What do you think of when you hear the word “social”? The definition has certainly changed greatly over the last decade, immediately bringing to mind Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media outlets. It’s hard to believe that not that long ago, social activity meant being physically out and about, mingling with other humans in real time.
The TGI Fridays restaurant group is hoping to bring back that traditional kind of social, having announced plans to turn their once red and white striped, kitsch-walled locations into casual, neighborhood bar themed gathering spots.
In a recent New York Times article, the company’s marketing director was quoted as saying that the overhaul program was launched last year, and is internally called T.B.C.B.T – The Best Corner Bar In Town. Program highlights include the redesigns of 190 of the company’s 540 locations in the United States during this year, with the rest to follow. Every detail has been reexamined, right down to updated menus replacing the longstanding laminated version, and fresh ingredients replacing frozen in the kitchen.
To spread the word about TGI Fridays’ relaunch, a “Summer of Fridays” food truck will be dispatched to music and art festivals throughout the country over the next few months. A Tumblr page has been set up to document the Summer of Fridays tour, including profiles of unique personalities and craftspeople the crew meets along the way.
In hitting the road, and engaging social media, TGI Fridays is hoping to reach the demographic needed to keep their revenues strong enough to remain competitive in the casual restaurant industry. The Times quotes Technomic, a restaurant consulting and market research firm, as reporting a 4.7 percent drop in revenue for the chain during 2013, compared to some newer casual restaurant chains reporting revernue increases between between 17 and 26 percent during the same timeframe.
Where do your target customers gather?
By taking their new brand on the road, specifically promoting at events which draw the crucial 21- to 35-year-old demographic, TGI Fridays is engaging an efficient PR strategy: Know who you want to reach, know where they will most likely be, and go there. This demographic isn’t reading the Sunday paper on the living room floor or catching TV spots while watching the evening news; but there’s a good chance they will attend a cultural event.
How can you reach the target customers who aren’t there?
While music and art festivals draw large crowds, they are no match for the reach of social media. By incorporating a Tumblr account, TGI Fridays has included a vehicle to share the physical Summer of Fridays experience in a virtual way. Additionally, they have devised a method for keeping the content fresh and interesting by incorporating a human interest element. Profiling unique individuals along the way makes journal entries compelling, thus encouraging repeat visits to the Tumblr site.
By September, the hope is that the Summer of Fridays fling will turn into a real relationship, with customers trying out the revamped gathering spots and having a positive enough experience to return, hopefully with more friends. That will depend on the quality of the food and service, which have also been reworked as part of the plan. If all falls into place, TGI Fridays could be on an upswing – away from suspenders and potato skins and toward chill and hip.
If your brand could use a boost, or a complete overhaul, we’d love to hear from you. The marketplace today is too competitive to stick with ideas that aren’t working. At Kovak-Likly we pride ourselves on bringing expertise and a comprehensive, targeted approach to every campaign we develop and execute. Let’s see what we can make happen together.
– BML
