Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
Search results for "fast food"
- A burger or a Birken? That's the question proposed from the results of a QSR survey that's getting lots of media buzz.
- Consumers have returned to McDonald's, Chipotle and Panda Express post-pandemic, but many are dining outside of typical breakfast, lunch and dinner times.
- Consumers have returned to McDonald's, Chipotle and Panda Express post-pandemic, but many are dining outside of typical breakfast, lunch and dinner times.
- Spicy, sweet toppings and hot flavors will continue as a trend for pizza lovers, according to a study commissioned by Pizza Hut.
- The financial industry including insurance companies slashed spending on ad-supported streaming services.
- During COVID, every restaurant was looking to generate sales in any way possible. Jason's Deli's VP of Marketing & Communications, Brandy Butler, will share how they were able to reach a new audience with the introduction of Virtual Restaurants and are continuing to bring in incremental sales since then.
- A campaign grounded in organic social behavior enables customers to easily connect with the content while being inspired to try something new. With thousands of drink combinations, SONIC(R) is the Ultimate Drink Stop(R), and customers love to talk about their latest drink hacks on social media. Sr. Director of IMC for Sonic, Tamara Stanley, shares how Sonic used insights from TikTok to partner with Paramount+ and build an influencer led campaign teaching consumers how to build "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" inspired drinks. The campaign not only taught customers how to make craveable creations using the SONIC App, but also provided the opportunity for influencers to create and share their new drink combination experiences. The campaign transported SONIC fans to the land of doo wops and pink poodle skirts, reminding them how to make new drinks they love!
- What drives consumer loyalty to dining brands? A global view suggests there are both universal appeals that transcend cultures and geography as well as highly localized and variable ideas around true value exchange. KFC's Senior Product Owner, CRM & Loyalty, Haley Davison, shares the insights that one of the world's most recognizable QSR brands draws from a global footprint. How can aggregated data like this lead to insights and tactics around identifying better value propositions that grow loyalty?
- A common data model has been critical to Whataburger's radically personalized...and personal...approach to all aspects of the digital experience for customers. Whataburger's Digital & Strategy Director, Keith McLellan, explains how its deep profiles recognizes at all touchpoints who you are, what you like and buy, and how. And perhaps most importantly they know when you stop buying and how long they have to win you back. This level of super-segmentation allows for crafting highly personalized and more emotional appeals, to know who to message, how and especially when, to create a data driven but very human digital conversation.
- Reigniting interest in buffet-style dining in the last year has been a challenge across the fast casual category. Cicis is using it as an opportunity to energize the brand and enhance onsite customer experiences around food, entertainment, and restaurant design. Cicis Pizza's CMO, Stephanie Hoppe, shares what they've learned along the way about embracing Cicis' roots, driving adaptability, and cultivating an always-on optimization mindset to power a successful "Endless Pizzabilities" brand relaunch that bets big on experiences fueling Cicis' continued growth.
- Finessing the tension between premium product and value takes imaginative development and optimizing both menus and messaging. In introducing its double burger, A&W focused on weary consumers' craving for indulgence over a simple deal. A&W Restaurants' Senior Director of Marketing, Liz Bazner, shares the company's learnings from balancing premium with value marketing across multiple channels and at local levels.
- By asking good questions, listening intently to consumers, and then acting based on insight, White Castle accelerated growth for its 35-year-old CPG brand. Jamie Richardson, Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations at White Castle, will discuss how their consumer-centric approach to research yielded actionable learnings, and share why sometimes the simplest tweaks can translate to the biggest impact.
- Through a combination of app and loyalty program usage along with local events, Fazoli's is crafting a data strategy that funnels local intelligence back to franchisees and managers so they can interact with customers in more personalized ways. At MediaPost's Brand Insider Summit QSR, Fazoli's Senior Manager/Brand Marketing, Erin Stevens, shares how cross-functional teams across the organization use this data to test and learn new engagement tactics as well as inform individual outlets how to better serve customers.
- As the 90-year-old Krystal restaurant brand looked to appeal to younger demos, the marketing team focused on college towns and some of their strongest influencers - star athletes. Executing on this smart plan took more than posing Quarterbacks with store owners. Krystal Restaurants' Director of Marketing, Kaitlin Stoehr, shares what the company learned about crafting local campaigns around recruiting this special class of social influencers, creating authentic live engagements, and then amplifying this content effectively in the community.
- The soft-serve shop 16 Handles has always been about the on-premise experience of personally personalizing customer desserts. It is a case study in building in-person delight. But as the company has moved into delivery and on-app ordering it has been challenged to digitize the experiential dimension of the brand across channels. The Founder and CEO of 16 Handles, Solomon Coi, shares how the brand thinks about making WOW omnichannel.
- The marketing of catering and event services within the new digital and delivery ecosystems offers brands unexpected challenges and opportunities. How do you allocate across convenience and celebratory segments, target the right new and old customers, and convert those third party acquisitions into first party loyalists? Trish shares lessons learned as she adds celebratory marketing to Earl's portfolio of casual brands via third party apps, a dedicated loyalty program, and beyond.
- As inflation drove up costs and pricing, the Checkers brands felt it was leaving a core value-driven customer behind. Instead of overall discounting, the brand leveraged its CDP to identify and specifically message this segment with highly targeted discounts to motivate purchasing. Barry shares how they modeled this often elusive cash-based clientele and created tightly localized cross-channel media to drive bargains to the ones who needed them most.
- Wrappers and containers from eight different fast food chains contain PFAS, or "forever chemicals," at soon-to-be illegal levels, according to Consumer Reports. Long-term exposure has been linked to an increased risk of some cancers. Eight of the 24 fast food and supermarket chains studied — Arby's, Burger King, Cava, Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, Nathan's Famous, Sweetgreen, and Taco Bell — had at least one type of packaging tested for fluorine levels exceeding 100 ppm.
- As of November, 28.2% of podcast listeners had used restaurant delivery in the past 30 days, compared to 14% of non-listeners.
- As social platforms fragment, brands need to remain flexible in their paid and organic strategies. Church's Chicken reimagined its social media playbook for changed times. Alan Magee, Vice President, Digital Marketing & Technology at Church's Chicken, explains how they sought to encourage more than engagement but engender true brand fan love. With campaigns that broke through the clutter Church's is growing its social footprint and engagement in ways that serve the core business and not just Follows and Likes.
- This year’s World Series was notable for allowing stadiums to fill up with baseball fans versus last year’s limitations on attendance, given the pandemic. TV viewership improved to an average of 11.74 million viewers a game, a 20% gain from last year’s average of 9.7 million, which was an all-time low. The championship was decided in six games both years, making comparisons in ad airings more direct. Fast-food companies this year showed the most commercials during the games, with almost 8,800 airings, according to analytics firm AdImpact. Those restaurant brands collectively nudged the automotive category out of the top spot, likely a reflection of bottlenecks in supply chains that prevented carmakers from obtaining semiconductors to completely assemble vehicles. The restaurant category was buoyed by Taco Bell, which for the 10th year in a row ran its “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion. The campaign offered free tacos in the event that any player stole a base during the series. However, job search site Indeed.com ran the most ads during the series, showing that many employers are still struggling to fill millions of job openings amid the “Great Resignation.”
- Thanks to indelible jingles and incessant frequency, insurance brands Farmer's, State Farm and Liberty Mutual were among the top 10 sonic brands of 2021, according to just released data from Veritonic's audio logo index. The index, which assigns scores to hundreds of leading sonic brands based on Veritronic's proprietary intelligence platform, utilizing a panel of abut 3,700 consumers in the U.S. and U.K. (Data in the chart above reflect the top 10 in the U.S.)
- The new Piper Sandler "Taking Stock With Teens" ranking says Chick-fil-A achieved the highest restaurant mindshare in nearly 20 years.
- Grocery deliveries are up a little, but frightened consumers are ordering fewer online meals as the economy takes a huge hit.
- Is relying on central marketing hubs preventing agencies from tapping into local sensitivities?
- To be relevant again, the brand had to get back to what it stood for when it was at its best. Col. Sanders was front and center, whether it was the bucket, the restaurant or the advertising.
- Burger King has crafted a NextGen digital experience that caters to the needs of Gen Z by prioritizing seamless and personalized experiences and meeting guests where they are in their journey. Through an integrated Loyalty + CRM + Promotions Strategy, learn from Burger King's Senior Manager of CRM & Lifecycle Marketing and Digital, Erika Morley, and Director of Loyalty & CRM, Preston Nix, how Burger King is elevating the brand experience while increasing overall app visits and guest frequency.
- Customers have been patient through COVID shutdowns, inflation and supply chain issues. Prices have gone up, but has food quality and service? Today's consumers are wanting to go back to the basics and expecting a more WOW experience. Julie Wade, Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe's Senior Director of Marketing, will share their strategy to better connect and meet their customers changing needs while successfully putting that WOW factor into action.
- When the Bucks win, you win...a Wendy's Frosty. It was a great localized promotion idea that required near-real-time media execution. Kristy Sclepp, CEO, Outdoor Nation and Gina Sisk, Media Director, Manna Hospitality Group / Bridgeman discuss how Digital Out of Home screens allowed the franchisee Manna Hospitality Group / Bridgeman to beat even the traditional TV and radio channels for the promotion. Better than that, store level sales data allowed the brand and agency to tie IRL impressions to sales lifts, showing how DOOH outperformed even radio and TV. Y
- For a novel campaign that tied Frosty giveaways with Milwaukee Bucks wins, the local Wendy's franchisees went off the usual media and messaging menus. Using giveaways rather than discounts and leveraging near-real-time Digital Out of Home placements that beat TV and radio promos. And even by using sports to reach non-fans. Gina Sisk, Media Director at Manna Hospitality Group / Bridgeman, shares the lessons learned from being willing to buck conventional wisdom in media, promotion and even targeting to drive the bottom line.
