GoT Final Season: A True Cultural Moment for Brands

Every summer during the past 8 years, Sundays were marked as a holy day bringing friends and families together (or apart). We’re talking about Game of Thrones.

It’s become a household name, a conversation topic for both viewers and nonviewers, and with the finale this year, brands have gone all in to take advantage of this cultural moment. We’ve seen bigger plays such as Oreo’s limited-edition of insignias on the cookies and Mountain Dew temperature-triggered Arya’s kill list revealed, both receiving love all over social media. Starbucks unintentionally took part in this when a scene accidentally featured a Starbucks to-go cup in front of Emilia Clarke, resulting in about $2-3 billion in free advertising with #StarbucksCup uproar.

Over 100 brands have partnered to incorporate GoT in the consumer journey, from SuperBowl TV ads to packaging, and products and merch, and even tattoo designs.

What does this mean? It means that brands are taking “cultural moments” farther than traditional tentpole events, like the Oscars and Super Bowl. We’re not only looking for the next Super Bowl, but we are looking for the next Game of Thrones.

What does this mean for us? It means that it’s time to rethink the definition of “cultural moment”, as something that people are waiting for, rather as an opportunity to shape how people think such as the Curly fry moment.

Chipotle Offering Buy One, Get One Free Burritos for Teacher Appreciation Day

Chipotle celebrated National Teacher Appreciation Day post 3pm by giving away a free burrito, burrito bowl, salad, or order of tacos with the purchase of another menu item for teachers and school staff. It’s a buy-one-get-one free situation.

Releasing the following statement, Chipotle: “believes that cultivating a better world begins with education… Our annual Teacher’s Day BOGO is just one token of appreciation we have for all the educators across the nation.” Chipotle are not the only location that ran offers for the day, but they were the most compelling compared to other locations that offered discounts and/or add-ons which made them stand out amongst the competition.

How can Jack roadmap a promotional calendar based on supporting national celebrated moments, outside of LTO’s specifically?

A New Kind of ‘Drive Thru’

KFC Middle East is taking the experience of a ‘drive thru’ and replicating this within Social Media feeds. In the appearance of ad, a virtual window is rolled down to reveal a KFC employee who greets the guest (the person scrolling), and asks how he can assist them satisfy their KFC craving with suggestions of menu items available. Users can then swipe through and have the capability of ordering instantaneously.

Consumers online today are very smart, and are weary of ads interrupting their online experience. KFC has opted for a more engaging unit, rather than pure awareness assets such as video and static imagery which can often get scrolled past within a split second to combat this. They’ve also looked to bring delivery to a platform where consumers already are, rather than trying to direct them to another platform/app so the consumer can easily pick what he/she is craving and place an order without interrupting their online experience. We’ve seen Taco Bell recently create the first ‘ski thru’ drive-thru, KFC with an Instagram feed drive-thru, so what are we at Jack with the Drive-thru space given we were the real innovators (OG) of Drive-thru in the QSR space?

Papa Johns to Offer Tuition Reimbursement Program

Papa Johns announced a tuition reimbursement partnership with Purdue University Global encouraging all its 90,000 employees to pursue higher education. For employees to qualify, they must work at the company for at least 90 days and work a minimum of 20 hours a week.

Papa John’s boasts the ambition to be a career and not just a job, and is further investing in its staff so they can grow beyond an entry-level customer service position. The National Center of Educational Statistics released a study stating people with bachelor’s degrees have a median earning that was 57% higher than those who did not have a degree.

Customers’ brand sentiment is heavily impacted by the company’s willingness to give back to the community. Starting with “No Kid Hungry” or “Make-A-Wish”, Jack has so many opportunities to gain trust both as a brand and also on a local level.

Burger King Trolls KFC Colonel to Promote New Sandwich

Burger King switched up its target from the usual McDonald’s. This time, they’re after KFC, with their $4.99 Grilled Chicken Sandwich. In the :30 TV spot, the King refers to himself as “KFG,” or the “King of Flame Grilling” while dressed in a white suit, exactly like the one usually worn by Colonel Sanders. As usual, Burger King integrates PR, Social, but this time even packaging: Stores in Kentucky, Miami, Los Angeles, and New York will also be using “KFG sandwich wrappers.

It’s not new that Burger King is a troll. The brand voice playing with different competitors is getting stronger and people are having fun engaging with it. What is new and interesting this round, however, is the inclusion of packaging. Burger King is not isolating marketing from in-store experience, but making it one consumer journey from awareness to purchase, then to sharing. We must also take this holistic approach, to integrate the in-store, or mobile purchasing experience, so that customers can have a memorable enough experience to share with friends.

Loyalty rewards, coupons bring QSR customers back

Consumers are attracted to coupon and loyalty incentives when making the decision to try new QSRs. According to a study conducted by Publishers Clearing House, nearly 50% of consumers are enticed to try new restaurants based on couponing alone. Standard ads are not enticing customers like they use to in the world of pre-online devices. They are increasingly year-over-year being attracted to app driven payment when rewards are given for loyal use. In recent years major QSRs such as Starbucks, and Burger King have implanted successful loyalty program to attract potential consumers and retain them by offering substantial bonuses.

Not only do online loyalty programs and discounts entice customers, but users are prone to have bigger digital orders vs in store tickets. Brands have an opportunity to use these programs to their advantage by being able to send these coupons straight to the pockets of consumers to retain their business and entice them to frequent more through exclusive perks. As more brands are understanding that these rewards programs are quick ways to get consideration amongst a crowded field, they are finding loyalty doesn’t come easy or last long. Larger chains have an advantage in developing more sophisticated apps due to their access to more capital. However, larger chains aren’t immune to customers multiple choices and in the same study, many have stated that they are not hesitant to go to other QSRs. Overall consumers often have little hesitation to these rewards and often favor brands who are generous with their offerings.

Burger King Customers can Trade McDonald’s MacCoins for Big King XL Sandwich

Burger King is accepting McDonald MacCoins, redeemable Big Mac cryptocurrency, at participating stores in Chicago to promote their Big King XL product. The MacCoins were no longer redeemable after December 31st, 2018 and Burger King is cashing in on the opportunity to conquest potential customers. This comes after a longer running conquesting war between the two QSR giants. Burger King is fully embracing its role as the conquesting troll to McDonalds. A few months prior, Burger King debuted their the “Whopper Detour” which placed a 600 foot geofence around McDonald locations and served any passersby a message to order a Burger King Whopper for only a penny.

This type of very public competitive conquesting makes for a very entertaining spectacle for consumers online and on social media. Brands have taken the initiative to bring this fighting to Twitter and Instagram and audiences take part in the conversation becoming emotionally vested in these “wars”. The Wendy’s twitter has been a buzz-filled account to their very public shady tweets about fellow QSR competitors and the audience are hooked on watching the drama unfold. It’s an organic way for brands to stay relevant on the in the social space and attract a younger audience who are actively engaged on these platforms.

How Church’s Chicken is Breathing Life Into the Brand

Church’s Chicken is poised for a big 2019 after posting its best sales year since 2014. Historically, Church’s has relied on itself being a ‘Legacy’ brand with a 66 year history and very loyal customer base. Recently, they have shifted their marketing strategy to become highly digital and consumer-centric, which has a boosted this tremendous lift in sales. The biggest challenge facing Church’s is to continue to speak to their older fan base through traditional forms of media while also reaching the younger millennial audience across digital channels. While they understand they are still in the early stages of creating a digital footprint for the brand and building out their social channels, one thing that has helped them is their seamless story telling of their brand across both traditional and traditional fronts to maintain that consistent brand message across all age groups. They have been able to convey the continuous message of, “real food, real people” and create a unique sense of digital accessibility. Wherever and whoever is looking for information, Church’s digital environment aims to be easy to navigate.

The way Church’s approach has shifted to digital shows that they’re attempting to expand their audience base, while at the same time keep their old models not to exclude the older fan base. It seems that the consistent brand message & tone has played a vital role in the success against the expanded audience understanding.

In-In-Out Is A Better Place To Work Than Google?

In n Out has been named the third best place to work at by Glassdoor’s annual rankings, beating big companies such as Google and Facebook. While the QSR industry is not always seen as the best place to work at, the West Coast Burger Franchise has made strides to change that perception. Their focus on their employees has placed In n Out as the one top places to work at, a title given to only two other restaurants out of 100 companies. In n Out has garnered a reputation as an employee-focused organization that promotes in-house growth in the restaurant and corporate level due to their accommodating hours, benefits and friendly work environment.

The QSR industry is still seen as a lower tiered job, but changing those preconceived notions will require a shift of focus towards employees and ensure they are satisfied with their employment. There are many studies that show employee happiness and satisfaction is tied to an increase in productivity and company success, and In n Out has understood this by investing in their employees thus has seen an increase in sales and customer satisfaction. Ultimately this highlights that a company doesn’t need to be a Multi-Million Tech company to cultivate a happy and satisfying work place for its staff.

Burger King Trolls McDonald’s With 1 Cent Burger Promotion

Burger King is trolling McDonalds by offering a $0.01 Whopper if a user opens their app to unlock a deal when within a range of McDonald’s restaurants. Once someone is within 600 feet of a McDonald’s location, the 1 cent offer is unlocked. If the person asks to redeem the Whopper offer at the McDonald’s, many McDonald’s employees have turned back the person telling them the offer is invalid, and the Burger King app redirects them to the nearest Burger King location to truly redeem the offer.

The age-old “Burger Wars” between these Burger King and McDonalds continues. With “Where’s the beef” becoming a huge catchphrase in the ‘80’s throwing shade at McDonald’s fluffy burgers with nowhere to be found beef, Burger King looks to establish its position as the all-time top rival of McDonald’s.

Burger King is doing a couple things well: 1. Using Technology to directly call out and conquest against the leader in the QSR+Tech space. 2. Promoting and getting more downloads for the BK app. 3. Keeping up the witty brand tone and voice by trolling, and being culturally relevant – and it paid off with Burger King getting a ton of earned media and PR, on top of their owned channels.