After El Pollo Loco was featured in an episode of “The Apprentice” last year, I interviewed president and chief executive Stephen Carley about the topic of product placement. I asked whether product...
Boudin Bakery didn’t realize how well it would benefit from a fundraiser while also helping the charity involved until the first such event was held, for the opening of a new Boudin SF fast-casual branch in Stockton...
When Denny’s was developing its new Allnighter menu, consumers were not just invited into the chain’s test kitchen to help the culinary team develop late-night dishes, they were brought in under the cloak...
Back in the Dark Ages—by that I mean the 1980s—marketers were agog over the potential to expand their range of consumer targeting through the use of that new medium called the facsimile machine.Restaurants could fax...
This is the fourth in a series of seven articles exploring the growth cycles of some of the industry’s hottest concepts. Each story looks at a different facet of the evolution of emerging chains, from conception to...
One of the most memorable scenes in Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story” occurs when Ralph Parker uses his Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring to unscramble Annie’s message to her loyal fans.Ralph anxiously prints...
Restaurants seeking to find different ways to target consumers inevitably turn to new media, but a few chains have hit the road to reach consumers with an old standby: delivery service. Offering delivery...
ATLANTA —In a clear sign that nontraditional media are playing a larger role in the marketing efforts of major restaurant chains, Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. recently...
