A Millennial Problem

As 2011 approached, Denny’s was faced with something it hadn’t ever encountered before. Its entire category – mid-scale dining – was on the decline. Its loyal consumer base had started eating out less or trading down to fast casual restaurants. As Denny’s had all but ignored more youthful consumer segments over the years, there was no consideration with the Millennial generation.

A Strategy to Connect

Our creative strategy was simple: Open up at Denny’s. This strategy was grounded in that fact that “openness” was a shared insight between our consumer, the culture and the brand. Transparency is a core value and a badge of pride for the Millennial generation. Interestingly enough openness was already a part of the Denny’s brand, as there were more than 1,600 billboards standing outside Denny’s physical restaurants stating “Open - 24/7.”

A Creative Solution

In order to embrace “openness” in a way that would be relevant to Millennial consumers, we created the “Always Open” web series leveraging some of Hollywood’s top comedic A-listers. In each episode, Dave Koechner (comedian best known from his role in Anchorman) focused on getting one celebrity guest to “open up” over a plate of comfort food at Denny’s. Dave’s guests included the likes of Sarah Silverman, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jason Bateman, Will Forte and Kristen Bell. Through Dave’s unmatched ability to lead a spontaneous conversation, he got guests to reveal facts, stats and stories that even their biggest fans wouldn’t know. Each episode was completely unscripted – after all, improvisation is spontaneous, genuine, and inherently open in nature.

The ‘Always Open’ web series was supported by $700,000 in total spend.

A Business Impact

Denny’s “Always Open” web series garnered more than six million views and 100 million PR impressions during the applicable submission time period (3/1/13 – 4/30/12). The series also launched Denny’s into the popular culture spotlight, as evident by the brand’s mentions on Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live and South Park. Most importantly our Recommendation score among Millennials climbed from 0.8 to 17.6 and for the first time in 5 years Denny’s had positive same store sales.