New IHOP TV spots are warm and friendly, not sappy

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 22, 2001 by Gregg Cebrzynski

Let me say right away that I am not a Rooty Tooty guy. That is, I've never eaten the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity breakfast at IHOP.

It's not that I'd be embarrassed -- like the guy in that TV spot of some years ago -- to plop myself down in a booth and tell the waitress, "Make mine a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity." I'd happily do that, and I wouldn't even wear a disguise like that guy in the TV spot.

The fact is I like saying "Rooty Tooty" as much as I like saying "Chumbawumba," the name of a British rock group. But another fact is that the Rooty Tooty contains too much food for me. I eat like a bird without much of an appetite, pecking at a few seeds and taking the rest home in a birdy bag for tomorrow.

And as long as I'm dealing in facts, here's one more, and it's the most important: I'm glad IHOP still serves the Rooty Tooty. I like knowing it's there even though I'll never order it. IHOP wouldn't be IHOP without the Rooty Tooty. It's part of the chain's identity.

Now IHOP is running television spots that build on its identity and brand heritage, one spot airing strictly as an image ad and others promoting breakfast selections and sandwiches. "Any time's a good time for IHOP" is the tag, which says more about brand positioning than most other tag lines out there.

In the new campaign we see a young, married guy who burns a roast and receives a sympathetic smile from the little lady; a bunch of college guys whose coffee maker spills over onto their table; a little boy teaching Grandpa how to ride one of those newfangled scooters.

At the end of those vignettes everyone ends up in an IHOP restaurant, where they're obviously having fun. The Rooty Tooty never is mentioned, but I can feel its presence.

"The whole idea was to focus on the strengths of the brand, that friendly, warm, nostalgic feeling ... and make it relevant to the lives of consumers," Susan Hernandez, vice president of marketing, said.

For the past 18 months, she said, IHOP has run TV spots that are designed to do nothing more than promote product. The current ads are the first since that time that are part of a significant campaign designed to strengthen the brand image as well as increase customer counts.

"I think that the best restaurant advertising does, in fact, reinforce the brand as well as drive traffic into the restaurants," Hernandez said.

That's tough to do, but if any campaign stands a chance of accomplishing those goals, this is the one. The "warm, nostalgic feeling" comes across without seeming sappy. The food shots are appetizing.

The vignette with the young, married guy who burns the roast is one with which many newlyweds -- and older married couples in which the husband is still a no-cook doofus -- can identify. I can imagine the post-burning dialogue: "Don't worry, honey. Kitchen accidents will happen. No, I'm not going to bop you on the head with the roast. Let's go to IHOP. Oh, and it's your treat."

The campaign was created by IHOP's new agency, Heil-Brice Retail Advertising of Newport Beach, Calif.

IHOP spends almost $30 million a year on advertising. The chain is 43 years old, and like many older marketers, it has to reinforce its image occasionally.

"This campaign can run for a long time," Hernandez said.

Yes, it can. The various TV spots cut across demographic groups, the production values are sharp, and even the non-Rooty Tooty eaters out there are impressed.