Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® was founded in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee. More than five decades later, the hospitable restaurant includes an on-site retail store and operates in 45 states in the U.S. with over 660 locations. Cracker Barrel welcomes approximately 230 million guests every year.
Cracker Barrel is scheduled to present at this year’s Loyalty Expo, held June 4-6 in Orlando, FL. Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Amy Barnett, Vice President of Marketing for Cracker Barrel, about the upcoming presentation, leveraging guests’ natural loyalty to the brand, and partnering with field operations during the rewards program rollout.
The team at Cracker Barrel created a successful loyalty program built upon fostering a deep connection between the brand and its consumers. Can you talk about the power of “relatability” in a customer loyalty program and how that was built into your loyalty strategies when developing Cracker Barrel Rewards™?
Barnett: As brand and loyalty marketers, many of us would love to reward guests who are already predisposed to be loyal to a brand. Many of us have worked with brands that required a real stretch to make an emotional connection—for example, with a retail or grocery store. People can develop an avid loyalty to many types of places.
Cracker Barrel is one of those brands that has a long history of generations of families who come to the restaurant for a respite from their busy, technology-filled lives. Guests stop to see us on road trips. They come and rock in our rocking chairs. They shop in our stores and buy their kids gifts and other precious items that are difficult to find elsewhere.
There’s an inherent natural loyalty that we have with our guests. Our field associates know so many of them on a one-to-one level. It was a natural evolution for us to do something more programmatically—more of a “capital L loyalty”—by leaning into a rewards program and giving those valuable, loyal guests something that they’ve been requesting for years. They want to be recognized and helped with their shopping and restaurant preferences.
It’s been a real privilege for us to deliver loyalty in a way that resonates with guests because they know what Cracker Barrel stands for. If we didn’t get it right, we would hear about it!
In what way does Cracker Barrel Rewards™ spark emotional loyalty for both new and existing Cracker Barrel customers?
Barnett: You’ll hear more about this at the conference, but when you come to Cracker Barrel, outside all our restaurants, there is the barrel with our checkerboards. Guests sit in our rockers and play checkers while waiting for a table. At the table, guests play the beloved peg game—the one where you skip over the pegs in the triangle and try to beat everybody at your table.
Cracker Barrel is a brand that’s meant for experience. Guests find a warm fireplace and games. Children shop, and the family is happy. It was vitally important to bring some of those aspects to life digitally.
For example, one element of our program is that we extended that gaming aspect into it. Guests can participate in bonus games and challenges. There are digital engagement opportunities in the app and online. As a result, guests are rewarded with the currency of our brand.
Another important aspect is that our guests love both the retail and restaurant parts of our brand. This was important as we developed program components so that guests could use rewards across retail and the restaurant seamlessly.
Those are just two examples, but there are so many more!
Who would most benefit from attending the Cracker Barrel session at the Expo?
Barnett: Those attending the conference will hear the whole story about our partnership with Dolly Parton. Our partnership with Dolly goes way back. Last year, we launched our rewards program to leverage that partnership. If you have an affinity for Dolly, or if you’ve shopped at Cracker Barrel and have a story, I hope to meet you at the conference. Please come and tell me your story!
In terms of who should attend Cracker Barrel’s session at the Expo, all levels are welcome! I’ll provide practical information about what we learned with our field organization—things that you can take away so that you’re not making similar mistakes. You can learn from what we won—and we have a lot of wins that I’ll share.
All levels and marketers can attend. I’ll make it industry agnostic so it’s not only food-related but relevant to all loyalty professionals in the room.
What are a few key takeaways attendees can expect to learn by attending this session?
Barnett: We have a great partnership with our field organization, so I’m going to share a little bit about how we partnered in the rollout and launch of our program. We partnered very closely with our operations friends. We conducted regular check-ins, and they were our beta group for how we rolled this out. They continue to be our beta group today.
I will share some of what we learned from our rollout, but we also have some metrics. I won’t share anything that hasn’t been made public, but those who attend conferences like this want to understand how they compare to presenters and speakers. I will definitely share with you—to the extent I can—some of the metrics around what we learned about engagement and enrollment, and how we’re measuring loyalty at a high level.
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Please visit LoyaltyExpo.com to learn more about Loyalty360’s upcoming Loyalty Expo, including details on the event agenda and how to register.