Roti Mixes High, Low Tech to Track Promotions
Roti, a Chicago-based chain of three fast-casual Mediterranean restaurants, mixes high and low technology to track its traditional store-opening promotion: "The first one's on us."
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2009
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| An e-mail sign up lets Chicago-based Roti build a database; a mailed letter from management serves as a more personal introduction to the concept. |
In the weeks before opening, the chain offers a free meal to the first 1,000 customers who join its e-mail list, explains Bill Post, Roti founder and president, and former president and CEO at Chicago-based Levy Restaurants Inc. The list always goes over 1,000, though; when Roti opened in Vernon Hills, Ill, this spring, it extended the promotion to 2,400 people.
While the e-mail sign-up is very Web 2.0, the method of tracking the redemption rate is a bit twentieth-century. Customers supply a variety of information, including their home address, when joining Roti's e-mail list. The free meal offer is sent in the form of an old-fashioned letter, signed by Post himself and mailed to patrons' houses.
In addition to introducing the concept and pertinent information about the restaurant, the letter serves as a gift certificate. Patrons present the letter when they want their free meal; Roti keeps track of redemption by counting the letters.
Post says the promotion will continue as the chain opens more units. "It creates a lot of good will and word of mouth," he says.
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Roti is creating a presence on Facebook and Twitter, tools Post says will prove crucial as the chain's newest store, opened in March in Vernon Hills, Ill., is near Adlai E. Stevenson High School, one the nation's largest. Roti is developing a swipe card for its frequency promotion, now carried out on paper punch cards. The swipe cards will identify members of a certain group, say students or teachers at Stevenson, who are eligible for a discount.
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