A MySpace Web page and contest promising to play the music of select unsigned artists increased Internet buzz for the Tijuana Flats concept.

Betty’s Not A Vitamin, an alternative country rock band from Clearwater, Fla., was Tijuana Flats’ first contest winner. “We are really floored that Tijuana Flats chose us as the first new entree,” says band frontman Todd Staudinger.

The Rock Out with Your Guac Out Contest will feature one new band’s music each month.

The degree of viral feedback available on such sites means a marketer gives up the level of control available in traditional branding. While feedback and backlash is a possibility with any marketing effort, it is more likely on social networking Web sites. That, combined with the preponderance of college drinking photos that get linked to a page through “friends,” make MySpace a potentially successful tool for only a select group of marketers.

Maitland, Fla.-based Tijuana Flats Burrito Co. feels it is in that group. In July it launched a MySpace page as part of a yearlong music competition designed to find ways to connect with a young, Web-centric customer base.

The company has had its own Web site (www.tijuanaflats.com) for two years. It reflects the sassy, tongue-in-cheek charm of the restaurants, which are filled with lively music from classic rock to 1980s sounds. “People ask us all the time. 'What music this is?'” explains Ashley Montgomery, director of marketing and public relations for the chain.

Tijuana Flats considered adding a music player to the site, but it was outside the chain's modest budget. Licensing rights to play one well-known song for a year topped $50,000. That would have necessitated playing the same tunes over and over, which would not have driven repeat traffic to Tijuana Flats' site.

Brainstorming with PUSH, the Orlando, Fla.-based ad agency that has worked with Tijuana Flats since December 2003, the team came up with a way to give customers the new music they crave while capitalizing on the concept's irreverent, counterculture vibe—something Tijuana Flats has been known for since founder Brian Wheeler borrowed money from his parents to open the Tex-Mex joint in 1995 when he was a college student.

In July, Tijuana Flats launched the Rock Out with Your Guac Out contest, which solicited unsigned bands and singers to submit music that would be played on Tijuana Flats' MySpace page (www.myspace.com/tijuanaflatsburritoco).

The team was impressed by the 100 responses it received in July. It chooses a winner for every month for a year; the 12 winners each have three songs in rotation on the MySpace site for a month, with the first winner, Betty's Not a Vitamin, an alternative country rock band from Clearwater, Fla., featured in August 2007. The chain targets diners ages 18 to 49, both male and female, so it looked for music from every genre. Submissions ran the gamut from Irish to folk to reggae. Bands were instructed not to submit songs that used foul language, and upbeat music was preferred.

Other winners included Never Alone and Matt MacKelcan. A promotion such as this could have attracted amateur-ish music from wannabes surfing the Web. But despite the fact that all the entrants were unsigned musical groups, Tijuana Flats received very few poor-quality entries.

According to Tijuana Flats, wannabe musicians and Tex-Mex lovers who like cutting-edge music would be drawn to the site to see what was new, the MySpace format would allow others to spread the word, and site traffic would increase.

“We kept trying to figure out ways to get people to come back to the site and try to build repeat traffic,” says Chris Robb, chief creative officer for PUSH.

“MySpace is a good way to create an avenue for new bands,” Montgomery adds. Prior to the contest, the MySpace page only had about 15 “friends” (folks who link through MySpace), all of whom were employees. Now there are more than 250, including guests, fans of the bands, radio personalities and people who do not live close to a Tijuana Flats location. After adding a music player and the new music to the Tijuana Flats Web site, average daily traffic increased to 900 from 300.

In addition to being a good avenue for new bands, MySpace appears to be a good avenue for the chain. The 13-year-old chain projected 2007 systemwide sales at $55 million, up from $15 million in 2003. But Tijuana Flats still doesn't have serious funds to invest in marketing or advertising, with most of it earmarked for expansion. The 59-unit concept plans to add 20 new units in 2008.

While the chain has billboards and radio spots as part of other marketing efforts, there was virtually no expense in promoting Rock Out with Your Guac Out. “This is the first time we've gone underground,” Montgomery says. “We did not even make posters. It was all word of mouth.”

“That was the great thing about this. It was really cost effective,” Robb says.

The contest has been so successful that Tijuana Flats plans to begin another round this July. Robb says there are ways to integrate the contest into the chain's other marketing efforts. A compilation CD or even a concert might work to extend the idea in the future, when Tijuana Flats has a larger national presence and a bigger marketing budget.

Robb says Tijuana Flats may be able to continue to take advantage of more viral marketing efforts that may not work for more established chains.

“The thing people love about Tijuana Flats is that it does not feel like a chain. It feels more personal,” Robb says. “A lot of brands are doing things like this, but it is kind of tricky. If it is not right, it will not work. People can smell a fake, especially on the Web. It needs to be authentic. Some thingsprobably should not be on MySpace.”