A Facebook group has helped the Naperville, Ill., Pockets location build business among younger customers who gravitate to social-networking sites.

Both same-store sales and frequency of regular customers increased as a result. Sales rose approximately 5 percent thanks to the promotion. Soon units in Tampa and Orlando, Fla., launched similar promotions.

Now the Maitland, Fla.-based chain is looking at ways to build loyalty with dog lovers chainwide. Management is analyzing local regulations to see if dogs can be allowed on patios in other cities and looking at creating promotional items to appeal to the demographic. Currently kids meals come with a Frisbee; creating a related Frisbee for the dog promotion is a possibility, says Carley James, marketing manager for Tijuana Flats. Branded bandanas for the dogs also may be in the works.

“We are known for being funny, unique and on the edge, and people know us for doing random things, so this fits really well with our brand,” James says.

Local-store marketing has evolved beyond supporting groups in the community. There's nothing wrong with a franchisee sponsoring the neighborhood Little League team. It can build community goodwill and ensure that the team comes in the restaurant after every game. But these efforts aren't typically relevant to building brand identity.

As marketing has gotten more sophisticated, so, too, have local-store promotions. This new generation of promotions is resonating with the home office as well as consumers of the brand outside the local geographic area. Now it seems much global branding starts locally.

Tijuana Flats units used the chain’s well-known attitude to invite dog owners to bring their pets to the restaurant.

Building Local Online Communities

To promote Yappy Hour, Tijuana Flats used low-tech means such as including a flier with each takeout order. Franchisees of other brands have found high tech is a better way to build a local audience.

The Naperville, Ill., franchisee for Pockets, a fast-food sandwich chain, created a “group” on the social networking Web site Facebook. Groups allow Facebook users interested in a common topic to start discussions, show their loyalty and receive e-mails; typical groups include school alumni and fans of bands.

Pockets often delivers to local high school faculty, says Bob Lisberg, who owns the Naperville franchise as well as one in nearby Aurora, Ill. But Lisberg wanted to attract a younger demographic and thought Facebook might be the ticket.

“I was trying to experiment to see what would reach the 16- to 32-year-olds,” Lisberg says. He promised the first 50 people who signed up a coupon, an unusual move for Pockets, which typically does very little discounting. He quickly had 250 members. Pockets sent members e-mails thanking them for joining, with a link to a coupon. Now there is a permanent link on the Facebook page for 10 percent off orders.

“With something like Facebook, you cannot be too sure sometimes what will happen. But I think we all are bombarded by advertising. This created a different bandwagon mentality,” Lisberg says.

Pockets, which is headquartered in Winnetka, Ill., is just beginning to expand by franchising. Lisberg, who is the company's first franchisee, is working with Pockets founder Dave Litchman to help develop other promotional efforts to build the brand as it expands.

“I want to make sure nothing I do flies in the face of what they are doing [as a brand],” Lisberg says.

Technology also helped an Arby's unit in Fort Wayne, Ind., bring in younger customers, as did the use of a promotional product. The store wanted to attract cost-conscious college kids, but knew today's teens couldn't be bothered to clip coupons. The store created an electronic card to hang on a key ring with a long-term, reusable coupon discount. Sales increased 25 percent as a result of the card, and now one-quarter of the unit's customers are cardholders. Atlanta-based Arby's is looking at rolling the program out nationally.

These kinds of promotional items are powerful tools, says Anne Lardner, senior manager of communications for Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International. Research from PPAI and Louisiana State University found that 76 percent of respondents could recall an advertisers' name when they were given a promotional product, as compared to 53 percent who saw a print ad.

When HMSHost, a concessions food and beverage company with 210 locations in travel plazas and airports, wanted to encourage bus drivers to stop at HMS concessions at highway service plazas, it created a character named Gus Busman and Gus Busman's Pocket Plaza Pass, a swipeable card that rewarded drivers with a free meal every time they brought in 20 or more passengers to specific plazas. The program included a customized map with specific service plazas highlighted. In the first year, more than 9,000 drivers signed up for the program, literally driving traffic to the specific locations HMS wanted to support.

“Sometimes a single item makes more sense than a more elaborate national program at a higher cost,” Lardner says.