Restaurant chain throws virtual Comic-Con afterparty to boost engagement

Traction-gaining features included a "go-to QSR for late-night munchies", activated on Discord with a total of 5,560 members during the first 24 hours

Spotted:  For the second consecutive year, San Diego Comic-Con had to take place virtually due to COVID-19. With such digitalisation, brands looked for ways to expand their platforms and engage with pop culture obsessives. 

Californian fast-food chain Jack in the Box was particularly successful, with a total of 5,560 members on Discord during the first 24 hours of their “Jacks’ late Night Discord”. That is greater than five times the platform’s usual 7,664 users across the entire weekend, the brand says.  

Discord is an instant messaging and communication platform that first launched in 2015 and has vastly grown in popularity during the pandemic. According to Marketing Dive, monthly active users have almost tripled since 2019 to 150 million. 

Features included a “go-to QSR for late-night munchies,” that was activated on Discord, along with a concert, interactive channels dedicated to Funko Pop figures and an NFT auction.  

“We wanted to ensure Jack in the Box was taking an authentic approach to owning late night and building equity with gamers and comic book fans with a culture first approach,” Jack in the Box CMO Ryan Ostrom says, adding that Discord was the perfect platform to host their digital after party as it enabled them to create a personalized approach in engaging with their communities.  

The brand says that the event generated over 27,000 messages, and after a tweet announcing a virtual concert with the superhero-themed band The Aquabats, Jack in the box gained two hundred new members. Based on the number of members, it now comes second as the biggest branded community within Discord. 

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