Guerilla Marketing vs. Guerilla Warfare Marketing

The seafood chain Captain D’s has already made waves tweaking the feelers of Red Lobster, so much so the larger chain sent a "cease & desist" letter about the upstart’s ads claiming better value and lower prices. Now Costa Mesa, CA-based chain El Pollo Loco is taking a page from the same guerilla warfare marketing manual by challenging KFC to a "Taste the Fire" competition. The upstart chain was born in Guasave, Mexico but found its first successes in Los Angeles in the 1980s before going through several corporate owners including Denny’s. It currently operates just over 300 corporate and franchised locations, while its rival has over 11,000 restaurants in 80 countries.



Talk about David vs. Goliath!

But I wouldn't count EPL out too soon. They have embraced Twitter as a marketing tool for their challenge, inviting consumers to have their say. While there is some disagreement about how valuable Twitter can be for companies who need tens of thousands of sales daily to move their needles, EPL already has 700 fans following the campaign. It boggles the mind to think of busy people wanting to know what's going on in the "lives" of their fave restaurants, but....