Live from the Email Summit: Quiznos Serves Hot Loyalty-Building Programs

PARK CITY, Utah -- Talk about an extensive menu: Quiznos seems to have tried every online loyalty-building channel possible. Listening to Correy Honza, director of Internet marketing, run through these efforts, one salutes the company's innovation quotient.

Fun is clearly a key element of the effort's success. Quiznos has 1 million-plus online loyalty program members, mostly built through coupon and sweeps offers. It had an open rate of 52% in 2006. (The quick-service restaurant industry as a whole has an open rate of between 30% and 40%).

Some recent program highlights:

*Partnership with New Line Cinema on a sweeps page last year. Entrants trying to win the holiday gift basket, which included movie passes, could opt into the loyalty database for ongoing rewards opportunities. Open rate: 61%; click-through, 40% (typical QSR industry click-through is 10%); 15% conversion (including 4% new loyalty sign-ups).

*A mobile campaign in which prospects/customers in three types of markets (suburban, rural, college) who visited Q's stores saw a promotion hyping "Text for your instant offer!" Those who downloaded the offers could redeem them at the cashiers. They received a thank-you email and offered the loyalty opt-in to receive ongoing offers/rewards. Four weeks later, Q sent a bounce-back messsage and asked for feedback on the promotion. Those who responded got a $5 gift certificate.

This campaign generated a stupendous 83% open rate, 34% click-through, 19% mobile conversion, 23% bounce-back redemption rate. Of those who answered the survey, 83% said they'd like to receive one mobile offer per month.

*Off-deck, on-demand coupon effort through CallFire in the Seattle market drew a higher open and redemption rate than any other QSR in that market, with a 20% coupon view and 12% redemption.

*Gaming is also in the mix. Quiznos teamed with Microsoft to be the exclusive sponsor of the XBox 360 Pac-Man World Championship, a great way to increase its worldwide visibility. Gamers who played Pac-Man's latest version on their XBoxes and were top scorers were sent to New York for the tournament. Quiznos supported the launch with online advertising and a $500 gift certificate giveaway, and encouraged consumers to sign up for the loyalty rewards program. Quiznos benefited from great press coverage of the program, signage and sampling at the tournament.

*When it wanted to launch milkshakes in the chain, Quiznos had a Web site created: howmuchcanyoutake.com. Users tried to drink a shake more quickly than the shake being "consumed" by the computer on screen, without getting "brain freeze." It was promoted through blogs and email (loyalty and rented names). The campaign was a big hit, although shakes didn't pan out as a Quiznos item.

*An Adventure Sweeps with New Line and other partners that harnessed the power of the refer-a-friend component of email. Loyalty program members who encouraged friends to enter the sweeps received one additional entry for themselves for every friend who entered. Results: 29,000 new names. Cost: $1,500.

*User-generated video: A Quiznos versus Subway campaign expanded Q's footprint. In an "Ad Challenge," consumers were urged to film their own commercials (iFilm partnered on the production end). VH1's Best Week Ever show showed one user-generated Quiznos vs. Subway commercial each week, and critiqued it. Quiznos received 130 entries, and the videos still live online.

*Online content: Quiznos recently began supplying online content in between coupons/offers. The "Chef-Inspired Minute" consists of podcasts by a chef who helps consumers produce high-end meals in minutes.

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