Julie Stewart, CEO of DineEquity−which owns and operates IHOP and Applebee’s− wants to vastly improve operations at Applebee’s this year and beyond, and place it on a successful trajectory toward enhanced customer experience and brand loyalty.
“We are in the process of changing the trajectory of Applebee’s while building on the strong momentum established at IHOP,” Stewart said during DineEquity’s May 5 first-quarter earnings call, according to Seeking Alpha. “I’m confident in our strategy to position DineEquity for the success that you’ve come to expect, and that we have consistently delivered. We’re focused on executing our strategy, which includes building a more nimble, collaborative organization under one roof. The consolidation of our restaurant support centers plays an important role in our long-term success, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our team members for their commitment and effort during this process.”
First-quarter results at Applebee’s “clearly” were not where management wanted them to be, Stewart noted.
“Against this backdrop, we are executing a plan for 2016 to change the story at Applebee’s and reverse the brand’s trajectory,” she explained. “We feel confident in staying the course on our strategy. And to achieve our objectives, we are focused on the four key pillars that we discussed before. Let me just remind you briefly of what those are: Improving operations, accelerated development, optimizing guest-enabling technology, and reinventing the brand.”
Improving operations: “This includes the most ambitious training of restaurant staff in the front and back of the house in the brand’s history. We are undertaking a massive operations improvement plan across the Applebee’s system. And the first leg of our strategy is to improve guest service in our restaurants. We have retrained all of our managers and team members across the system on getting better at reading guest signals and responding to their needs. Additionally, we are working more closely with our franchisees to devote cross-functional resources and helping run better restaurants. We have better coordination in the field within our operations, training and marketing teams as well as stronger collaboration with our franchisees to focus on a few big opportunities.”
Accelerated development: “This includes, among other things, finalizing the new remodel package that we are planning to release to our franchisees later this year. Given the early stages of the remodel prototype and testing, it’s too early to estimate the potential impact to sales. The remodel incorporates valuable consumer insight on items such as seating preferences, which shows that sitting together in booths, which remains a good balance between privacy and comfort, has become increasingly important among our guests. Based on our proprietary research, the booths were the biggest drivers in how the dining area was perceived. Guest satisfaction with the dining area was the most prominent driver behind intent to revisit. This is just an example of creating an opportunity to further differentiate the brand.”
Optimizing guest-enabling technology: “We are focused on enhancing the guest experience and increasing their engagement with the brand. Advances like our recently enhanced Applebee’s mobile app and online ordering are examples of efforts underway that support the needs and expectations of ever-increasing technologically savvy guests.”
Reinventing the brand: “Now, for competitive reasons, I won’t provide specific details on our overall plans now. However, I can provide some limited insight into what we expect from the first phase of these bold new strategies. And while all of these will not roll out immediately, we do believe that this will be a game-changing year for Applebee's as we execute on a few but significant plans. After close collaboration with our franchisees, we are about to launch the largest and most transformative platform in the history of the brand, which will become the centerpiece of our menu pipeline. And while the platform will become a central part of changing the story at Applebee’s, we expect that its impact will build over time. And as I mentioned last quarter, this is the tale of two halves at Applebee’s.”
This launch will be supported nationally by a fully integrated 360-degree marketing plan, including traditional media across all dayparts, as well as heavy digital and social media which will complement Applebee’s already strong presence on social media with approximately 14 billion total word-of-mouth impressions, and approximately 540,000 followers on Twitter.