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Gen-X, Millennial Momvertising Opps: IHOP announces loyalty program amid creative review (Score 57)

discounts and benefits. Members will be able to customize orders, earn discounts, pay at the table and get free delivery. It will also help the brand collect first-party data that will help it target consumers more effectively. IHOP's DMs believe the program will improve loyalty among existing customers and help it attract new customers. The program will officially launch in April, but there is a pre-enrollment period from March 10th to March 29. The brand is gearing up for a big marketing push to promote the launch. It has not disclosed many details, but it will mainly be supported online. 

According to Pathmatics, IHOP earned 216.9m impressions YTD through Facebook ads (60%), Instagram ads (27%), desktop display ads (7%), desktop video ads (5%) and mobile display ads (1%). It placed the majority (94)% of these ads site direct onto sites such as facebook.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, yahoo.com and illinois.edu.com. It placed the remainder (6%) indirectly through Google AdX+AdSense onto sites such as kohls.com, neogaf.com, ebay.com, yahoo.com and wuxiaworld.com. It spent approximately $1.7m on digital display ads YTD, a 70% increase from $1m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend skyrocketed from $2.6m in 2020 to $13.6m in 2021. 

Per iSpot, IHOP spent $6.6m on national TV ads YTD, a 25% increase from $5.3m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend jumped 63% from $23.9m in 2020 to $38.9m in 2021. This year, it placed ads during programming such as "NBA Basketball," "Today," "Today 3rd Hour," "Good Morning America" and "SportsCenter." 

Sellers-- IHOP focuses on reaching Gen-X and millennials with a female skew, which includes moms. It reaches these demographics through digital display and national TV ads. It aggressively increased spend across both channels in 2021, and it has continued ramping spend up so far this year. It also invests in OOH, print and local broadcast TV ads, per Kantar. It is planning a campaign to promote the new loyalty program, so start reaching out to offer ad space soon. 

Agency & martech readers-- IHOP worked with Initiative on media buying and planning. Keep reaching out to pitch your services.