Fresh, Never Frozen & Totally S’Awesome

Editor’s Note: The Square Deal welcomes Caroline Luby, Associate Brand Manager of Hamburgers. This is Caroline’s first time contributing to The Square Deal and we’re excited to have her shed some light on what it took to launch the S’Awesome Bacon Classic Cheeseburger. We think she’d say it’s pretty “S’Awesome”!

Our Side of S’Awesome™ Sauce is in fact, awesome. Fans just can’t seem to get enough of the smoky, tangy flavor created by the just right blend of spicy and creamy. So, we asked ourselves “What’s next?” How do we let Side of S’Awesome supporters know that we’re all in? Well, staying true to the Wendy’s Way, we thought we’d give you the behind the scenes story. S’Awesome fans, meet our new S’Awesome Bacon Classic Cheeseburger – we thought you two might get along.

How did the product surface?

S’Awesome Bacon Classic was inspired by a few members from our marketing and hamburger teams during a restaurant visit. We’d recently launched Chicken Tenders, along with our new Side of S’Awesome Sauce, and the hamburger team member wondered what the sauce would taste like on our fresh, never frozen beef. So, he swapped it for his regular mustard and ketchup. It was so good that the others had to try it too. Knowing we were on to something, the team added bacon (because bacon makes everything more delicious) and voila! You have a S’Awesome Bacon Classic.

Around this same time, we also saw a Tweet from a customer and S’Awesome fan named Brandon asking for the Side of S’Awesome on a burger. That confirmed it - we had to launch our S’Awesome Bacon Classic! Our customer always comes first, so this was a fun, unique opportunity to us to build a 1:1 connection and bring him (and the rest of country) the hamburger he asked for. We even featured Brandon’s Tweet in our TV commercials to celebrate.

We’re always looking for the next delicious idea and one of the best places to find it is from consumers. As our TV spot says, good things really can come to those who Tweet.

What was it like taking it from ideation to execution?

This is my first time launching a national limited-time offer, so it’s been quite an experience for me! As an Associate Brand Manager you really touch every part of the process along the way, from ideation to execution. We always start any new menu item by with sharing them with our customers to get their take on it --- and, importantly, make sure they like it. Since we had already received requests for it, we had a good feeling about this one. Then, we work with our operations and supply chain partners to ensure we are able to execute in the restaurants. Once we nail those aspects down, we get to work on all the creative (TV ad, radio spots, and social media posts) – that help us share the news of this cheeseburger and plan the launch across the country. 

What’s your favorite part of launching a new product?

There’s nothing quite like seeing your product come to life in about 6,000 restaurants, but the best part is definitely the reaction from our customers. It’s incredibly gratifying to see people enjoying it and talking about it on Twitter and Facebook. Our goal is to create a fun, delicious experience for our customers to enjoy. There’s nothing better than seeing that come to life.

What makes this product special, and why should people try it? What makes S’Awesome so awesome?

This product is so unique. It’s unlike anything else we have on our menu. It has the best of both worlds- fresh produce AND three strips of Applewood smoked bacon. I mean, who doesn’t love bacon? On top of that, we added our sweet, smoky, tangy sauce to truly give it a one of kind flavor. I guess you could say it’s the best of three worlds – produce, bacon, and flavorful sauce!

* Fresh beef available in the contiguous U.S., Alaska and Canada. At participating Wendy’s for a limited time.