Building a super campaign
Alex Minton (BBA '19) loves and always has loved Taco Bell. When he stepped foot on campus, he made it his goal to work for the restaurant chain. Five years later, Minton is working at his favorite company, where he helped to build a campaign around the biggest night in American commercialism.
Landing the dream job
Minton's Taco Bell aspirations were clear from his first classes at Quinlan. In an introduction to marketing course with Professor Jenna Drenten, he introduced himself to the class with an order from Taco Bell, which earned him the nickname "Taco Bell guy."
"I got a bag, I printed out a receipt, I made facts about myself," Minton said.
Minton was relentless in his time at Loyola. He pushed himself, always looking for the next internship, putting himself out for the next connection.
"I was that hungry undergrad that interned every semester because I always wanted to try something new and wanted to make sure I made the right decision when I graduated," Minton said.
Upon graduation, Minton worked for a marketing agency where he continued to grow his professional network. When the opportunity at Taco Bell came around, he was ready.
His love for the restaurant goes beyond his favorite order (chicken quesadilla, cheesy gordita crunch with a side of potatoes). For Minton, it's being part of one of the most prolific brands in the country
"I wanted to be with an industry that's really defining culture, and fast food is something that is just ingrained with American culture," Minton said.
Soon, he would be working to make a splash for the NFL championship game.
Project "BAMP"
In fall 2022, Minton was invited to an end-of-day meeting with the title of "Project BAMP." As the details of the campaign unfolded, Minton learned he would be part of Taco Bell's big game media push behind a product called the "Big Ass Mexican Pizza."
The purpose was to get the limited product, which was four times larger than Taco Bell’s regular Mexican Pizza, in the hands of celebrities and influencers to steal share from other pizza restaurants. A lucky few of Taco Bell's biggest fans, members of their top-tier loyalty system, were selected to receive the pizza as well.
Minton says the biggest challenge was cross-functional communication: that is, keeping everyone on the same track to make the campaign work.
"My team, Taco Bell Creative, was responsible for the creative vision," Minton said. "But we partnered with the digital brand marketing team, the community team, food innovation, production companies.... We had a weekly status update and you had to balance it all.
Minton helped to balance several goals from look and feel to packaging to swag items.
"It was a massive amount of work in a really short amount of time," Minton said.
Producing as a team
Throughout the experience, Minton pushed through by counting not only on himself, but on his team to accomplish their goals.
"It's cheesy to say, but there is no "I" in team," Minton said. "At Taco Bell, everybody leaned in to deliver on the final result. Everybody was so energized by the product and the potential, and it was a risk.
Minton says their campaign received more than 2 billion impressions and was featured in more than 500 articles. The massive result left an impression on him and is helping him pursue future projects. It’s something he passed on when he spoke to one of Drenten's graduate classes.
"To the students who are thinking about their dream company, the power of manifestation is real," Minton said. "Everybody who knows me knows I could eat, sleep, breathe Taco Bell. I made it known this was a company I was interested in, so when the opportunity came I wasn't nervous. I was meant to be here, but it wouldn't happen if I didn't make it happen."
