Go Big or Go Home!

Nationally, Taco Bell has introduced breakfast to its menu as a way of adding a (hopefully) lucrative daypart to their business mix.  Frankly, Taco Bell for breakfast seems like a long shot.  Mexican isn't necessarily the first food type that you think of for breakfast ... and McDonald's is very well entrenched with its breakfast line and substantial breakfast advertising budget. 

So, I understand the trepidation Taco Bell operators may feel about introducing a breakfast line.  Be that as it may, I've always believed that you don't do things "half way."  Go big, or go home.

Unfortunately the operators in Hawaii have chosen to "kinda" introduce breakfast.  They just ran a full page newspaper ad.  The problem:  They only introduced breakfast into "selected" stores.  The problem for the consumer is that breakfast at Taco Bell can't just be a spontaneous decision ... "I'll pop into a Taco Bell for breakfast."  They have to know which units offer breakfast.  For the operators, this means that they can't really advertise breakfast, because it isn't offered at all their locations.  My guess is that this will not end well. 

By the way, the ad lists the Taco Bell units that offer breakfast, but they aren't in alphabetical order.  My guess is that they are probably listed by the store number.  So if I want to know if a particular restaurant has breakfast, I have to really read through the list.

The operators of Taco Bell in Hawaii also manage the Pizza Hut restaurants ... and in the past they did the same thing for lunch pizza buffet.  It is only offered in some stores ... and it isn't advertised.  And it isn't doing well. 

Compromises in marketing are seldom a good idea.  Go big or go home.