Nocturnal diners targeted by new marketing tactics

Nation's Restaurant News,  June 16, 2008  by Gregg Cebrzynski

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Restaurant chains have courted late-night diners for many years, but a slew of new marketing initiatives during the last few weeks show how increasingly eager they are to tap into that daypart to boost sales.

Burger King extended its hours to 2 a.m. or later Thursday to Saturday at its U.S. units and is promoting late night in a new TV campaign starring Sean "Diddy" Combs, the chain's "Late Night Ambassador."

Meanwhile, Buffalo Wild Wings introduced a Night Hunger menu, and executives of Triarc Cos. have vowed to strengthen late-night business at Wendy's as soon as Triarc's acquisition of the No. 3 burger brand is completed.

Wendy's already has increased its focus on light-night diners, recently launching an interactive campaign aimed at patrons of bars and nightclubs.

And Denny's has debuted an All Nighter menu, its first bill of fare designed specifically for late-night diners.

For its part, Taco Bell continues online promotion of its "Fourthmeal," whose launch in 2006 signaled that late-night dining deserved a more comprehensive marketing push than chains had given it in the past.

And there's no mistaking who the chains are pushing to get into their restaurants.

"The twentysomething crowd, without a doubt," said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based foodservice research firm.

Because the restaurant industry has become "so competitive" during the last two or three years, he said, late night is one of the areas receiving "much more focus."

Nowhere is that clearer than with Denny's late-night initiative, which seeks to regain the chain's status as a hip place where young diners can hang out. Denny's is targeting the 18-to-30-year-old crowd with shareable meals and value items on the All Nighter menu, served only from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

During those hours, Denny's plays alternative rock, and employees swap their traditional uniforms for jeans and black T-shirts with the slogan "Get your Crave On."

After researching its late-night clientele, Denny's decided to target younger diners because 89 percent are "entertainment seekers" who go out as a crowd to eat, said Michael Polydoroff, director of sales promotion and licensing for the Spartanburg, S.C.-based chain. "That's where we needed to place the emphasis," he said.

Denny's, which has more than 1,500 units nationwide, is trying to hook the young crowd through its www.dennysallnighter.com microsite and Adopt-A-Band program, which offers free meals and promotional support to bands on tour. Visitors to the microsite can vote to add their favorite band to the program. In the first three weeks that the site was up, nearly 1 million people logged on, Polydoroff said.

Denny's even enlisted a group of 18-to-25-year-olds to develop some of the new menu items, which include kettle chips with toppings, two kinds of mini burgers and a sweet-flavored nacho dish.

The chain isn't afraid it will alienate older customers during late night with the decidedly younger and more casual atmosphere in the restaurants, Polydoroff said. They'll either tolerate it or buy a meal to go, he said.

"We can't be all things to all people any more," he said. "We have to focus our efforts, and this makes the most sense."

Although restaurants like to concentrate their marketing on peak meal hours, Tristano said, chains almost are forced to look at other dayparts because if they don't, "someone else will."

Buffalo Wild Wings came up with its Night Hunger campaign to increase food sales from 9 p.m. to closing by adding shareable items like the Ballpark Sampler and cheeseburger and pulled-pork Slammers. "All three items are not only doing very well with guests, but the employees are proud to serve them" said Kathy Benning, BWW's vice president of marketing and brand development.

Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings, which has more than 500 units in 37 states, already does 15 percent of sales among the after-dinner crowd, and Benning said the Night Hunger program offers "another compelling reason" to bring more people in late at night.

The campaign uses the tag "Our Kitchen Doesn't Close Until We Do" to encourage more diners to order food while they're watching sports on TV or having drinks. Most of the chain's restaurants close at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. and its core 18-to-49-year-old customers "love sports," Benning said. "They love to socialize. They also come in groups of four or more, especially later in the evening."

The chain wanted to differentiate itself by adding shareable items that other casual-dining chains don't offer, she added.

To support the menu, BWW launched "Night Hunger The Game" at its websites, letting players test their skills against various classic monsters. Regional and local radio spots, in-store material and e-mails to Buffalo Circle members also promote the menu.