National chain of restaurants gets back on its feet with a new marketing campaign
Miami, FL - June 16, 2001 - After months of slumping sales, Roadhouse Grill, a national chain of over 70 restaurants decided to hire a new ad agency. Traditionally, Roadhouse Grill had retained the services of large shops that were not able to deliver on the CLient's requirement to achieve a $3 sales return for every $1 spent on marketing. Using costly and unmeasurable traditional tactics like billboards, radio and print made this a daunting goal for old-school agencies. But the revenue goal didn’t intimidate Diaz & Cooper (DCA), a boutique Miami shop.
“We were very impressed with DCA’s presentation,” said Elyn Lautin, the marketing director of Roadhouse Grill. “They came across to us as if they were used to being accountable for their work.” As a result of the marketing campaign designed and executed by DCA, Roadhouse sales increased in 2001 for the first time in almost 2 years.
The DCA team, headed by Omi Diaz-Cooper, immediately identified that Roadhouse Grill did not have a strong brand recognition among consumers and created a campaign that included a wood and parchment look used throughout all advertising and in-store materials. This look emphasized the casual atmosphere and reinforced the company’s theme. DCA advised Roadhouse Grill to include in their marketing mix direct response marketing, billboards, mail inserts (FSIs) and print advertising in small local papers and campus publications, which efficiently reached target audiences within a 10-mile radius of each location.
The results were outstanding. The FSI’s designed by DCA averaged a 23% better return than the industry standard. In 2002, FSI campaigns increased sales more than radio buys (almost 12% in South Florida alone). The Return on Investment on FSI and other LSM programs averaged 7 to 1. Local awareness of Roadhouse Grill increased significantly in markets running promotions.
