My wife loves Panda Express and she loves their orange chicken. Conveniently, we have two Panda Express restaurants less than 10 minutes from our home.
In case you aren’t familiar with their brand, they are a cafeteria-style Chinese restaurant that bills itself as using fresh ingredients. It is relatively inexpensive and quick, and they are using content marketing to sell their food. Not only that, but they are giving away exactly how they make their signature dish. They produced and published a cooking video, explaining how you can make their orange chicken at home. Wait, what? They are telling you how not to buy their product?
Yes, and it is effective content marketing.
As much as my wife loves Panda Express, I would rather whip up some dinner at home. So, I often try and find copycat recipes I can make. I was estatic when I realized Panda Express gave away their secrets in a three-minute video. This isn’t a copycat recipe – this is the real deal. And it is marketing genius. The video underscore the Panda Express claim of using fresh ingredients, and you see how many steps are involved in making orange chicken. Suddenly, you are craving orange chicken and $8.99 for a plate of orange chicken and rice seems pretty reasonable.
I am probably going to try the recipe because I like to cook and I like the challenge. But, we will still mostly go get carryout.
Panda Express nailed content marekting. It is sharing their expertise with you in a helpful way. You can take their video and make their signature dish, at home. But, odds are, they are going to sell a lot more orange chicken than before because people appreciate it and see the value.
Watch the video below? Are you going to make it or buy it (sounds like the start of a new reality TV show on Food Network)?