Want to Be More Like Wendy's on Twitter? Here's What the Company's CMO Says to Do. Kurt Kane says just copying Wendy's voice won't cut it.

Wendy's is famous for its voice on social media. Remember when the company challenged Carter Wilkinson to set a Twitter record to win free chicken nuggets for a year? That one-tweet challenge went viral, generating news coverage and landing Wilkinson on Ellen Degeneres's couch.

From witty one liners to offering advice and homework help, Wendy's has established a social voice that is unlike any other brand. "More and more people have been discovering how we've been talking with people on Twitter, and so it's gotten bigger and bigger," Wendy's Chief Marketing Officer Kurt Kane told BIZ Experiences.

A true gentleman

— Wendy's (@Wendys) October 1, 2018

According to Kane, the marketing team at Wendy's decided around three years ago that they wanted the freedom to communicate how they wanted, especially through Twitter. "The biggest thing we decided was to stop advertising to people and to start having a conversation with people," Kane said.

Related: Wendy's Amazing Social Media Team Shares The Secrets to its Success

While it doesn't take itself too seriously on Twitter, what Wendy's does take seriously is the way it talks about its food, which was instilled into the brand by its founder, Dave Thomas. "That's when you tend to see us really step forward with a very competitive tone of voice," Kane said. "Not because we're fixated on our competitors but more because we're fixated on quality."

Your dignity

— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 4, 2017

He added, "Our reality is that we're in a unique position to be able to communicate with people because of our brand history and the fact that they tend to associate the Wendy's brand with real people, [such as Thomas and his daughter]," Kane said.

The restaurant doesn't have a last name, but the person it is named after is Wendy Thomas.

— Wendy's (@Wendys) October 1, 2018

So how can you be more like Wendy's on Twitter? Don't be like Wendy's. Kane said that a number of brands reach out to his team with questions about how they can be more like Wendy's on social media. "Our biggest advice to those brands has been they have to be themselves," he said. "You have to live your own brand truth. And to just try to act like Wendy's won't work."