Restaurant Advertising: Reverse Psychology

King’s Family Restaurants uses its Frownie Sundae to strengthen its brand position.

By Margaret Littman, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 10/1/2007

A look at the menu for North Versailles, Pa.-based King’s Family Restaurants doesn’t reveal anything particularly unusual: pancakes, turkey sandwiches and chicken tenders. But under desserts is an unassuming little item that management is using to solidify its brand proposition.

Since the 35-unit regional chain stopped advertising on television in 1995, it had become "a tired brand," says Cliff Rankin, account manager at Pittsburgh’s Smith Brothers Advertising LP, King’s ad agency for the last five years. "Sales had been trending down in what was a five-year trend. There was a real need to shake things up."

Focus groups in January determined what form that shake-up should take. The ad agency and the chain brought diners together to find out why some consumers had lapsed in their patronage of King’s, as well as what other infrequent diners thought about the 40-year-old chain. In reviewing past King’s billboards—the chain traditionally has relied heavily on outdoor advertising—customers only easily remembered one, says Chris Whalen, King’s vice president of finance.

That lone billboard featured the Frownie Sundae. King’s developed the memorable brownie and ice cream dessert to go head-to-head with the Smiley Cookie, the iconic dessert from Pennsylvania competitor Eat’n Park. It also built on King’s reputation of having the "meanest" desserts in town.

At first the chain hesitated emphasizing a product that could be construed as a negative in its advertising.

"It does the opposite of what you would think," says Whalen. "We thought it was mean, but Frownie makes people chuckle. Even though it is negative, it is perceived positive."

Royal Treatment

After the January focus groups, Smith Brothers began working on a campaign involving Frownie that would bring King’s back to television. By April it had created five TV flights, one of which has not yet aired but will see airtime before the end of the year.

The ads feature a life-sized Frownie character doing decidedly mean things such as not holding an elevator door open and shredding a needed sales report. Each ad promotes a different limited-time offer such as ciabbata sandwiches or stacks of fruity pancakes, while identifying King’s as "the home of the Frownie." The limited-time offer is followed by a tagline uttered by one of the people who was wronged by Frownie: "That is one mean dessert." The chain offers nine to 12 limited-time offers throughout the year.

Until this point, King’s had been advertising based on its royal-themed name, with taglines such as "At King’s, desserts rule" and "At King’s, seniors rule." Other ads played up the chain’s value component.

In addition, Smith Brothers developed a loyal rewards program, called "Royal Rewards" for frequent diners. The program partners with a local grocery store/gas station chain; diners can earn a $5 gas card with every $50 purchase at King’s, a promotion that appeals to the value-conscious King’s customer.

Historically, King’s has had a very loyal customer who frequents the restaurant four or five times a week, but that customer is 55 years old or older. The new campaign was designed to increase frequency among diners 35 years old and older with families without alienating the older, loyal customers.

The Youth Brigade

It is always difficult to measure the direct impact of an ad campaign. King’s has an average check of $7.30 per person, a figure that is up 7.5 percent over 2006. However, Whalen attributes some of that boost to increased prices (in part in response to a minimum-wage increase in Pennsylvania).

More telling, Whalen says, is that unit managers—all of the restaurants are company owned—are seeing customers who they do not recognize in their stores, meaning that the customer mix has successfully been changed. Because the demographic of the new customers is so different from the previous loyal customers, it is relatively easy for managers to notice the change. Sales reports suggest customer counts have increased 5 percent to 7 percent since the new ad campaign began.

While the campaign has been successful, the chain plans to tweak its advertising strategy in the coming year. King’s plans to add radio back into its ad mix in 2008. In 2007 the chain had a $2.1 million ad budget, which was not a large increase over previous years. To add television without increasing the budget dramatically, King’s slashed its radio advertising, a move Whalen says was a miscalculation.

Frownie will continue to make appearances in ads and in-person promotions such as Thanksgiving parades and high school football games.

While Frownie may get a bigger role in 2008, the chain’s unit count will not increase. The new year does not have expansion plans in store for King’s. Instead the company will focus on remodeling its dated stores. The chain hired Lewis & Partners, the San Francisco-based firm that helped IHOP overhaul its restaurants, to work on the King’s remodel.

The current remodel of the ad effort will remain in place next year. As much as Frownie appears, the character will promote other menu items. Adds Rankin: "King’s was known back in the day as the place to go for dessert. They leaned away from that and focused less on food over the years. We have forced them to get back and do what really all restaurants should be doing: focusing on food."

“Triple Parked” Length: 30 seconds
1. [Frownie speeds into a parking lot, radio blaring, and parks diagonally.	2. He takes up several handicapped spots, while an older woman looks on.]
3.	4. Voice-over: Breakfast just got bolder with King’s new Stackjacks.
5. Fluffy hotcakes, creamy custard and tasty toppings.	6. New Stackjacks are just one more way we’re redefining comfort food at King’s.
7. Home of the Frownie.	8. Woman: That’s one mean dessert.