Family-dining restaurants typically succeed in catering to the whole family by developing expansive menus that bring people in at every daypart. But lately Spartanburg, S.C.-based Denny’s has been trying to excel at the much harder task of marketing to all the disparate age groups found in the majority of American families.
For senior citizens, one of Denny’s longtime core customer groups, the chain recently inked a deal with the AARP that gives members a 20-percent discount off their total bill any day from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., as well as $1 coffee any time. To court the grandchildren of AARP’s 40 million members, Denny’s continues to refine and promote its Allnighter menu, while going after Mom and Dad with social-media offers on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The 1,559-unit chain also has engineered a value proposition meant to appeal to everyone with the $2 $4 $6 $8 Value Menu, as well as its second Grand Slam Breakfast giveaway after the Super Bowl in early February.
John Dillon, vice president of marketing and product development, said speaking directly to different demographics doesn’t spread Denny’s too thin, but rather keeps the chain from loudly blasting an ineffective message that’s too general to grab the attention of any one customer.
Restaurants seem to want either to own their marketing niche or be all things to all people. How does Denny’s balance its messaging to target so many different customer groups?
It’s a necessary thing to do in this day and age. Thankfully, the evolution of marketing and the tools at our disposal make it easier to target some subgroups. We looked at data we’d done at segments critical to our business. Who comes to Denny’s now? Who are our passionate followers? Who could we grow more with? Based on that, how do we reach them more effectively?
There is always a need for TV. People want to see the food. Other tools such as social media or partnerships with fantastic partners like AARP help us tailor a message to customers that we don’t have to scream from the rooftops on national TV. We have had a longstanding strength with seniors. About 40 percent of our business is [customers] age 50 or older, so we had to be more relevant to that segment. At the same time, we as a brand have a need to balance staying useful or relevant to the other 60 percent. We don’t want to be the just 50-plus brand.
Does any demographic stand out as having the best marketing return on investment for Denny’s?
I wouldn’t say one stands out, because it depends on the program. We’re not cookie-cutting programs in a one-size approach. We understand what these groups want from Denny’s, and that’s where the ROI comes from.
Why launch the $2 $4 $6 $8 Value Menu now, when so many competitors want to move away from discounting?
We knew from research that overall there’s a segment of customers that needed us to be affordable on an everyday basis. Everybody’s hurting out there still, even though we see some positive trends. Any brand not relevant on affordability is going to leave some consumers behind. The question is how do you balance that with more premium-priced items and LTOs. Right now, Sizzlin’ Skillets are exceeding our expectations, and combine that with $2 $4 $6 $8 and some core menu news and targeted initiatives — these days, you have to hit multiple cylinders, and we’re doing that.
You also executed your second Grand Slam Breakfast giveaway after this year’s Super Bowl. What difficult expectations for Denny’s do those highly publicized giveaways set?
They don’t necessarily. The first year, we didn’t know what to expect as far as how many people would come in and the attention it would get. We got 2 million people and $50 million in public relations. Our operators executed extremely well. This year, in early February again, our operations were incredible. We got just a few more consumers in our restaurants the day of, and we executed flawlessly. Ninety-five percent of people had a great experience, and we grew our e-mail database by hundreds of thousands that day. We had a reason to do it, not just driving people in the day of, but also getting them to come back.
Headquarters: Spartanburg, S.C.
Market segment: family dining
No. of units: 1,559
U.S. systemwide sales: $2.16 billion, according to 2010 NRN Top 100 data
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected]