Cooksey Communications | Agency Profile, Contacts, AOR, Client Relationships

See Winmo sales intelligence in action

Male Gen-Z Delivery Opps: Dickey's Barbecue names new CMO amid significant digital ad spend increase (Score 68)

Effective November 2020, Kristin Peterson joined just over a year ago. In her most recent role as The Richards's Group's brand management director and team lead, Peterson drove strategy and execution for advertising and digital marketing campaigns for brands and companies. These clients included Corona Beer, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Ram Trucks, Red Lobster, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Sewell Automotive Companies and Wawa. Considering her expertise, Peterson's hire will likely result in continued higher digital ad spend (more below).

The same month, Dickey's hired community marketing manager Megan Ezell.

In response to the global pandemic, the company began investing more heavily in coronavirus-proof, touchless technology and virtual kitchens in Chicago, Houston and Orlando. With the virtual kitchens, restaurants can maximize delivery coverage more easily. This digital focus has helped Dickey's thrive amid the pandemic.

According to iSpot, Dickey's hasn't invested in national TV since Q1 2020, when approximately $23.3k targeted male sports enthusiasts viewing Major League Rugby, Inside the PBR Majors, PBR Bull Riding and Inside College Basketball. This amount reflects an exponential decrease from the approximately $2.1m spent by this point last year. The restaurant chain's full 2019 spend more than doubled to around $2.2m from around $885.2k in 2018.

So far this year, Pathmatics estimates Dickey's earned 146.3m digital impressions via Instagram (43%), Facebook (40%) and desktop display (17%) ads. YTD spend of roughly $797k marks a nearly 4x increase from the roughly $225.5k spent within the same 2019 timeframe; the company allocated $226k toward this channel in 2019, down 9% from the $247k allocated in 2018.

This sharp increase in digital ad spend and focus on paid social channels signals a target demographic of Gen-Z. Kantar data reports Dickey's also invests in OOH, print (newspapers and local magazines), radio and local broadcast. Considering this usage of local magazines and broadcast, check locations here to more effectively offer localized ad spend. Remember Dickey's national TV commercials primarily target men, and it is focusing more on its digital offerings and delivery right now.

Agency & martech readers - Reach out soon to secure potential work under the company's new CMO. Cooksey Communications handles PR. Thus, you'll likely have the best luck securing creative duties, which Dickey's currently leads in-house.