PRSSA-LB get to “Live Más” at Taco Bell HQ

By Alexandre Torres, PRSSA-LB Ambassador

Photos by Myra Pimentel

PRSSA-LB members were treated to a tour of Taco Bell Headquarters in Irvine, CA on Friday, March 15. The tour included a look into Taco Bell’s daily operations that included a taste kitchen, an on-site multimedia room, and the glorious “fish bowl.”
Jacob Duarte, public relations and brand engagement coordinator and Jacqueline Cisneros, public relations coordinator at Taco Bell were our host and hostess for the morning. Students split up into two groups and ventured off into the everyday lives of Taco Bell employees. Themed elevators with sauce packets on the wall took us up to where the company comes up with their look from the exterior of the restaurants to their menu boards. The building hosts their own multi-media room where staff films interviews for a variety of social media projects.

Did I mention the test kitchen? Before releasing new menu items, Taco Bell gets the opinions of their employees by offering an assortment of products for tasting. Depending on the feedback, this will help decide whether the product stays or gets the ax.

PRSSA-LB members reconvened into the “fish bowl.” The fish bowl is Taco Bell’s situation room that tells them how they’re being perceived by the public. The fish bowl monitors positive and negative interaction by tracking Taco Bell key phrases such as “baja blast” or “locos taco,” for example. We tested this ourselves and long behold our tweets appeared on the massive monitors. The wall also included a heat map of the country. A state would turn dark blue when Taco Bell was heavily in the conversation.

Jacqueline was the president of her PRSSA chapter at Pepperdine University. Her insight and view on her profession was inspiring nonetheless. “PR is 24/7, it’s not a 9-to-5 deal. If you thrive on wanting to be on your toes a lot and love to be ‘on’ this is probably the right industry for you.” Of course to excel in any line of business you have to be the best version of yourself.
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“Make sure you are doing whatever you need to do to go 100% for yourself so you can go 100% at work,” she emphasized.