Summary
Chipotle, a high-end US fast-food chain, wanted to emphasise the quality of its ingredients, its commitment to building a supply chain of over 7,000 farmers and sourcing more local produce and sustainably-raised meat than its rivals. Its emotion-led 'Cultivate A Better World' campaign included the non-profit Cultivate Foundation, and a content marketing platform featuring an interactive online game, a music, food and ideas festival, a campaign film and a TV ad (the soundtrack to which subsequently topped the iTunes charts). The ad was viewed over 6.9m times on YouTube and earned over 400m media impressions.

Summary
This case study looks at how Smith & Wollensky, a steakhouse in New York, aimed to increase its numbers of regular customers among men aged 35-54 years old. The insight for the campaign came from the privileged way Smith & Wollensky treated its regulars, from putting a plaque with the customer's name on the wall to waiters who remembered guests' food and drinks preferences. Throughout October 2011, the restaurant replaced the 'Smith' in its name with the names of steakhouse goers who had pledged their loyalty, in order to make them feel like they owned the place. This applied to all in-house collateral including the signs, awnings, napkins, waiter's jackets and the names on the knives. This was supported through online display, press, sponsored editorial and website. This campaign delivered reach of 4.9m earned media impressions and in the month of October generated an additional $201,760 worth of meals.

Summary
McDonalds, the quick service restaurant operator, wanted to increase awareness in China of its sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics. However, it needed to overcome the impact on consumers' interest of the time difference and distance between China and Britain. This case describes how the brand created a 'real-time Olympics' smartphone app to engage consumers in the Olympics when they were at McDonald's outlets. The app was downloaded more than three million times and led to the redemption of in-app coupons which generated new sales for McDonald's.

Summary
In 2011 McDonald's, the quick service restaurant operator, introduced a virtual currency into the Danish market. These so-called digital “Coins” were integrated into the brand's advertising elements across all media platforms and could be collected via a purpose-built smartphone app which could scan visual and audio codes embedded in the advertising. When users had enough Coins in their accounts, these could be exchanged for free offers. As evidence of its success, this case study cites usage of the app, coin redemption, increases in brand favourability and improved media efficiency in the second wave of the campaign, following the success of the first.

Summary
US restaurant chain Taco Bell realised it was out of step with the Millennial generation which prompted a brand repositioning from that of “Jester” to “Explorer”. The brand observed that consumers’ relationship with food had moved from that of ‘food as fuel’ to food as experience – to be explored, enjoyed and shared. This fully integrated campaign encouraged consumers to venture out of the norm and try new food experiences. This led to an immediate and positive turnaround of its brand image and positive scores on the ‘brand love’ metrics. Taco Bell became culturally relevant again and experienced a positive halo effect in other areas of business.

Summary
This case study demonstrates how Red Lobster, the American seafood restaurant, used consumer research to revitalise the brand and drive greater frequency of visits. Due to dated perceptions and declining sales, Red Lobster conducted Ethnographies and Consumer Dine-Alongs that showed that consumers were completely unaware of the good changes the restaurant had made. The resulting Sea Food Differently campaign inserted humanity into the brand by showcasing real Red Lobster employees talking about the changes taking place through traditional and digital media. Following this, sales increased ahead of the category and guest counts increased for the first time in years.

Summary
The average fast food consumer in the US will change as two dramatic demographic shifts in the population take hold and mature fast food brands decide how to respond. The 'silver tsunami', which started in 2011, will continue into 2030, when 18% of the US population will be over 65. Second, the Hispanic population, which tends to be frequent and profitable visitors to fast food outlets, is expected by reach over 66 million by 2020 and represents 53% of US growth. Fast food chains will have to keep up with the growth in smartphone use to publicise deals and devote resources to monitoring and responding to customer feedback on review sites. Another key trend will be the alternating of regular menus with healthier options, the introduction of more low-cost but high-margin snack items and chicken is primed to become the most popular protein of traditionally burger-dominated chains such as McDonald's.

Summary
Sports bar chain Boston Pizza wanted to increase overall sales of boneless chicken wings, a key menu item, by 5% and make the brand a top-of-mind destination for wings during the 2012 Canadian National Hockey League playoffs. It created a fictitious character, Terry Peters, and built up a social media profile for him before relaunching the product as 'All Meat Wings'. Using TV, radio, online, press, events and social media, it built buzz and engaged the male target audience across multiple channels. It also bought advertising space on key sports channels and video games such as Xbox. This drove an overall sales uplift of 43%, with more than 50% of wings' sales being All Meat Wings. It also established Boston Pizza as a destination for wings during the NHL playoffs.

Summary
This Canadian campaign, for Boston Pizza International, a fast food chain, focussed on the client's USP: the variety of its menu, when compared to those of its rivals. The creative was based around the concept of Finger Cooking: busy dads making the family meal with a finger and a computer - in other words, visiting Boston Pizza's website and ordering online. Media used included TV, DM, outdoor, social media and online video ads. Both hard and soft business metrics, from sales to brand awareness, were boosted by the campaign.

Summary
Learn how restaurant sector experts use in-store marketing effectively in this document with cases from McDonald's (India), KFC (UK), Burger King (Brazil) and Taco Bell (USA).