Taco Bell's CMO breaks down the secret to ensuring a brand's success with its fans

• Taco Bell CMO Taylor Montgomery told Business Insider why brands misstep with fans — and how to avoid it. • He said there are three ways to tune in: analytics, social media feedback, and focus groups. • Montgomery said he reads all the comments on specific YouTube videos to get a sense of what fans say.

Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer Taylor Montgomery believes if brands misstep with their fans, they probably aren't listening very well.

Surrounded by diehard fans who drove from all over Southern California to converge upon Taco Bell's Decades Y2K launch event on Thursday night in West Hollywood, Montgomery — dressed in an outfit plucked from the early aughts — reveled in the raucous support that stemmed from being "brave enough to hand the brand over to our fans and see what they