Krystal Company was among the earliest of fast-food chains to adopt social-networking sites. Now, nearly three years later, other chains are catching up. Krystal's marketing team is determined to remain ahead of the curve by focusing the sites' visitors on its menu rather than its image.

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Though not for long, Wahl insists. Within the next 12 months, the 381-unit burger chain will have executed a new plan that will put it back on top. Although he won't share full details citing the competitive nature of the business, he says the interactive strategy focuses more on Krystal's menu and less on the brand itself. “Products are still the No. 1 reason people choose the brand,” he says.

Krystal gives customers plenty of opportunity to interact. Its Web presence includes pages on Facebook and MySpace and a company-run video site called thebigredcouch.com. The brand's own Web site, krystal.com, directs visitors to a variety of micro-sites in which they can talk with each other.

That effort alone puts the 76-year-old private company well beyond those of most restaurant chains, whose Web sites typically consist of history, menu, locations, store, and franchise and/or investor information.

Not that such information isn't useful, Wahl acknowledges. Krystal's Web site includes similar information—only you have to click a button labeled “corporate” to reach it. Otherwise, the home page allows visitors to click through to sites that encourage interaction. “As a marketing person my No. 1 objective is to engage the consumer with the brand and give them a reason to choose it over another brand,” Wahl says.

Wahl and Senior Marketing Coordinator Tiffany Rosenberger have themselves been engaged in Web activity since early 2006 when they launched Krystal Lovers Lounge, a member forum where people can, for instance, post messages about all things Krystal (“the fries are somewhat good, but they could use some more salt!”) or watch and rate commercials.

Since then, the chain has also posted profiles on social-networking sites Facebook and MySpace and updates them regularly. In September, for example, both sites were touting the “Krystal Square-off,” a hamburger-eating contest the chain sponsors. Krystal's MySpace page lists some 1,800 friends and contains nearly 200 comments, many about the food. “I got off the plane in Knoxville from Milwaukee and headed straight to the Krystal, it's my first stop every time I visit home,” noted “Judd.”

“I love [Krystal's] page,” declares Internet marketing specialist Randy Lopez, chief marketing officer for G&M Plumbing, an ad agency in Manhattan Beach, Calif. “Their fans are utilizing it, it shows the brand, and it's really a conversation. Social media is where [the industry] is headed.”

“We didn't do a promotion, saying whoever comes up with the best name wins. That's too old school for us,” Wahl says. Says Rosenberger: “You don't have to dangle a carrot in front of people. They want to engage.”

Initially keeping people glued to their Web site was the goal, but broadband technology, which allows rapid page views, worked against them. Today, instead of measuring length of time spent on any one page, Wahl and Rosenberger gauge combined page impressions on four of the six Web sites. “The way consumers use Web sites has changed. They want to be bombarded with many types of interaction,” Wahl says.

Thebigredcouch.com gives customers a chance to mug on camera (and say nice things about Krystal). The chain recently began lurking on Twitter.com to learn what people are saying about the company. “It is very valuable information,” says Senior Marketing Coordinator Tiffany Rosenberger.

Rosenberger has been impressed with the interaction among consumers on Amazon's Web sites, which encourage people to rate products. “What they like and don't like,” she says. “I like that model. I want to put our food in more of a key role on social-networking sites. We've found that people want to talk about our food.”

The marketers know this because they monitor Web sites their visitors come from, and they look at what people say about the brand elsewhere. One site that has attracted attention is Twitter.com, a social-networking site in which users send and read other users' short, text-based posts. A recent Twitter search for “krystal” turned up dozens of product-related comments.

Wahl and Rosenberger believe organizing interactivity around their menu will put them ahead of competitors. “It's getting to people who want to talk about dessert items or big burgers or kid's meals,” Wahl says. “I want to get them talking more about individual products and less about the overall experience with the brand.”