The fast-food restaurant chain, Jack in the Box, recently showed support for Northern Inyo Healthcare District in California by donating breakfast Jacks and potato wedges to frontline staff.
Such initiatives by brands has become something customers expect, and JitB are delivering.
But this is not where the company’s positive efforts end. Darin Harris, the company’s new CEO, is on a mission to “jumpstart” growth, which he was largely responsible for in his previous tenure, at Arby – and he has a plan.
Harris intends to leverage his experience in order to build a pipeline of new development and to get the teams, tools, and processes in place. More importantly, he’ll continue looking into and investigating what drives Jack in the Box’s success. Unsurprisingly to PostFunnel readers – the answer lies in breaking down customer behavior.
“Understanding what’s driving our consumer behavior is another component that we will continue to focus on so that we can make sure we’re entering the right markets with the right economic model and the right box,” Harris said during the company’s Q3 earnings call.
“So what I would suggest is that as we look at, whether it’s our existing markets where we have plenty of room to grow or new, it’s really understanding our consumer behavior, what demographics are important… and we need to be able to meet consumers where they want to experience Jack in the Box.”
The brand experienced 6.6% growth in same-store sales and since 90% of its sales are from the company’s takeout meals – this further contributed to its success during COVID.
But it doesn’t stop here, either.
As sales surged, SVP and chief brand and experience officer at Jack in the Box, Adrienne Ingoldt, explained in a The Drum article, how the brand strives “to create a sense of community that has been lost during shelter at home.”
To promote the comeback of its Spicy Chicken Strips, it launched the ‘National Text Your Ex for Jack Day’, where they literally asked customers to text their exes and take a screenshot of it in order to get a $50 gift card. Awkward! But catchy.
The brand wanted to encourage people to get in touch with others amid the ongoing pandemic – where isolation, quarantine, and social distancing have been in place for the past 5 months.
“We made the choice early in the pandemic not to pull our foot off of the gas,” said Ingoldt. “This spend is dictated by listening to consumers. What do they need? Whether it’s a product like bringing back a fan favorite or it’s an experience or a connection moment or it’s an entertainment moment — we look to solve for human needs. That’s how Jack’s going to continue to succeed.”
Just to make sure you are following, JitB are doubling down on customer analytics, while being helpful and coming up with unique promotions that play into “the situation”, thus also being relevant.
We hate to fall into this word play (we don’t really), but it seems like these people have been… checking… all… the… yup – boxes.
Hungry for a burger yet?
Oh, and speaking of burgers and some smart, relevant campaigns. Burger King launched a set of limited-edition branded masks that have customers’ orders written on them – meeting social distancing and mask requirements – and perfect for picking up your meal.
The campaign launched on August 10th in Belgium, and will give 250 customers the chance to order wordlessly. To partake in the contest, customers need to post their favorite meals with a funny caption on BK’s social media accounts (FB and IG).
Then, BK will select some of the funniest comments and ship the customers facemasks imprinted with their orders. “Just remember to take off your mask before you eat,” the Facebook post reads. Well, challenge accepted.