{"id":6805,"date":"2021-08-18T09:22:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T14:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=6805"},"modified":"2021-08-18T09:22:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T14:22:50","slug":"kwik-quip-uw-la-crosse-alum-is-the-witty-voice-behind-wisconsins-favorite-convenience-store","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/kwik-quip-uw-la-crosse-alum-is-the-witty-voice-behind-wisconsins-favorite-convenience-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Kwik quip: UW-La Crosse alum is the witty voice behind Wisconsin\u2019s favorite convenience store"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Paige Forde, \u201919, is the witty voice behind Kwik Trip\u2019s social media accounts. In recent years, Kwik Trip\u2019s brand has evolved into a symbol for the Midwestern way of life \u2014 in part thanks to effective use of marketing and social media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every time a rainbow appears over a Wisconsin town, the messages start rolling in.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love sending us photos of Kwik Trip at the end of a rainbow. We\u2019ll get about 50 of them,\u201d says Paige Forde, \u201919, a social media specialist for the La Crosse-based convenience store chain. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome to see people reaching out that way. The love we get from our followers is just crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kwik Trip has long been a convenience store of choice in Wisconsin, and it continues to make inroads in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. But over the past few years, the Kwik Trip brand has become something more \u2014 a symbol for the Midwestern way of life, an institution of which Wisconsinites are unusually proud and fiercely protective.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s in part thanks to Forde.<\/p>\n

She is the voice behind Kwik Trip\u2019s social media, which have garnered large and loyal followings on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0(600,000 likes),\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0(88,000 followers),\u00a0TikTok\u00a0<\/a>(76,000 followers) and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0(67,000 followers).<\/p>\n

\n
By giving Kwik Trip\u2019s social media accounts a new and engaging voice, Forde has helped grow the company\u2019s following on Facebook (600,000 likes), Instagram (88,000 followers), TikTok (76,000 followers) and Twitter (67,000 followers).<\/figcaption>
\"Photo
By giving Kwik Trip\u2019s social media accounts a new and engaging voice, Forde has helped grow the company\u2019s following on Facebook (600,000 likes), Instagram (88,000 followers), TikTok (76,000 followers) and Twitter (67,000 followers).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Three years ago, most of the company\u2019s posts were run-of-the-mill promotions \u2014 deals for eggs and butter, discounts on fuel.<\/figure>\n

<\/figure>\n
When Forde joined the team as an intern in January 2019, she met with her boss and fellow UWL alum, Kendra Nedegaard, \u201917, to rethink their strategy.<\/figure>\n

\u201cWe actually have the same sense of humor, and from there we just solidified the voice,\u201d Forde explains. \u201cWe started with Twitter \u2014 Wendy\u2019s kind of created the trend of brands being clever on Twitter \u2014 and then we took the Twitter voice and moved it to Instagram.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forde and Nedegaard worried that memes and sarcasm would be less effective on Facebook, given the older audience.<\/p>\n

They started with a safe one. With a blizzard in the forecast, they posted a meme of Luke Skywalker riding a Tauntaun through the snow with the caption: \u201cI\u2019m going to Kwik Trip. Need anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just took off,\u201d Forde remembers. \u201cWe had this huge follower bump.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the months that followed, she posted more memes and pop culture references ranging from \u201cThe Office\u201d to \u201cThe Avengers\u201d to \u201cForrest Gump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some poked fun at rival gas stations.<\/p>\n

Some alluded to Midwestern peculiarities such as long goodbyes and an obsession with camo.<\/p>\n

Many paid homage to Kwik Trip\u2019s signature items: glazers, cheesy breadsticks and Nature\u2019s Touch milk and ice cream.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still doing the same promotions,\u201d Forde says. \u201cWe\u2019re just doing it in a fun, clever way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foundation of Forde\u2019s social media approach was laid at UWL.<\/p>\n

After considering degrees in biology and teaching, she changed her major to\u00a0marketing<\/a>\u00a0and was immediately hooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved UWL and all my professors \u2014\u00a0Ken Graham<\/a>,\u00a0Gwen Achenreiner<\/a>, Stephen Brokaw,\u201d says Forde, noting that lessons on social media advertising and celebrity endorsements were particularly impactful. \u201cBrokaw\u2019s lectures were just mind-blowing. I\u2019d get out of class, and my brain would just be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forde is somewhat of a contradiction: She says she\u2019s not particularly interesting on her personal social media, yet she feels right at home speaking for Kwik Trip \u2014 even if it means stepping in front of the camera.<\/p>\n

Examples can be found on TikTok, where Forde gives followers not just a steady stream of memes and jokes, but also a peek inside her work with the company.<\/p>\n

In one video, she ventures from her cubicle to the \u201cKwik Trip inside Kwik Trip\u201d \u2014 a fully stocked store inside company headquarters.<\/p>\n

In another, she takes an intern, Hunter, on a surprise tour of the company\u2019s legendary banana-ripening facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of my job is the variety,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I show up in the morning, I never know what we\u2019ll have to hop on, what trends we\u2019ll have to do. Every day is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u2019s reverence for Kwik Trip seems to know no bounds.<\/p>\n

Brides and grooms do Kwik Trip photoshoots on their wedding day. Once, an entire wedding party took pictures in a Kwik Trip beer cave.<\/p>\n

People buy Kwik Trip-themed merchandise: shirts, hats, sandals and baby clothes. Even underwear.<\/p>\n

On social media, customers engage in good-natured battles with other convenience store chains, defending Kwik Trip at every turn.<\/p>\n

One man, Brent Erdmann of New London, is so fond of Kwik Trip he visited 615 unique locations in 2020 \u2014 an unofficial but almost certain record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Kwik Trip has tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans, including Brent Erdmann of New London, who visited 615 unique Kwik Trip locations in 2020. \u201cThe love we get from our followers is just crazy,\u201d Forde says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photo
Kwik Trip has tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans, including Brent Erdmann of New London, who visited 615 unique Kwik Trip locations in 2020. \u201cThe love we get from our followers is just crazy,\u201d Forde says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Forde admits there is an unknown quality about Wisconsin\u2019s infatuation with Kwik Trip.<\/p>\n

It seems odd, in theory, that a convenience store would inspire this level of passion. It\u2019s utilitarian by nature \u2014 a place to fill your gas tank on the way to work and pick up a few groceries on the way back home.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n

A relationship with a convenience store is the simplest kind of love. It is never complicated or messy, and it is always there when you need it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt becomes a part of people\u2019s lives and routines,\u201d Forde says. \u201cI mean, if you want to get a quick snack on your wedding day, where else are you going to go?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every time a rainbow appears over a Wisconsin town, the messages start rolling in. \u201cPeople love sending us photos of Kwik Trip at the end of a rainbow. We\u2019ll get about 50 of them,\u201d says Paige Forde, \u201919, a social media specialist for the La Crosse-based convenience store chain. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome to see people reaching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-6805","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/6805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=6805"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=6805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}