John Gatesman, partner at Second Wind member agency GatesmanMarmionDrake, Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA shared an amazing case study confirming the power of Social Media.

Situation: John was contacted by his friend, the local Qdoba Mexican Grille restaurant franchise owner, with a unique marketing opportunity. The NHL Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach, Dan Bylsma, orders a Qdoba BBQ burrito at the restaurant’s Grant Street location before every game he coaches. So far, the “Pens” have won all but one of their games when Coach Bylsma has stopped for his burrito. The Qdoba restaurant has even packed up the special burritos and put them on ice (so to speak) for Penguins’ away games in Washington, DC, and the team came away with wins. As you may or may not know, sports players and their fans can be an incredibly superstitious bunch. Many Pittsburgh Penguins players began heading down the block to the Qdoba restaurant to get their lucky BBQ burritos before game time.

The Pittsburgh Penquins were in the 2009 Stanley Cup finals at the time.

Goal: John’s friend asked GatesmanMarmionDrake to come up with a way to capitalize on Coach Bylsma’s Qdoba ritual, and fast! … and, support the Penguins in the Playoffs.

Solution: Incorporate social media tactics to attract Penguins fans to Qdoba, building a new customer base for future marketing using Penguins’ buzz.

Execution: GatesmanMarmionDrake created a program in one day that very quickly took advantage of Coach Bylsma’s affinity for Qdoba’s burritos, created buzz and drove traffic to the restaurant. Using a “Lucky Burrito” concept, they built a community on Facebook. The Lucky Burrito Facebook page is a place where Penguins hockey fans can root for their team and share their sports fan superstitions, including wearing the same clothes for days in a row, crossing fingers and toes, and of course, eating burritos from Qdoba. The agency also promoted the Facebook page through their contacts on Twitter and to all the local Pittsburgh media.

Results: In just a few days, the Lucky Burrito Facebook page grew to nearly 1,000 fans. Using the Facebook page, Qdoba promoted special events like rallies at their restaurant before games. They made posts letting fans know when Coach Bylsma was in the restaurant, even posting pictures of the coach enjoying a lucky BBQ burrito. The story was picked up online, and by many radio and television stations, including TV networks KDKA, WPXI and WTAE.

Lessons Learned: Social Media is rapid and effective when cross-promoted and “pushed” through traditional media. Event/”fan” promotions can be especially viral. After the series is over, Qdoba will be able to continue marketing promotions and events to a significant group of fans on Facebook. Surely, Qdoba is rooting for Coach Bylsma and the Pens, hoping that their burritos really are lucky!

Follow-Up: The underdog Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in an exciting Game 7. For those keeping track, according to the Lucky Burrito Facebook page, Coach Bylsma did NOT eat a Lucky Qdoba burrito for Games 1, 2 and 5 of the Stanley Cup series, and the Pens lost those games. The Coach DID eat Qdoba burritos for four games 3, 4, 6 and 7 that the Pens won . Coincidence? Maybe. In any case, the Lucky Burrito campaign successfully created buzz, drove traffic to the Qdoba restaurant, and gathered nearly 1,900 Facebook fans who signed on to the Lucky Burrito Facebook page.