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"Is there any category with more clich\u00E9d advertising than the casual dining segment?\nThink about it: That ad with the upbeat music showing happy people sitting down to their mouth-watering plates of honey chicken and ribs ... was that for TGI Friday's, Houlihan's or Applebee's? Hard to recall, right? \nA talent or creativity deficit isn't to blame. Instead, this appears to be a case where the marketer's demands hem in creativity. After all, if your ad agency is on the Houlihan's account, there's only so much you can do if the client insists on ads with upbeat music, happy people and money shots of mouth-watering plates of food.\nWith the Great Recession of 2008, though, came a general willingness to question previous assumptions. As consumers tightened their belts, they began eating out less or when they did, they downshifted from Applebee's to McDonald's. In such a climate, how can you insist on taking the same old marketing approach? \nThe back story explains a bit why Applebee's began trying a new creative direction for its ads in mid-2012. On July 2, the chain ushered in a new ad campaign themed \"See You Tomorrow.\" As a press release noted, the campaign coincided with a $200 million overhaul of the chain, including new signage and awnings sporting an updated logo. \"Gone, too, are the stained glass light fixtures and 3D pop art synonymous with Applebee\u2019s since its founding in 1980,\" the release continued. \"In their place: sleek new lighting and murals that link each restaurant with its neighborhood.\"\nTo ensure a break with the past, Applebee's hired Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the ad agency best known for its envelope-pushing Burger King ads over the past few years (Crispin lost that account last year). While Applebee's brand says \"homey,\" Crispin's says \"edgy,\" even though the agency has worked with other similarly mainstream clients, such as Kraft Macaroni &amp; Cheese. What would Crispin cook up? \nIt turned out the chain's initial ads are only mildly subversive. The creative idea is that Applebee's chefs were so into what they do that they have to be brought back down to earth by Saturday Night Live alum Jason Sudeikis' voiceover. When one chef starts ruminating about tomatoes for instance, Sudeikis reels him in: \"Carl, you're doing it again. You're talking about tomatoes like they're your children. We love you buddy, but you're going a little deep here.\" \n\n\n\n\nDo you see what Crispin did there? It punctured the pretense characteristic of the segment \u2014 a near-erotic celebration of food \u2014 and yet managed to still convey the idea that food is no joke to Applebee's. \"This whole category of casual dining typically takes itself very seriously,\" says Mark Taylor, executive creative director at Crispin. \"It's almost like the more glossy you make the food look, the more people question what you're saying.\" By stepping back from the pitch a wee bit, Applebee's was able to make a more credible claim.\nOf course, no restaurant chain wants to be known for so-so food, but Applebee's and the casual dining segment suffers from the perception that the quality of the grub is beside the point. As Tracie McMillan noted in a Slate piece about her time working \"undercover\" at Applebee's, \"Our customers aren\u2019t here for the food \u2014 not in any sophisticated culinary sense. They\u2019re here to take a night off from the daily grind.\" The belief is so strong that in a New Yorker article that mentions Applebee's rival The Cheesecake Factory, writer Atul Gawande was almost apologetic in his praise: \"As for the food \u2014 can I say this without losing forever my chance of getting a reservation at Per Se? \u2014 it was delicious.\" \nFor Shannon Scott, executive director of marketing communications at Applebee's, the pervasive notion is frustrating. \"The casual dining category suffers a bit from food credibility,\" she says. \"We've come light years in our menu, but people don't know about it.\"\nPerceived food quality may be one factor keeping customers away, but another \u2014 the lack of ability to leave work to grab lunch \u2014 is harder to address by traditional means. Hence an untraditional solution. In true Crispin style, the campaign included an attention-getting stunt in social media. The forum in this case was YouTube, though there was some spillover into Amazon as well. The premise: An inflatable doll would act as a \"lunch decoy\" and take your place as you headed off to Applebee's (The ad mostly ran on YouTube, though Scott says it also had a limited run on TV).\n\n\n\n\nThe absurd premise, underscored by Airplane!-style dummies, was played for deadpan laughs but it was actually a real product, for sale on Amazon. Indeed, the products, which came in six iterations including The Cubicle Queen and The Go-Getter, were big sellers. \"They sold out in under a month,\" says Steve Babcock, another Crispin ECD. When asked what people were doing with them, he replied, \"I don't want to know. That's their business.\" \nBut what about Applebee's business? Scott says it's too soon to provide supporting data, but says the campaign is \"absolutely resonating with consumers.\" If so, that's good news for the chain. Applebee's, which was purchased by IHOP parent copany DineEquity in 2007, posted a 1% rise in same-restaurant sales for the first six months of 2012. That's comparable to what others in the casual segment, including Denny's and Cracker Barrel are also reporting, which indicates a slow climb back for the category. \"From all indications, they're doing well,\" says Ron Paul, president and CEO of Technomic, a restaurant industry research firm. \"They're ahead or in line of the rest of the segment.\" Whether the new campaign will increase Applebee's lead remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the chain may have a profitable sideline in human decoys."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/09/20/applebees-social-campaign/>