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On Wednesday, August 26, 2009, Sonic opened its first store in Massachusetts. Until then, the nearest Sonic had been 150 miles away in Kingston, NY. But for some reason it never stopped them from airing their commercials in the Boston area over the past few years. It always seemed like a questionable tactic -- lazy even -- to run ads in a market where your product doesn't even exist.  But then Sonic finally came to Massachusetts, and the customers came in droves. I was among them.

Going against everything I generally avoid -- fast food, chain restaurants, driving, suburbia -- I made a pilgrimmage to the Sonic in Peabody, MA. We went on Saturday, and despite being a few days late to the party, we found a long line of cars, with traffic re-routed to accomodate the rush, and waited for over an hour for the chance to eat fast food delivered to our car by servers on roller skates.

The line of cars felt like a tailgate, with people chanting and joking with other folks in the car line. As cars left Sonic, having triumphantly received their meal, they yelled to the people still waiting, "It's totally worth it!" without a hint of sarcasm. The line weaved past an empty Wendy's parking lot. We even sent someone in there to get some chicken nuggets for us while we waited in the Sonic line, knowing there would be no wait.

Eventually, we got our food, which I would rate as adequate. But it was the buzz that Sonic managed to generate that qualified their Massachusetts opening as a success. Here are my takeaways from the day.

TV advertising still works. Sonic's successful opening went contrary to all the talk that TV advertising is dying. Not only did their TV ads serve as the primary way to build the Sonic brand, they managed to drum up interest in a region where their product didn't even exist yet. Instead of frustrating consumers, it just got them more excited. It's a testament to an engaging brand.

People flock to experiences. Sonic is unique to any type of fast food experience that this region has.  When it comes down to it, the food isn't particularly unusual, but the menu (i.e. Tater Tots, Ocean Water) and drive-in restaurant experience is. People knew Sonic well enough to feel like they would be missing out on something by not going. And, like a good movie, they wanted to be in on the conversation.

Word of mouth trumps social media marketing. I had heard months ago via Facebook status updates that a Sonic would be opening, and that's how I heard it had officially opened as well. Until I started writing this post, I didn't even realize Sonic had a Facebook fan page (although I'm not surprised). Had they rolled out a larger social media push, would it have really mattered? Some buzz just lives on its own.

It's nice to have people seek you out. When I heard Sonic had officially opened, I actually couldn't confirm it. A Google search didn't reveal any stories or news reports that the restaurant had opened its doors. The Sonic website didn't either, and no official address was available -- although I knew the general area it was located in. (The Facebook page I just found today had announced it, apparently). Yet, people found out where Sonic was and went. Although, I would recommend actually providing addresses of newly-opened locations on your website, Sonic must have been pretty happy they didn't have to.

My conclusion isn't anything radical. Sonic is a unique, branded experience, and it's part of their success. Don't do everything the way it's supposed to be done, and you have done something different. Seems like a pretty basic concept, but for a lot of brands, it's not.