SPARTANBURG S.C. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
The Feb. 3 giveaway was aimed at luring back customers who had strayed from the brand by offering free Grand Slam breakfasts at all 1,500 stores systemwide. Mark Chmiel, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Denny’s, said initial proprietary data indicates that the promotion, which was advertised during the Super Bowl Feb. 1 and drew huge media attention, hit its target. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“Our preliminary reaction is that it was an overwhelming success that exceeded all of our benchmarks,” he said. “We’re looking at this on a couple of different levels. First, we had approximately 49 million visitors to our website, and 84 percent of people who visited [on giveaway day] said they were very satisfied with their experience. And almost 80 percent said they’d visit again within the next three months. A good percentage [of those customers] were lapsed users who had not been in for the last two or three months.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Chmiel noted that approximately 2 million free Grand Slam breakfasts were served during the one-day event and that traffic and same-store sales have risen since the day of the promotion. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
He declined to say by how much, however. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“In the two to three days following, we’ve seen continued positive guest counts and compstore sales,” he said. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Though the total cost of the promotion was about $5 million, including the company’s first-ever Super Bowl ad, Chmiel said he had no doubt the company would at least break even because of the huge jumps in traffic and the sales of add-ons, such as hash browns and beverages, which were not included in the free meal. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
The idea for the industry’s first nationwide full-meal freebie at a sit-down restaurant chain had been discussed on and off at Denny’s for about two years, Chmiel indicated. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
To pull the promotion off, Denny’s looked at the traffic, staffing and food costs for a typical Christmas day, which is its busiest day of the year, and then pared those statistics down to what would be needed for eight hours. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
The giveaway was held between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
The giveaway garnered so much coverage on television and in newspapers around the country, it was, Chmiel said, “the equivalent of $50 million in free public relations.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“We were on the cover of USA Today, on the news with Brian Williams and on news broadcasts in hundreds of local markets,” he added. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Mokena, Ill.-based franchisee Joey Allen Terrell is sure the promotion increased the brand’s profile and consumer awareness of it. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“You know, when you say the word ‘Whopper,’ everyone knows what brand you’re talking about,” he said. “But [before this] if you had said ‘Grand Slam,’ no one would really know. Now they do.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Brit Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, a consumer research firm based in Charleston, S.C., cautioned, however, that it would take some time to determine how successful the giveaway actually was. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“It was a clever marketing strategy, but sometimes these promotions get a lot of publicity and not much good will because the people who take advantage of it generally aren’t really your customers,” he said. “But these things work really well when you know you’re getting returning customers coming back to you because they’re saying, ‘Thank you.’ —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“We won’t know for three or four months it if really worked or not. It will take that long to know if they come back to eat at least once or twice. I’ve always said that in advertising clever never works, but sometimes it does.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
The giveaway appeared to be a bold operational move, particularly since the chain has experienced tough times in recent months. For the December-ended fourth quarter, Denny’s latest same-store sales fell 3.2 percent at corporate units and 7.2 percent at franchised locations. Its quarterly customer traffic counts fell 7.5 percent at corporate restaurants. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Breakfast, a growing daypart for much of the industry, has seen increased competition from both family-dining chains and quick-service brands. IHOP, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and even Jamba Juice have focused on breakfast through giveaways, intense marketing and new menu platforms. Denny’s, Chmiel said, is looking to “steal share” from those competitors by showcasing its speed of service, food quality and hospitality. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“Breakfast has been a very good market to be in, in the restaurant business,” said Harry Balzer, vice president of Chicago-based marketing research firm NPD Group. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Balzer said Denny’s, by “removing the economics from it, found a great way of bringing people through the doors.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“At this point in the economic upheaval we’re going through,” he said, “people are asking how they can moderate their food budgets. That’s of great importance to all consumers. It was good timing to offer free food when there is great concern abut the food budget.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Chmiel said: “Franchisee reaction to the promotion was overwhelming; they were very pleased. We are very strongly looking at repeating it or something like it.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Franchisee Terrell said that while he initially was worried about running the promotion at his two Chicago-area stores, he’s glad he did. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“Everyone was scared,” he said. “They were telling us to expect 1,000 people; we did close to 1,200 in eight hours. We were concerned we wouldn’t be able to handle it, but were surprised at how smoothly it went. People didn’t mind waiting—and it was very cold outside, close to 3 degrees. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“As the day went on we gave out rain check coupons we said we’d honor. The next day we got 80 of them and 40 more the day after. It went so well, and the customers were wonderful. We thought it was a real positive thing. It was a great idea and we’d love to do it again next year.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
Chmiel added that the chain’s executives also were overwhelmed by consumer response to the giveaway. —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
“They sent [e-mails] thanking us for giving them a free meal, especially in this economy,” he said. “One person wrote, ‘Thank you for giving America a big hug.’ Obviously, we did it for business reasons and consumer reasons, but we were really affected by this outpouring.” —Denny’s high-profile free-breakfast promotion earlier this month was a grand slam home run, according to executives and franchisees of the family-dining chain, who say they are considering either repeating the event or creating similar ones in the future.
