PRAIRIE DU SAC Wis. Culver’s is ready for its close-up.
The quick-service chain will debut its first-ever national TV commercial on Sunday during the red-carpet festivities of the Academy Awards.
The 60-second spot will debut during the E! entertainment channel’s preshow coverage of the Oscars. For the next few months, 30-second commercials will echo the campaign’s theme in the many spot markets throughout the Midwest, where most of Prairie du Sac-based Culver’s 395 units are located.
Culver’s makes the leap into the national TV spotlight at a time when a troubled economy has helped drive media-buying prices down. For instance, Panera Bread chairman and chief executive Ron Shaich told investors in a recent conference call that the bakery-cafe company would capitalize on lower media costs to increase advertising to help maintain its sales momentum.
Chris Contino, Culver’s vice president of marketing, called the Oscars “the Super Bowl for women,” making it the ideal event to reach the brand’s core audience, which skews toward females and families. The spots target employees and managers as much as existing customers, he said.
“Externally, this is to let the consumer know that Culver’s has a lot of confidence in what we’re doing and how we treat our customers as honored guests,” Contino said. “We’re not going to participate in this economic downturn.”
Internally, he added, the national spot is meant to boost morale among franchisees, some of whom don’t get to see TV spots in their home markets, such as Houston, which has only two Culver’s stores. From Feb. 23 on, the ads will continue only in spot markets.
MARC USA created the ads and did the media buying. MARC has been the agency of record for Culver’s $14 million ad budget for the past two years.
The spots humorously depict a slightly paranoid skeptic who is put off by the overly nice service he receives at a Culver’s restaurant. Because he thinks a cashier saying that it was “her pleasure” to serve him is a vicious lie, he spends the rest of the commercial spinning a conspiracy theory about how Culver’s friendly hospitality is a front for some nefarious ulterior plot.
The commercials’ focus on customer service is a continuation of an advertising theme the chain used last year, “Culverizing” Americans with friendly service.
“Anybody could put a picture of food on the TV,” Contino said. “But what they can’t show is the great service we have. The way we differentiate ourselves in QSR is that we provide hospitality nobody else can.”
To download and view one of the TV ads, click here.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].
