It started out innocently enough. After a long day of meetings at E3 2010, I paid a visit to Icrontic’s virtual staff workroom to coordinate writing ideas. There, our very own Editor-in-Chief, Brian Ambrozy, reposted a simple tweet: “Free tequila-infused tacos on corner of Pico and Figueroa.”
Tequila tacos? Our interest was piqued. The hungry Icrontic crew tromped out to the location specified in the tweet, directly across the street from the LA Convention Center. Indeed there was a taco truck, where we did in fact receive free tequila-infused tostadas, along with a generous helping of friendliness. The best part? There was no catch. You might be wondering, “Why would someone give away free food on the street corner?”
It’s all part of a marketing campaign that hinges on social media. Familia Camarena, a producer of 100% agave tequila, uses a combination of free food served out of a taco truck and the social networking power of Twitter and Facebook to promote their goods. Here’s how it generally works: Camarena tweets the location of the taco truck when it’s going to be out serving free tequila-infused food. News spreads via retweet. People show up, and the fine folks working the taco truck hand out free food and coupons for Familia Camarena Tequila. Everyone wins.
In our case, it led to a few “Thanks for the free food, @CamarenaTequila” tweets from the Icrontic crew. I decided to follow the company’s Twitter account, not only to keep tabs on the Taco Truck, but to find out when this spirit would be out in stores (it is now). In the end, I wound up using the coupons they gave me to pick up some Familia Camarena 100% de agave Reposado.
In short, this unique method of guerilla marketing via social media and taco truck works. Camarena may have served up a lot of free food that day, but they certainly gained a lot of goodwill in return—not to mention a few new Twitter followers.
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