After Denny's ran a 30-second spot during Super Bowl XLIII offering free Grand Slam breakfasts, 2 million showed up to collect. But that's only half the marketing equation, says Mark Chmiel, evp, chief marketing and concept officer for Denny's. The architect of the Grand Slam Give-Away is equally focused on the customer experience inside the restaurant. A big part of that strategy is Denny's new video network, which features IndoorDIRECT's TheBITE network in 300 restaurants, with plans to expand to all 1,500 locations.
Given the current economy, how do you think differently about your marketing priorities? Getting people into Denny's, or getting them to linger longer? We all talk value, value and value. And we've seen a new phenomenon. Our consumer research reveals it's not just value, but also specific price points. It's not just [how to] create wonderful value, but hit specific price points without cheapening the brand. In our case, getting them to a Denny's was what was behind our Super Bowl offer. We felt we had to disrupt the marketplace. We felt the consumer had to be jolted to come in and experience a new Denny's.
How has Denny's advertising mix changed? In the last 18 months, we have changed our mix. But it wasn't because of the economy. We felt it important to have different and deeper relationships. So we started to look at large digital platforms like AOL and social networks.
You recently began rolling out a DOOH network in 300 Denny's. What was your thinking behind that strategy? We looked at it as a vehicle to upsell product like our new Rockstar Menu and enhance the guest experience.
What sort of results have you seen so far? We found the consumers liked the overall experience better. They also enjoy learning about other products that they may want to consider. We sold more product and we had an increase in [customers] ordering the products that were featured on the network.
Who advertises on the network? [IndoorDIRECT] allots us a certain number of minutes per hour [six minutes an hour during the day, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and 30 minutes an hour at night, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.] to push our products. They are also selling the network to advertisers. One of the participating advertisers is Coca-Cola, one of our major suppliers. The advertising helps offset the cost of the network. But in the end, it's all about a better guest experience, increasing sales and increasing revenue share.
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