as such will wait hours and yes, days to get a sauce packet. Yes, not minutes, but days.
3) Piggybacking off of number 2, brand loyalty. People are loyal to Rick and Morty. So much that they will wait hours just to be a little more like them. This is brand power and brand loyalty. If you get your customers ramming down the door, you have power. A great deal of power. Create loyalty. Create power. Shape destiny.
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