Dive Brief:
- Denny's has launched a nationwide "See You at Denny's" campaign designed to entice diners to check out the brand's fresh makeover, which includes remodels at 80% of its stores and a menu overhaul, according to a company press release.
- The company has invested in creating more comfortable dining space, using higher quality ingredients and has maintained its focus on diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives, Chief Brand Officer John Dillon said in a statement.
- Some of the multimedia marketing efforts include commercials targeting African-American and Hispanic diners. Ads, which were created with partners EP+Co, Conill and Fluent360, will run on TV as well as popular digital streaming platforms like Hulu, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Vevo.
Dive Insight:
Denny's is trying to shake its image as an antiquated diner of days' past by giving its restaurant locations and menus a makeover. It’s taken a multi-part approach to enticing diners particularly when it comes to millennials, adding online ordering and delivery. This demographic is a key driver for sales, with millennials being three times as likely to order food than older generations. It's not surprising that so many chains are gearing their efforts towards making millennials happy. The demographic tends to spend more on eating out than they put in their savings accounts.
The chain announced a plan last year to find more relevance among younger diners, which involves tapping popular partners like Hulu, Amazon and Pandora. Some of Denny's social media activity has also built notoriety among younger social media-obsessed generations like Gen Z.
The aggressive nationwide marketing campaign signals that Denny's is confident in the changes that it has made so far and ready to put its efforts to the test. This is a bold move considering that competitors like FirstWatch, Cracker Barrel and Bob Evans scored higher with millennials compared to Denny's and IHOP.
IHOP has made a few bold moves in its own right in an effort to woo millennials as well. It started expanding to nontraditional locations such as colleges and universities and testing order-and-pay technology in store. It also launched a location with a full bar.
For those who prefer to still dine-in, some of the restaurants' new features include wood floors and contemporary interior design instead of campy colors and outdated upholstery. Instead of being limited to mile-high stacks of pancakes, diners can choose from the restaurant’s Fit Fare items as well as fresh salads, sandwiches and soups.
Things appear to be working, too, considering that the new moves have garnered eight straight years of sales and growth. The company is making improvement efforts internally, too. Earlier this year, it tapped Magic Johnson to launch a Breakthrough Leadership Training and Development Program providing exclusive access to creative and interactive employee engagement curricula, leadership workshops, simulations, games and mobile learning and educational training videos.
