Potomac Family Dining Group
• 7th largest Applebee’s franchise system
• 67 Applebee’s operating in five Mid-Atlantic States
• Roughly 3,500 employees• $145 MM in revenue• 2.75% of net revenue
spent on National media• 0.50% of net revenue
spent on local working media
• Significant push to drive Local Store Marketing (LSM)
The Case for Local Store Marketing• Slow economic growth• Real wages negative• Low population growth• Increase in competitive intensity / intrusion • Change in nature of competition: share-shift game• Changing media landscape• Consumers’ desire to feel connected to brands they
support
IT’S ALL ABOUT DRIVING TRAFFIC
New and adjacent market entrants have traditional casual dining players in their cross-hairs
Fast Casual
Sports Bar/Pub
Grocery
Polished Casual
Changing Media LandscapeMass media is more expensive than ever but reaches fewer potential
customers because of audience fragmentation.
How Potomac Approaches Marketing
National TV
&
Online Campaigns
Holiday / Occasion
Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc.
Day/Daypart and Offering
Mondays, lunch daypart, Carside To Go, late night, Applebee’s Anywhere
Cohort Specific
Urban, suburban, highway, shopping center, military, tourist/seasonal, low population-density town
Regional
Above-store events and traveling teams
Store Specific
Hyper-local, community based
Potomac(0.5%-0.7% of Revenue)
Franchisor(2.75% of Revenue)
Potomac’s LSM Marketing Pincer
• Banners/POP• Flapjack
Fundraisers• Dining to Donate• A is for
Applebee’s
Above Store (Marketing Dept)
• FSI• Radio• Mailers• Digital
• B2B• Social Media• Newspaper
Store Level (Local or Regional)
• You Were Brave
• Frequency Cards
• Local Events
Driving Traffic
Top Down LSM
Bottom Up LSM
Consumer ConnectednessEmotional connections build the strongest brands.
It’s all about winning MINDS and HEARTS through LSM!
PotomacDiningServes.com Princess Party Night
Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Military Children’s FestivalFlapjack Fundraiser
LSM Works…now how do I get started?
• Know what you are solving for
- trial or repeat business
- day and/or daypart
- traffic or check
• Talk to others who are in your industry or market to see what works for them
- understand the variety of activities or promotions that you can execute
- get a sense of what works and what does not work (but don’t assume they had perfect execution)
- learn as much as you can from vendors but understand that they are selling…
• Don’t “bet the farm” on your first attempt
- start small
- don’t be afraid to fail…but fail fast
- instill discipline to measure results/ROI as best as you can
• If you don’t understand how to reach Millennials, hire one for your marketing team