Millennial, Gen-X Media Opps: Red Robin to focus on local marketing, customer experience (Score 75)

Sales lead: Get in touch if you can help this company with any of its ongoing initiatives. 

• Red Robin (RR) outlined some of its marketing plans during its first (Q2) earnings report since naming Kevin Mayer CMO. 
• The chain sent out a marketing toolkit to unit operators as it focuses on local marketing in order to improve visibility. 
• It is also looking to improve the customer experience by adding new items to the menu and kicking off a restaurant renovation program. 
• RR has been decreasing ad spend to support these projects.
• However, it does plan on increasing spend in H2 and heading into 2024. 

Target demographic: Gen-Xers & millennials

The company will likely:

• Ramp up local ad spend (click here to view RR's locations)
• Seek high ROI marketing investments as it allocates funds toward other projects
• Review the agency roster (recent CMO hire)

Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: RR has not allocated any budget toward national TV ads so far this year.
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend dropped 13% from $178k in 2021 to $155.1k in 2022. 
• Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Entertainment Tonight, Modern Family, and Jeopardy!. 

Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: RR spent about $534.7k on digital display ads YTD, down from $4m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022.
• YTD data: 53.2m impressions via YouTube (55%), Facebook (24%), and Instagram (20%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend fell by 22% from $7.2m in 2021 to $5.6m in 2022. 
• Ad location: It placed 100% of these ads directly onto instagram.com, facebook.com, and youtube.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: RR also invests in OOH and local broadcast.

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: Keep reaching out to the new CMO. 
• Current roster:
  • The Integer Group: creative AOR
  • Assembly: media buying/planning & digital
  • Coyne Public Relations: PR

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix.