Schlotzsky’s
Integrated promotion a winner for Schlotzsky’s
Situation:
International franchise restaurant chain Schlotzsky’s had launched a loyalty program early last year called the Schlotzsky’s Bun and Fun club. However, preliminary attempts to gather customers’ e-mail addresses — via direct mail and in-restaurant registration boxes — didn’t produce the strong results the company had hoped for.
The Bun and Fun Club “is a great way to communicate with loyal customers and get them into the restaurants more often,” says Michelle Bythewood, director of national marketing programs for thechain. This is why, Bythewood says, she wanted to find a way to encourage more customers to sign up for the program.
Approach:
Schlotzsky’s teamed up with Promotional Resources Group, which suggested the restaurant try a sweepstakes, with both online and offline components, that would provide a unique tinted game piece to any one making a purchase.
Players then visited the sweepstakes Web site, submitted their personal profiles, entered the codes from their game pieces and held up the game pieces to the screen in order to find out if they’d won.
“A lot of our restaurants have computers in them and customers were going to the terminals, logging on and winning,” Bythewood says. “This created a lot of buzz right there in the restaurants.”
The Winning Combination Game promotion ran from June through August. In addition to a chance to win a grand prize of $25,000 a year for life, players were also eligible for a $10,000 sweepstakes drawing and 25 prizes of $25 per day.
Results:
The game was played more than 750,000 times, resulting in the addition of more than 372,000 new names to Schlotzsky’s marketing database.
Also, a 6%-7% increase in unit sales during the traditionally slow summer months made this the brand’s most successful summer promotion in the past several years.
“The key to success is doing something outside the box and getting your customers involved,” Bythewood says.
-Chantal Todé
Range Rover
Mobile efforts target drivers
Approach: In November, Land Rover partnered with direct services company MEC Interaction to drive sales for the Range Rover Sport. The two-month mobile campaign targeted users of smartphones. Banner ads on sports, news and weather sites prompted consumers to type in their ZIP codes. The ad expanded into a Google Map with nearby Range Rover dealerships marked. Users then had the option to dial the dealer directly for a test drive after clicking on the location.
Results: The campaign garnered more than 68,000 clicks on the banner ad. Because of its success, Range Rover now has a separate budget for mobile marketing.
-Mary Hurn
Emkay
Leads roll in with wheel chart
Approach: Emkay, a fleet leasing and management company, wanted to encourage clients to compare upcoming fleet renewal options. The company tapped American Slide Chart to create The Element Emkay Fleet Reference Wheel, a comprehensive wheel chart condensing multiple selling points into an easy-to-use format. Emkay mailed the wheel to 7,000 existing clients last spring and used 2,000 as door-openers with prospects.
Results: Up to 40% more prospects who received the wheel chart scheduled appointments compared to previous efforts.
–Nathan Golia
Privateview
Patrick Fultz, president and creative director, DM Creative Group
Win $25,000 for life — a definite attention getter — but the Schlotzsky’s game card does the offer a disservice. The copy is difficult to read over the background, the font choices look like bland Helvetica and the brand seems buried. Using smartphones as an advertising platform by connecting the fun of Google Maps with finding a Range Rover dealer is wonderfully interactive. Plus, Land Rover was able to create a simple mini ad to view on smart phones that generated a terrific response. Get people to interact with your marketing piece and you’ve got a winner. Emkay took this idea to another level by creating an easy way for clients to review complicated information in a fast and fun way via a wheel chart.
