Applebee's Adds New Meaning To 'Consumer-Generated Content'

Applebee's is the latest casual-dining chain to lend new meaning to "consumer-generated content."

The company is launching a program aligned to its relationship with The Food Network and celebrity chef Tyler Florence that gives consumers a chance to design a new menu item on the Applebee's menu. The effort follows a similar program by Wendy's, which is running a promotion that encourages people to design a burger from a broad range of ingredients and dangles $25,000.

Applebee's "Big Burger Showdown" runs through July 15. The finalists will be judged by Florence. Consumers can enter the contest by submitting their recipes at foodnetwork.com/applebees.

Judges from Food Network and Applebee's International will select four regional finalists in September who will receive a trip to New York City to compete in the showdown in October. Contestants will grill their burgers for Florence and other judges. Finalists get a tour of the Food Network studios and Applebee's gift cards.

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The grand-prize winner gets $5,000, and as in the Wendy's promo, the winning hamburger will go on Applebee's menus next year.

A company spokesperson says the effort is intended to engage consumers in the brand. "This enables them to get more integrated on a personal level. A burger is ... easy to personalize." The company is currently promoting one of the two burgers Florence created, the Aloha Burger. "So it's a nice tie-in to let him be the judge of the next great Applebee's burger," says the spokesperson.

The Overland Park, Kan., company has extended indefinitely its relationship with Florence, which began last September and has the chef helping to develop menu items for the chain's 1,800-plus locations, and appearing in ads, promotional material and interactive media.

In May this year, the company launched a summer promotion, "Grilling Fresh with Tyler Florence" which touts six new items on the menu.

The company has launched 30 and 15-second national ads and a microsite running early June through August, touting the new promo.

Florence also appears on Applebee's home page, where one can also watch video clips of him describing and preparing the new dishes. The site also promotes the "Big Burger Showdown."

The chain's association with the Food Network includes content on the network's Web site and online via Web banners and in restaurants.

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