With America’s family-dining category declining, IHOP sought to transcend its best-for-breakfast fame to drive traffic during additional mealtimes.

The restaurant revered for its all-American, fluffy pancakes tackled the mission head-on by perfecting another American classic: the burger.

The task of launching burgers by a brand known for pancakes presented a unique duo of challenges. First, it was critical that we shifted America’s perception of IHOP as solely a breakfast destination. Secondly, IHOP, as the challenger brand, must stand out among the established giants. In a nation saturated with burger chains, being heard would be a feat, particularly as IHOP’s advertising budget was less than two percent of the combined budgets of the category leaders, including McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s.

IHOP needed something as big and bold as its burgers to hijack attention, spark chatter and firmly plant itself as a serious contender in the burger conversation.

For 60 years, IHOP was known and loved for its eponymous guest-favorite: pancakes. So how could the restaurant be taken seriously about its new burgers?

We flipped one letter, and the Internet flipped out. With the slightest change to an iconic acronym, IHOb was born, reawakening an entire country’s latent love for a nostalgic brand.

In an always-on world that expects an instantly gratifying answer to every question, we knew this audacious move would trigger fascination with America asking, “Are they serious?!” Changing the brand name created the emotional response we anticipated. From the initial tease to the big reveal and beyond, everyone had a reaction, a guess and an opinion, both online and offline.

We harnessed America’s disbelief to ignite curiosity, spark conversation and fuel controversy, unleashing unprecedented earned coverage, engagement, and ultimately driving consideration and trial of IHOP’s new burgers.

Research found brand love for IHOP far surpassed its competitors; however, the brand fell short on driving intent. Additionally, IHOP maintained a stronghold association with only one consideration occasion: breakfast.

We designed a strategy to steal share from competition and increase guest frequency by reframing IHOP as an option for multiple mealtimes. We pivoted IHOP to embrace breakfast and beyond, and crafted the platform, RISE TO THE OCCASION.

The message was clear: IHOP takes its Steakburgers as seriously as its pancakes. The communications framework liberated IHOP from a single-lane breakfast message to cater to distinct dayparts and a wider audience of diners.

Following a social launch, we leveraged public conversation and earned media to reach guests at new touchpoints within their consideration journey. The volume of IHOb messaging at every unexpected turn cemented IHOP’s relevance as top of mind in culture, and top of guests’ minds when making dining decisions.

We unveiled IHOb in a phased rollout of “tease, taste and tempt” that continuously rallied owned, earned and paid media channels.

For one week, a nation of guests, influencers, celebrity fans and media guessed, “What’s the b in IHOb?!” PR drove the narrative with executive interviews and culinary previews for target media and influencers who would ultimately help reveal the embargoed news.

We answered the anticipation with a national television interview, strategically placed print stories and social media initiatives, followed by a second wave of robust media relations to fuel the story. A VIb launch event at IHOb, in-restaurant interviews, in-studio burger deliveries and behind-the-scenes culinary content brought the campaign to life.

With over 100 coordinated tastings and media drops to get burgers in the hands of earned newsmakers and influencers, PR sustained momentum well beyond the launch moment to make IHOb an unforgettable moment in conversation and ongoing consideration.

Ultimately, IHOP was successful in exciting America’s taste buds beyond breakfast. IHOb dramatically increased IHOP’s perception for “having great burgers” from 41% to 51%, catapulting the brand from last place to second place among competitors.

On the day of the media “reveal,” IHOP lunch and dinner sales increased 15% and 28%, respectively. IHOP quadrupled burger sales YOY during the first month following the campaign launch, selling 500,000 burgers per week, and sustained 2x lunch and dinner sales through the end of the year.

By decoding culture and implementing a strategic, agile PR campaign, we also succeeded in delivering positive sales results and driving incremental visits from both loyal and new guests.