Public Relations Campaign Texas Roadhouse Pitch 2013

Dear Joel,

On behalf of our Public Relations Campaign Methods class, we would like to thank you for allowing us to assist you on this project. We know Texas Roadhouse is already an amazing restaurant with phenomenal employees, and we wanted to create an idea that would help you establish an even stronger respect from Texas Roadhouse customers in the Cedar Valley. We hope you enjoy what we have developed and that it helps you not only this year, but in years to follow.

Sincerely, Amy, Ashley, Colin, Erin, and Matt

Index

Contact Information for Pitch Members

Amy Stoll (712) 360-0174 stollaab@uni.edu Ashley Werthamann (563) 579-4025 werthmaa@uni.edu Colin Hazelton (515) 554-1941 hazelton@uni.edu Erin Smith (563) 468-7259 smithear@uni.edu Matt Roth (563) 663-8788 rothmad@uni.edu

Research
Texas Roadhouse The first Texas Roadhouse (TRH) was founded by Kent Taylor. It opened on February 17, 1993 in Clarksville, Indiana. The restaurant chain now has over 300 locations in 40 different states. Taylors vision was to establish a restaurant that could be enjoyed by all ages. Texas Roadhouse is known for their hand-cut steaks, fresh-baked bread, and delicious ribs. They serve large portions to customers so they are satisfied with the meal they paid for. They have a menu for little rangers which offers meals for children which include: Ranger Mel Andys Steak, Lil Dillo Sirloin Bites, Ranger Meal Chicken Critters Basket, or Mac and Cheese. The Texas Roadhouse atmosphere can be enjoyed by all ages through line dancing, picking songs from the jukebox, and much more! They not only like to serve their customers in the restaurant, but they enjoy giving back to citizens and community surrounding the restaurant location.

The Texas Roadhouse in Cedar Falls, Iowa was founded in 1997. First it was located in College Square Mall, but moved to its new location of 5815 University Avenue in the Black Hawk Village shopping area in August 2007. The new location seats up to 266 customers after their recent addition of nine new tables. These additional tables provide 45-48 more seats.

No matter which Texas Roadhouse location a customer visits, the story will always be simpleLegendary Food, Legendary Service- all with lots of Legendary Fun!

Situation Analysis
Internal Texas Roadhouse does not believe in traditional advertising. They stay away from radio and TV advertising and fully encompass face to face interaction. Some customers who commute from smaller towns have started to write off Texas Roadhouse as an eating establishment because of the long wait time. For this reason, Texas Roadhouse in Cedar Falls is looking to promote their new seating, call ahead seating option, to go orders, and Friday lunch opening.

Texas Roadhouse is one of the few places in Cedar Falls where customers can get complimentary peanuts and free bread as they wait for their meal. Customers can also be entertained through line dancing and watching their friends and family members ride on a saddle and receive free dessert on their birthday. It is one of the only restaurants in Cedar Falls that has a country feel with nothing better than the southern hospitality.

External Texas Roadhouse has a firm foundation built with their loyal customers who have become Roadies and receive emails and updates on Texas Roadhouse specials. They also have a bond with many local Cedar Falls businesses by delivering freshly made buns and handing out TRH information. They have also built strong relationships with local schools and hotels in the Cedar Valley. They give 10% off coupons to visitors staying in hotels and in turn, give the hotel personnel Texas Roadhouse bucks to spend on their next meal there. They provide local schools with buns to sell during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and help with coupon campaigns. These strong connections with multiple outlets in Cedar Falls give Texas Roadhouse the opportunity to gain new customers of all ages.

Since Cedar Falls is a college town, it can become highly visited during the school year. This means after major athletic events, many families may choose to eat at Texas Roadhouse. If properly handled between sit down, to go orders, and call ahead seating, TRH could have multiple profitable weekends throughout the year. For this reason, Texas Roadhouse may see a minor lull in sales during the summer months with college students home for the summer. If TRH keeps their strong connections with business and people who are tied to Cedar Falls, they will continue to be profitable during the summer months.

Competitors Texas Roadhouse has many competitors in the Cedar Valley Area which include Carlos OKellys, Famous Daves and Applebees Neighborhood Grill. These three major restaurant chains are also located on University Avenue and tend to take the Texas Roadhouse customers who are dissatisfied with the lengthy wait time. Longhorn Steakhouse is another major competitor that is located in Waterloo. Although it is not in Cedar Falls, it is a restaurant that provides quality steaks just as Texas Roadhouse strives to do.

Informal Research The Texas Roadhouse website, Twitter/Facebook accounts, and the Waterloo Courier are the four locations crucial information was found in order to carry out this pitch. The website provided insight on menus, community outreach, hours of operation, coupons opportunities, roadies, and history. The Twitter and Facebook accounts gave information on posting styles, hash tags, and coupon campaigns. The Waterloo Courier revealed the history of the Cedar Falls Texas Roadhouse dates and locations.

Formal Research Joel came into the Public Relations Campaign Methods class and provided a majority of the information needed to carry out the pitch idea. He gave information on their advertising techniques. He said that they are not big on TV and radio advertising and would rather use face to face interaction with their customers. They strive to use their face to face interaction within a five mile radius of the Roadhouse location in Cedar Falls. Joel told the class of the connections within the Cedar Valley. They have strong ties with elementary schools, hotels, and their loyal roadies. The wait time he said was a major problem but could definitely be solved if they better promote their new seating, call ahead seating, to go orders, and their Friday lunch opening. The Cedar Falls Texas Roadhouse hosts close to 5,000-5,500 customers a week. They are hoping to gain back the customers they have lost because of the long wait time during the dinner hours.

Joel mentioned that they do not have a large budget. He coined the budget of $200 dollars and said they would rather spend their money helping others within the community. With this option, the pitch is geared towards a Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation Week. Any additional questions that needed to be answered were emailed to Joel at cedarfalls@texasroadhouse.com with a subject line of ATTN: Joel. After emailing more questions it was confirmed that the number of seats in Cedar Falls Texas Roadhouse was close to 266. He also said that they do not have a kids night during the week for discounted children meals. Joel also confirmed that they utilize Twitter and Facebook but not to the potential it could be utilized. They would like to expand their social media awareness. Texas Roadhouse is only

open for supper Monday-Thursday (4 pm-10 pm), and is open for lunch and supper on Friday, Saturday, Sunday (11am-11pm). Budget The budget for the pitch is very limited with nothing more than $200. Texas Roadhouse would rather spend their money within the Cedar Falls community than on an advertising campaign.

Clients Limitations Texas Roadhouse does not believe in TV or radio advertising which could greatly increase awareness. Instead they choose to use word of mouth for most of their advertising. The budget they provided is limited but can be used to help with a variety of ideas.

Problem Texas Roadhouse in Cedar Falls is currently experiencing the problem of losing their customers to long wait times. They want to educate their customers on the additional new seating (nine new tables = 45-48 seats) and the different options they have prior to arriving to Texas Roadhouse. Customers are able to utilize call ahead seating and to go orders to eliminate their wait time. They have noticed that many of the customers they are losing to wait times are from small, surrounding towns.

Problem Statement Texas Roadhouse in Cedar Falls, IA wants to gain and retain the customers they have lost to long wait times.
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Target Publics: Demographics, Psychographics, and Sociographics

The Texas Roadhouse in Cedar Falls is looking to target both males and females in Cedar Falls. The individuals targeted to recognize and take advantage of our customer appreciation week are individuals between the ages of 19-64. In Cedar Falls there are close to 39,000 people. Dividing that up, there are 19,000 males and 20,000 females. That means 71% of the Cedar Falls is being targeted. The majority of Texas Roadhouse advertising focuses on the five mile radius around their restaurant on University Avenue. Although it was confirmed that many of the customers upset with the long wait time were individuals from surrounding towns.

The estimated income of Cedar Falls is about $44,900. This means a majority of the town is middle class and can afford to eat out on occasion. Since our appreciation week will give discounts, a majority of people with a steady profit can take the opportunity to eat Texas Roadhouse.

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Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: To increase and retain the number of customers served at Texas Roadhouse in Cedar Falls, Iowa within the next six months. Objective 1: To host an appreciation week at Cedar Falls Texas Roadhouse Monday, June 17- Friday, June 21, 2013 to express gratitude to customers. Strategy: Have each day of appreciation week be tailored to different target publics. Tactic: Monday: Debut the Text/WaitApp | Tuesday: Kids night (free meal when kid brings in the Texas Roadhouse coloring page| Wednesday: $1 off beer on tap | Thursday: Dessert night- order two entrees and get a free dessert | Friday: Friday business card discount for lunch | Strategy: Promote special days via social networks, paper flyers and word of mouth Tactic: Consistently post on Facebook about each day Tactic: Consistently tweet on Twitter about each day Tactic: Use word of mouth when delivering buns around town Tactic: Print flyer with explanation of special days through appreciation week. Strategy: Implement a text/wait application Tactic: http://mobully.com/restaurant-marketing-wait-list-managementcombined/ Tactic: Debut app on Monday of customer appreciation week Strategy: Host a coloring contest for kids

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Tactic: Find a coloring page to be used for contest Tactic: Handout coloring pages to schools prior to summer vacation and leave at local businesses around the area a week before Objective 2: To increase Cedar Falls Texas Roadhouse guest count by 10% by August, 31, 2013. Strategy: Promote via social networks and word of mouth of additional seating added (45-48 chairs) by starting the campaign New seatin Quicker eatin Tactic: Consistently post on Facebook Tactic: Consistently tweet on Twitter Tactic: Periodically mention on website Tactic: Mention name of campaign on all promotional materials Strategy: Encourage the utilization of the text/wait app Tactic: Verbal promotion Objective 3: To increase attendance at lunch on Fridays by 20% by August 31, 2013. Strategy: Elaborate on altered hours of operation by displaying on promotion of appreciation week flyers Tactic: Offer different specials on each Friday after customer appreciation week Strategy: Promote via social networks and word of mouth Tactic: Consistently post on Facebook Tactic: Consistently tweet on Twitter Tactic: Use word of mouth when delivering buns around town

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Planning and Programming

To begin with, we will implement our campaign with customer appreciation the week of June 17 thru the 21 . We will start promoting the customer appreciation week late in May,
th nd

focusing especially on the new Text/Wait App for phones. We will start promoting the customer awareness week on Facebook and Twitter starting on June 2nd. On Monday, June 10th employees will start wearing t-shirts promoting the customer appreciation week and Text/Wait App. The Text/Wait App will debut on Monday, June 17th. We will give every group coming into the restaurant a chance to sign up starting that night. We will purchase the 2,300 number limit of the plan for the App, and increase the amount of numbers on the plan as needed. Before the Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week happens, free advertising opportunities will be taken advantage of. This means updating Facebook and Twitter pages daily. This will likely be handled by a variety of people, but mostly the person in charge of marketing at the store as well as managers who are at the store as well. There will be a simple promotional flyer to give to businesses that we already work with, as well as to place in highly trafficked areas around Cedar Falls. Distribution of the flyers would start on Sunday, June 2 and run
nd

through the start of the customer appreciation week. These flyers will be printed in-house anytime before the distribution date. We will start distributing our Armadillo coloring pages to area schools starting on Monday, June 3rd to give kids a chance to color the picture and then return it on Tuesday, June 18th for their free kids meal.

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We will also take advantage of a simple banner promoting both our New Seatin Quicker Eatin campaign as well as our customer appreciation week. This banner would be unveiled on June 2nd to promote the events beforehand. Shifting to our second goal of encouraging people to visit Texas Roadhouse for lunches on Fridays, we will also focus on social media. We will begin advertising to people that we will be open for Friday lunches starting on June 3rd. We will also start sampling to some businesses in the area starting on June 3 as well, and when we sample our main message will be to come to
rd

Texas Roadhouse on Fridays for lunch for our partnership discounts. We would like to start the sampling campaign on June 3rd as well. Our goal then is to sample either our rolls or sweet tea to about one or two businesses every weekday leading up to our customer appreciation week. Also emphasized in our sampling, social media, and flyers will be information about our new seating. We believe that this will bring in new customers because they will want to take advantage of not only the new seating but the deals during customer appreciation week as well. Every promotional item will have the slogan New Seatin Quicker Eatin on it. After our customer appreciation week is over, we will continue to promote our New Seatin Quicker Eatin through the end of June, but the text wait app will be a permanent thing, as we hope to gain back customers in the Cedar Valley area that have not come to Texas Roadhouse because of the long wait times.

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Timeline

Due Date
Sunday, May 19th, 2013

Task
Start Promotion of Text/Wait App Start Promotion of Customer Appreciation week on Facebook, Twitter and Website Begin distribution of customer appreciation week flyers to local businesses Begin distribution of text/wait app flyers to local businesses Unveil "New Seatin Quicker Eatin" banner in front of store Start sampling tea and rolls to local businesses Distribute Armadillo coloring pictures to area grade schools Start promotion of Friday lunches Employees start wearing promotional tshirts Text/Wait App unveiled Kids Night $1 off tap beers Dessert Special Business Partnership Discounts for lunch TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

Person

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 Monday, June 3rd, 2013 Monday, June 3rd, 2013 Monday, June 3rd, 2013 Monday, June 10th, 2013 Monday, June 17th, 2013 Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 Wednesday, June 19th, 2013 Thursday, June 20th, 2013 Friday, June 21st, 2013

All Employees Hosts/Waitresses/Waiters All Employees Bartenders/Waitresses/Waiters Cooks/Waitresses/Waiters Hosts/Waitresses/Waiters

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Achievement
The campaign New seatin Quicker eatin main goal for Texas Roadhouse is to increase and retain the number of customers served at the restaurant within the next six months. This can be accomplished by hosting a customer appreciation week (Monday-Friday) to express the gratitude towards customers. Each day of the week, there will be specific specials for that day to target different target publics. Promoting the week specials, new seating and Friday lunch can be done via social media, flyers and word of mouth.

To assist with customers waiting, Texas Roadhouse can implement a Text/Wait application. This application uses 2-way text messaging to help communicate and notify customers about waiting lists. Promoting this app through social media, flyers, and word of mouth can help increase the overall guest count by 10%.

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Budget
Item
Windshield Flyers

Quantity
1500

Where
Staples Bright Colored Paper 8 by 11 Orange ream 20lbs (500 sheets) Staples Bright Colored Paper 8 by 11 Orange ream 20lbs (500 sheets) http://mobully.com/re staurant-marketingwait-listmanagementcombined/

Price
$9.99 each Total: $29.97

Community Flyers

500

$9.99 each

Text/Wait Application

1 purchase of 2,300 phone numbers

$95.00

Banner T-Shirt

1 Adult M: 20 Adult L: 75 Adult XL: 15 Adult 2XL: 5 Custom Ink

Estimate $100-150 Each est. $10.14 Total: $1115.40

Grand Total $1400.36

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Evaluation
-Prior to Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, determine average customer attendance on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. -Prior to Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, determine average sales on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. -Prior to Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, determine average customer attendance at lunch on Friday. -Prior to Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, determine average sales at lunch on Friday 1. After the 1st annual Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, evaluate customer attendance at the end of each month to check increase or decrease in attendance until August, 31, 2013. a. See if it has increased by 10% by August 31, 2013. 2. After the 1st annual Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, evaluate sales at the end of each month to check increase or decrease in sales until August 31, 2013. 3. After the 1st annual Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, evaluate customer attendance of each Friday at the end of every month to check increase or decrease in attendance until August, 31, 2013. a. See if it has increased by 20% by August 31, 2013.

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4. After the 1st annual Texas Roadhouse Customer Appreciation week, evaluate sales of each Friday at the end of every month to check increase or decrease in sales until August 31, 2013.

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