Restaurant chain Krystal Co. is tapping into the consumer-generated content craze by launching its own Web-based reality series. And the company is searching for a few college students to fill the starring roles.
The company is out with a new promotion that asks students to make three- to five-minute audition videos that show the fun and drama of college life and friends, a theme that will be carried over into the reality series.
The goal? To engage more customers with the brand.
“Our customer is very unique,” Howard Curtis, director of new media for Krystal said. “We have a cult-like following in that every Krystal customer has a story. We are just giving them a venue or medium to tell their story.”
The selected group will shoot, direct and produce the series, which will air on Krystal.com and another branded Web site this fall. In addition, the group will receive a video camera, a MacBook computer, software to produce the show and a $500 Krystal gift card, and be featured in TV commercial for the brand.
The series will be “completely consumer generated and directed with students’ vision in mind,” Curtis said.
Submission guidelines are available on Krystal’s homepage or by sending a text message with shortcode KLIFE to 30364. The promotion officially begins June 4, but submissions have already started coming in, Curtis said.
Krystal will work with students and facility at colleges and universities, including the University of Georgia, University of Alabama and the University of Memphis, to spread the word about the campaign. PR, and TV and radio spots will also support the promotion.
The promotion is Krystal’s latest effort to feature real people in its marketing. The company shows customers in TV spots and on its product packaging. The brand also selects 20 of its most passionate customers each year and inducts them into the Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame. Each inductee’s likeness is featured on packaging and quotes that describe their passion for the brand.
The reality-based series gives fans a whole new way to express themselves through the brand.
“We are taking things a step further in a relevant way, which our core demographic, 18- to 24-year-olds, are using today,” Curtis said.
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