“Jackson Communications converted a simple race car promotion into a successful revenue generating multiyear sales promotion program.”
THE TASK
Targeted sales promotions is not what most fast food franchise owners receive for their investment because franchise marketing fees are usually funneled into one source for generic advertising. But we turned a simple Checkers race car promotion into a annual customer appreciation campaign for a franchise group allowing them to impact sales beyond generic marketing campaigns. The race car alone attracted customers but when the client engaged Jackson Communications to enhance the promotion, we created an integrated marketing program that increased sales and built customer loyalty.
OUR SOLUTION
Target marketing for franchisees can be challenging because sales have to be driven only to locations owned by the group. That is easy in small markets where one franchise owner is likely to own all locations. But in larger markets, there are often multiple owners. The task is to find creative ways to drive sales only to the franchise owner’s location for effective ROI. Our first step was to collect and analyze demographic data by zip code of each location in the franchise group, focusing on the unique characteristics of each. We began with a basic Customer Appreciation program supported by direct mail within a targeted radius. As sales increased,
we reinvested those dollars into one pool from each franchise location. To enhance the event, we secured coop partners from beverage companies to provide giveaways like a free mountain bike to be raffled to customers and tshirts given to customers who purchased combo meals on event day. For some areas, we eventually included live lunch time radio remotes and cable TV advertising while focusing on creative billboard advertising launching a new values menu for other areas. To offset budget costs, we created coop programs with other non competing businesses like cellular phone retailers, offering advertising space in direct mail and an opportunity to sell products directly to customers on event day.
THE RESULTS
Revenues increased from 22 to 37% taking one store from last in the franchise group to second in overall revenues. Each year of the program saw revenues increase as we began to build customer loyalty among our base driving traffic only to franchise locations. The program was duplicated in the Macon market utilizing the same concept.