The Objective
Grilling up awareness with a keto-friendly, lower-carb offering
Beloved West Coast favorite Carl's Jr. has been serving up its iconic charbroiled burgers for over 80 years. To give its customers a keto-friendly, lower-carb option, the brand launched a menu hack campaign where customers can turn any Carl's Jr. sandwich or burger into a lettuce wrap. Carl’s Jr. came to TikTok to drive awareness of the keto-friendly, low-carb alternative and to reach new audiences through these bunless menu options.
The Solution
Reaching hungry consumers with appetizing In-Feed Ads
Bun or no bun? That is the question. Carl’s Jr. spread the word about its food hack to turn any of its sandwiches into a lettuce wrap. While the fast-food restaurant was focused on driving awareness of the lettuce wrap option, it also wanted to reach as many food lovers as possible, so it used a “bun or no bun” creative concept and strong targeting strategy to accomplish both goals.
Carl’s Jr. identified key market areas for the product, including its birthplace, Los Angeles, then used targeted In-Feed Ads to get in front of the right audiences. In addition to designated market area (DMA) targeting, Carl’s Jr. also reached health and fitness-focused diners. But the brand didn’t want to turn its back on its bun-loving crowd, so it also targeted a broad food-focused audience to connect with as many people as possible with the food campaign.
Creatively, Carl’s Jr. stopped scrollers in their tracks by using a bold sound in its In-Feed Ads, while an up-close video of its tasty Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger® appetized viewers. The close-up product shots and large “BUN? OR NO BUN?” text overlay followed creative best practices while making the message loud and clear: Carl’s Jr. has keto-friendly and lower-carb options for fast food customers who want to lose the bun.
The Results
In sizzling demand
And the meat goes on. Carl’s Jr. wanted to whet appetites, and the campaign delivered by reaching over 38 million users on TikTok. Bun or no bun, the ads piqued people’s interest, driving 204% higher click-through rates* to Carl’s Jr.’s website. Moreover, a post-campaign Brand Lift Study showed Carl’s Jr.’s campaign delivered an 8% lift in ad recall, 4.5% increase in awareness, and 4.5% lift in positive attitudes toward the menu.
And while raising awareness of the Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger® Lettuce Wrap was the main goal, the brand also wanted to measure how the crave-worthy food campaign could impact foot traffic at stores. Carl’s Jr. used Foursquare Attribution to measure post-exposure visitation of the reached audience and compared visitation rates to the matched control group. The study proved the ad’s ability to drive conversions, with 1.2 million store visits associated with users exposed to the ads at a 2.81% conversion rate. Overall, Carl’s Jr. was able to generate a 50% lower cost per store visit than Foursquare’s national QSR & Dining benchmark. Finally, the campaign saw 13,000 incremental stores visits in the Los Angeles region alone. So while some food lovers continue the bun or no bun debate, as far we’re concerned, this one’s a wrap!
*Compared to TikTok’s internal benchmark
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