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Program
• Red Lobster cruise giveaway and promotion to reinvigorate its loyal customer base.
Significance
• For the first time, Red Lobster integrated in-restaurant marketing with online marketing to tell consumers about the promotion. BlueHornet guided Red Lobster to help them achieve maximum results and implement the program.
Results
• The most successful Internet marketing effort in Red Lobster's history, membership in the Overboard Club grew by more than 25 percent. 31 percent of those who visited the website registered for the sweepstakes.
National
After 36 years of business, Red Lobster needed to reinvigorate its loyal following of patrons who expect quality and consistency from the restaurant chain. The management of Red Lobster wanted to launch an event that would generate excitement within these patrons and turn regulars into enthusiastic Red Lobster advocates. It was their hope that a great promotion would generate a wave of word of mouth activity about the unique and innovative events happening at the restaurant.
Red Lobster partnered with Carnival Cruise Lines and Kendall Jackson Wineries to develop a Red Lobster Seafood and Wine Lover's cruise promotion and event. The nationwide promotion offered opportunities to win 50 expense paid cruises to Key West and Cozumel as well as the opportunity for guests to purchase cabins on the cruise.
Red Lobster patrons learned about the cruise through a national FSI, multiple website information pages and a promotional coaster, which doubled as a contest entry form in the restaurant.
Most significantly, for the first time, Red Lobster integrated its collateral material and in-restaurant marketing with online marketing to support the cruise promotion at every point of customer contact. BlueHornet partnered with Red Lobster to achieve that integration with maximum results. Specifically, Red Lobster called on BlueHornet to provide strategic solutions to grow membership in the Overboard Club - their online club that offers special benefits, newsletters, and discounts to its members. When guests entered to win the cruise online, they registered to join the club.
BlueHornet also worked to ensure that Red Lobster's systems were thoroughly prepared to handle the sign ups and increased traffic volume expected from a promotion of this magnitude.
This promotion was the most successful Internet marketing effort Red Lobster has ever had. Red Lobster membership was sent overboard by the overwhelmingly successful outcome of this promotion. During the promotional period, Red Lobster received an extraordinary number of sweepstakes entries. Because of increased website traffic and renewed interest in the site, they saw 25 percent growth in Overboard Club membership. When patrons visited the website, 31 percent of them entered into the sweepstakes - a vital indicator that in-restaurant marketing drove website visitation.
"BlueHornet is irreplaceable for us, and they always have a seat at our table as strategic partners. Theirs is not a boxed approach. They are insightful about understanding our business — presenting our options and knowing what is right for our audience. Plus, they're honest enough to speak up when something we present doesn't make sense. That makes them more than just a resource, they are true partners."
--Michael Friedman, Interactive Marketing Manager
Darden Restaurants
Read more about Red Lobster's innovative Internet marketing efforts.
To read another Red Lobster case study from BlueHornet, click here.
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