T.G.I. Friday's® Generates Sizzle with Interactive Email Campaign

Problem:
Casual dining leader T.G.I. Friday's® has built its reputation on a fun atmosphere, friendly, outgoing staff, and great-tasting food. So when the internal team in charge of Friday's® popular e-club observed a drop in open rates, stagnant clickthroughs, and fewer forwarded messages, they knew it was time to infuse their email marketing efforts with the energy and personality that has always been at the heart of their brand's success.

Need:
T.G.I. Friday's needed to re-engage and excite subscribers while accomplishing some very specific tasks: Existing Friday's emails (delivered monthly to over 1,758,500 e-club and Gold Points subscribers) placed heavy emphasis on menu items. That focus needed to remain strong, as T.G.I.F. prepared to introduce a new selection of "sizzling platters" nationwide. In addition, the restaurant chain needed to promote their 40th birthday celebration.

Solution:
Using the T.G.I. Friday's new sizzling platter entrées as a springboard, the BlueHornet Creative Agency concepted and developed an email campaign that combined interactivity, online couponing, viral marketing components, and acquisition strategies.

The result was the T.G.I. Friday's Sizzle Factor Quiz. In the March 2005 Friday's email newsletter, subscribers were encouraged to click through to a quiz that would reveal whether they were "hot or not." To tie in their 40th birthday, quiz questions focused on Friday's role in pop culture over the past four decades. In keeping with their brand positioning, quiz questions and answers were fun and humorous.

Upon completing the quiz, subscribers received their own "sizzle factor" score and personality profile. Each funny personality profile included an entrée recommendation from the new Friday's sizzle menu and a link to a promo page where subscribers could learn more. Participants were also emailed a coupon for a free appetizer.

To bring in viral components, subscribers could email friends an invitation challenging them to take the quiz and try to beat the subscriber's sizzle factor score. Friends who took the quiz were given the option to join the Friday's e-club.

Results:
The email promoting the Sizzle Factor Quiz achieved a 25.23% open rate and a 57.86% clickthrough rate to the quiz among e-club members. Of those, a full 97.84% took the quiz, over one-third of quiz takers challenged their friends, and nearly 60% of all challengees took the quiz.

Most notably, in a single monthly email, T.G.I. Friday's achieved an average new subscriber conversion rate of 15% among challengees.

"T.G.I. Friday's has considered BlueHornet a trusted eMarketing technology partner," said Erika Eberle, Friday's national associate marketing manager. "But this time, their creative and campaign management teams far surpassed my expectations on creative. BlueHornet delivered a campaign that was highly interactive, very effective, and completely aligned with the Friday's brand. I look forward to our continued partnership."

The Sizzle Quiz campaign continues to produce results. "Even though our birthday has passed," said Eberle, "the quiz's personality profile still gets forwarded between e-club members and their friends. They're having a blast, which is exactly what they expect from Friday's."


To read another T.G.I. Friday's case study from BlueHornet, click here.