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?

Domino’s Bringing In-Car Ordering to New Vehicles in 2019

Dominos will partner with Xevo to launch an in-vehicle app platform in which drivers can order their pizza on the screen while they’re on the road. This new in-vehicle app will perform the same functions as the mobile app such as ordering, finding store locations and being able to track one’s order. One feature of the app is to have the user’s recent or most ordered items already preloaded so when they use the app again it’s just as simple as pressing one button.

More than ever customers are craving convenience especially when they’re on the go. Being able to have a platform in which people can act upon their craving’s instantly is enticing for several reasons but most importantly it allows for the consumer to be less overwhelmed by options if the opportunity is already being presented to them with such ease. This theme of having a personalized platform that is constantly learning and making smarter decisions to understand the wants and needs of a consumer, makes the platform more appealing. Given some of Jack’s major markets are heavy commuter DMAs this tactic could prove effective by getting those people on the road to pre-order meals to conveniently have them ready to eat by the time they get home. We also know drive thru is a major part of Jack’s business.

The Price of Pork Domestically is Very Low, and QSRs Have Taken Advantage of This

The influx of bacon included within Fast Food menu items is not a coincidence, but the result of an all-time low cost for Pork in nearly a decade. This drop in price has QSRs not only taking advantage in terms of product inclusions, but rather competing to showcase they have the best bacon items in market. The price of Pork in 2019 can be attributed to the 2018 tariffs on Chinese imports. With US hog producers now lowering their prices to move more of their products domestically, Fast Food chains have swooped right in at the opportunity to purchase Pork in bulk.

While some QSRs chains allege the price of Pork has nothing to do with their new bacon menus, it’s an easy conclusion to attribute it to the recent politics in domestic and foreign tariffs. Outside sources as well. Other products have also contributed to the surge in products such as Cheese. This is a challenge for QSRs given that many external factors can tend to influence products and thus QSRs themselves, whether political, environmental, financial etc. Understanding the future implications, both from a potential advantage or challenge in determining LTO’s and existing item planning for Jack is important. But furthermore, if the competitive marketplace is facing the same external contributing factors, how are we pivoting or wordsmithing differently from the competition to differentiate ourselves?

Air Asia Launches Own Fast Food Restaurant

Normally, the first thought someone has about airplane food is negative. But Air Asia is looking to change that perception by launching its own fast food restaurant, Santan, which means coconut milk in Malay. They’ll be featuring in flight food options to show that airplane food is not bad at all and that it’s even competitive to other QSR options. If all goes well, Air Asia will be successful in turning the image of soggy, tasteless airplane food, and familiarize future travelers with their food. To embrace the idea of providing accessibility to people from all cultures, Santan will have a wide range of menu, including Halal options. This concept of an airline jumping into the food space is not new. in 2017, Air New Zealand had a pop up in London called “This is How We Fly,” which showcased a high end menu that consisted of lamb with minted peas and salt roasted crushed new potatoes with mint jelly. While it was mostly a PR stunt, this brought the concept to consumers’ minds that their luxury and airplane food can indeed go together.

Air Asia is leaning into changing perception of a negative part of their business to elevate their brand and people’s experience. This shows that brand image and perception heavily impacts purchasing power. How can Jack work to use the brand’s voice to connect with consumers beyond the LTOs?

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.

Why Quick Serves Should Invest in Out-of-Home Advertising

Out-of-Home continues to be one of the most effective channels for QSR brands to extend their reach to potential consumers. While some companies believe that OOH is an outdated media channel, compelling arguments can be made for why this is still an effective media:

Communicate with local communities to drive local traffic
Promote mobile campaign messaging to reduce wait times in drive-thrus
Gain valuable location data

One thing this article does not mention is the PR-ability of OOH. When we think of OOH, we immediately think of billboards and digital boards. However, OOH has been a fan favorite of entertainment brands or other brands who want a literal on the ground experience. For Jack’s W4, we are taking full advantage of barricades, movie theaters, and other unconventional formats and layering with PR promotion in order to have an even larger splash.

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.

Who says Outdoor Advertising is Archaic?

While there are mixed opinions, many sources predict that OOH advertising is the fastest growing traditional channel, and Magna stated that OOH was the only traditional ad medium to show growth in spend in 2018, 4.6%. So what value do advertisers see in OOH?

Digital OOH is taking lead on adapting to the ever-evolving technological advances. The main opportunity DOOH provides is the ability to measure and retarget, which plays on the already wide reach OOH advertising allows by its nature (it’s hard to ignore a board or bus stop), but also closes the loop on proximity targeting down to zip codes and blocks to measure foot traffic and the response people have after seeing the ad. DOOH in itself is expected to grow 10%/year, and forward thinking outdoor advertising firms such as Outfront Media are taking lead in exploring 5G integrations to make programmatic and dynamic targeting more efficient.

Looking beyond OOH, we continuously see data playing a bigger role in filling the gap traditional media channels have. Having measurement tools such as foot traffic studies and its correlation OOH ad experience allows for smarter to help sales.