Value as a balancing act
What’s the best way to get millennials in the door of these chains they’re shying away from? “At a certain value point, like an insane appetizer deal at Fridays, you can start to draw in the student crowd,” said a co-worker. And it’s not just the younger school kids won over by a good deal. Point in case: The millennials in my pod, the same ones who’ve said they are anti-big casual brands, always are up for going to a chain to get free (or super cheap) food.
But the traditional two-for-$20 deals feel stale. And the bottomless food mostly appeals to the younger males. So what exactly goes into the discounting draw?
We’re not marketing experts, but here’s what another millennial co-worker and I came up with: Make it a challenge. In a direct marketing campaign, likely via snail mail (because most millennials aren’t on these chains’ email lists—and if they are, they delete before opening), call out the fact that these diners likely haven’t been in one of your restaurants in two-plus years. But ask them to give your brand one more shot, the chance to prove them wrong—and offer some kind of freebie to make it appealing.
I know restaurants want to move away from discounting and couponing, but it might just be the Hail Mary, when clever and well-executed, that could get millennials to even think about or consider a brand they’ve always dismissed.