P.F. Chang’s has a particular connection to the “Freaky Friday” franchise. | Picture courtesy of P.F. Chang’s
For the primary time in its historical past, P.F. Chang’s is partnering with a movie franchise for a limited-time menu promotion.
The Freakier Flavors menu, accessible by means of Sept. 2, is a tie-in with Disney’s “Freakier Friday,” the sequel to “Freaky Friday,” starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as a mom and daughter who change our bodies.
The menu consists of three entrees that nod to the movie, such because the customizable Make Good Selections dinner particular and the You’re Not My Mom Mongolian Beef. It additionally incorporates a pair of non-alcoholic “refreshers”—the Switcheroo and Crystal Ball—that change shade with the addition of a mixer. For dessert, there’s a Pink Slip Ube Cheesecake, which will get its pink-purple shade from purple candy potato and edible pink glitter.
Film and TV tie-ins have confirmed to be a profitable advertising technique at different manufacturers not too long ago. Burger King scored successful with its Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon Meal, and McDonald’s Minecraft Meal drove gross sales in an in any other case sluggish interval for the burger large.
However it’s not the kind of factor prospects would possibly count on from P.F. Chang’s, which skews extra upscale than the typical casual-dining chain. However when Disney approached Chang’s with the concept, the corporate thought it was a uniquely good match, mentioned CMO Sonika Patel.
That’s as a result of, within the authentic Curtis-Lohan “Freaky Friday,” the 2 characters make the change at a fictional Asian restaurant referred to as Home of Chiang’s.
“We thought that this new ‘Freakier Friday’ film is definitely the right alternative for us to make considerably of that unofficial nod a bit of extra official,” Patel mentioned in an interview.
Chang’s additionally felt that the colourful film menu would assist it break by means of the noise in what has grow to be a fiercely aggressive promotional setting.
“Everybody’s dying for shoppers’ consideration,” Patel mentioned “We felt just like the nostalgia and that pleasure that the film brings goes to present shoppers a recent motive to return to P.F. Chang’s and drive site visitors for the enterprise.”
Patel, who beforehand labored in advertising for PepsiCo, Danone, DoorDash and TicketMaster, is developing on one 12 months at P.F. Chang’s. She has been working to reconnect with prospects and reignite their love for the model, which noticed its systemwide gross sales shrink by 3% final 12 months, in response to Technomic information.
A part of that effort has concerned doing extra on social media. P.F. Chang’s employed a workforce of social specialists together with a creator, who goes into its eating places and creates content material. It has additionally partnered with influencers to advertise the model on their accounts.
It scored a win on TikTok in June after a person named @badvina created a profile for a faux cake enterprise and started receiving precise orders. P.F. Chang’s commented on a viral put up of @badvina furiously mixing cake batter. It then took the engagement a step additional, sending a number of of its Nice Wall of Chocolate Muffins and New York Cheesecakes to @badvina’s door. The accompanying video turned P.F. Chang’s strongest TikTok put up of the 12 months.
“The web is loving us,” Patel mentioned.
The query is, does web love translate to gross sales?
Patel mentioned a part of her job is to place P.F. Chang’s in shoppers’ consideration set, and that social media has grow to be one of the best ways to try this.
“After I began my advertising profession, all the eye was on conventional TV,” she mentioned. “Now, social is the place manufacturers are being constructed, and that’s how persons are making their decisions for who they need to spend their cash on.”
It’s miles from the one restaurant chain to take this method as social media tendencies proceed to sway shoppers’ eating habits. Chili’s funding in social media paid off in an enormous manner final 12 months after its Triple Dipper appetizer went viral on TikTok.
P.F. Chang’s continues to be investing in conventional advertising channels, corresponding to e mail and textual content messaging and digital promoting. It additionally has a loyalty program that offers prospects 10% again in Chang’s Money on each buy, a free dessert or app on their birthday, and different perks.
And it’s embracing popular culture with promotions just like the Freakier Flavors menu, which garnered greater than a billion media impressions on the day it launched in July.
Patel mentioned the menu is a superb begin for the brand new technique, and he or she didn’t rule out doing extra tie-ins sooner or later. However they should be a “no-brainer” like Freakier Flavors was.
“There’s one thing nostalgic about that basic dinner and a film,” Patel mentioned. “The subsequent partnership, at any time when we provide you with one, will likely be in the same manner the place we take into consideration, ‘How does this partnership improve the visitor expertise?’”
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