When Mr. Brooks, owner of 10 Qdoba restaurants, noticed that Dan Bylsma had become a regular visitor at one of his restaurants, he decided to capitalize on the situation. Dan Bylsma, the Penguins coach, had a superstition to come into Qdoba to enjoy a BBQ pork burrito before every game to further his winning season. And of course, as the “magic burritos” were causing the Penguins to keep winning, many of the players also joined in on the ritual. When Chad Brooks called his advertising agency with the story, they immediately went to work to publicize the success of the Penguins through Qdoba. So a Facebook and Twitter page were launched that night, and within 3 days the page had over 1,000 fans all tweeting and posting comments on the wall. From all of this success, the media caught on, resulting in local TV news and radio coverage, along with ESPN.com, New York Times, and USA today all buzzing about the “Lucky Burrito Campaign”. Dan Bylsma played along, doing his part posing for pictures, taking part in TV interviews in the restaurant, and signing autographs for fans. Mr. Brooks’ rewards on this largely viral campaign were amazing: 20% same-store-sales gain during the two-week promotional window. Orders for “Coach Dan’s Burritos” were going through the roof; some stores had their biggest sales days ever during this promotion. This campaign did more than just deliver a profit, it resulted in major brand awareness, and a connection with the community and support of a home team, and it was all from advertising a local story on social networking sites.

http://adage.com/abstract.php?article_id=137441