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 Company: Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, Carrollton, Texas
Entry Submitted By: DFPR
Company Description: Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent company of TGI Friday's Inc., is a privately held company owned by Minneapolis-based Carlson, a world leader in the hospitality, travel and marketing industries. As of February 2008, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide owns, operates, franchises and licenses more than 1,000 restaurants in 60 countries.
Nomination Category: Marketing Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Marketing Campaign
Nomination Title: T.G.I. Friday's USA Right Portion, Right Price Marketing Campaign
- Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2007 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
In the second half of 2006 and early 2007, the casual dining industry
found itself in an unprecedented slump. The category leaders were struggling
in a tough economy and, according to restaurant industry specialists, were
finding it impossible to differentiate themselves.
Consumers were speaking. According to a study by Restaurants &
Institutions magazine, 51% of consumers and 63% of women said that portion
sizes were too big. T.G.I. Friday’s, the original casual dining restaurant
chain, decided to give its guests what they were seeking and became first
national casual dining chain to introduce smaller portions at lower prices
across the menu all day, every day.
Scott Randolph led a seasoned culinary team in creating innovative menu
items for the highly successful, brand differentiating platform. His research
and development led to an original flavoring system that enabled his team to
introduce a new set of offerings that would include serving new items like
cedar-seared salmon and other smaller items. The idea was to tempt guests to
try new flavor profiles with entrées 30% smaller on average than the category
norm for 2/3 of the cost. This group of ten entrées comprised the Right
Portion, Right Price menu.
The great idea was supported with exceptional marketing. The concept was
introduced with three flights of national television advertising, a first in
the 42-year history of T.G.I. Friday’s. Rebecca Sieg directed the award-
winning publicity campaign, which led to increased guest counts in excess of
the casual dining industry index. This was especially notable given the down
economic environment, which affected the entire restaurant business.
In addition to generating buzz via advertising, the team’s objective was
to elevate the brand through positive publicity, which would be measured
through broadcast and print media coverage coast to coast. Amy Freshwater was
charged with seeking influential journalists to carry the message to consumers.
Freshwater managed the publicity and media relations effort and secured
557 broadcast hits covering all 210 designated market areas and reached over
64 million viewers via broadcast outlets, including a full seven-minute
segment on ABC’s Nightline and a CNBC interview with Friday’s top executive to
discuss the success of RPRP. It also reached over 150 million readers via
print and online vehicles and was featured prominently in section cover
stories in USA Today, the New York Times and the top industry trade
publication, Nation’s Restaurant News.
To complement outreach efforts, Friday’s created a special section on its
online Media Room for journalists. Freshwater’s team created a RPRP multimedia
news release which would accommodate most basic media requests. By leveraging
technology to create a virtual press kit, Friday’s was able to get reporters
what they needed reactively without compromising its proactive outreach
efforts, which included an additional 1300 telephone and email pitches to
targeted business and consumer press, including 525 individual food/restaurant
writers.
What began as a closely watched “experiment” in the industry was
determined to be a wildly successful marketing initiative and helped Friday’s
establish a position of leadership for portion choices, a position they
haven’t relinquished.
Said Malcolm Knapp, the industry analyst for whom Knapp Track, the casual
dining index, is named: “It’s quite significant. It really moved them up and
put them in a much better position than they had been.”
- List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://fridays.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=news
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3015921&page=1
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=3015921&page=2
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-03-01-healthy-usat_x.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/yourmoney/25bite.html?
r=1&ei=5070&en=ed8bf514faef293b&ex=1178856000&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1178713634-
B46JRyBfV4+2JZqZDSQEpg&oref=slogin
http://fridays.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=102
- Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:
Amy Freshwater directs all aspects of executive communications, corporate
communication, including developing and executing a long-term strategic
communication plan, public relations and crisis management for the 1000-unit
restaurant company. Rebecca Sieg has responsibility for all aspects of brand
marketing and advertising for the 604-unit T.G.I. Friday’s USA brand. Scott
Randolph is responsible for the development of the T.G.I. Friday’s U.S.A. food
strategy and his team developed the ten entrées that comprise the Right
Portion, Right Price menu.
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