"Inspiring" Words from Inspire Brands

Interesting writeup on comments from Travis Freeman, the Chief Media Officer of Inspire Brands at Advertising Week New York.

The topic of his panel discussion was not about restaurant loyalty per se, but in his comments he touched on it broadly, and the implications for loyalty programs run by Inspire's brands (Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and Sonic, in case you're not familiar with Inspire).  And what was interesting was his realistic view, recognizing that consumers are not really loyal in the restaurant space, but transactional: "Most consumers in QSR and CDR are very promiscuous. There are some that have diehard loyalty, but very, very few..."  You don't often hear execs acknowledging that reality, and that can lead to a disconnect between internal expectations about what a loyalty program can deliver, and the reality of consumer choice and behavior.

Those consumers that do have "diehard loyalty" also have a need for variety at times, so you will never get 100% "share of stomach".  It is tempting to believe that you should be considered for every out-of-home dining occasion, but too many factors drive each decision - convenience, taste, budget, etc. The fight is always to be relevant at the moment of decision, and if a loyalty program tips the scales your way, then it is working as intended. “The full funnel on our side is basically upper consideration to lower consideration, and you have to have a brand message going at the same time as that lower consideration message,” Even when that lower consideration message takes the form or a rich offer, it may not stop top-of-mind for long.  “Attention span and span of memories are so short. For us to assume that we can send a message two days out, and then [the consumer is] going to remember it like a week later — absolutely not...”  So the use of data is essential, and the data collected by it's loyalty programs is what fuels contact strategy for Inspire, which "unites data across its brands and allows one chain to advertise based on insights gleaned from another." Many brands find it challenging to successfully utilize their own data, so kudos to Inspire if it is able to leverage cross-brand data effectively.  (Anecdotally, I belong to programs for four of their six brands, and I have never seen any message or offer that would seem to be personalized within a single brand, let alone based on activity at a different brand, but maybe that effort is in nascent stages.) Regardless, it seems Inspire is driving some cutting-edge thinking.  As the author of the article states,  "The adage about marketers reaching the right consumer with the right message in the right moment is crucial for Inspire..."  Indeed, and not just for Inspire.