CASE

STUD

Y

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGYWa

nt to

lear

n m

ore?

www

.keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

info

@ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

C

all:

800-

331-

2019

O

utsid

e the

U.S

.: 91

3-49

2-46

66

Cop

yrigh

t ©20

11 K

eywe

st Te

chno

logy,

Inc.

All R

ight

s Res

erve

d

CASE

STUD

YKEYWEST TECHNOLOGY

Want

to le

arn

mor

e? w

ww.ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

in

fo@

keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

Cal

l: 80

0-33

1-20

19

Out

side t

he U

.S.:

913-

492-

4666

C

opyri

ght ©

2015

Key

west

Tech

nolog

y, In

c. Al

l Rig

hts R

eser

ved

Growing Restaurant Chain Improves Customer CommunicationsWith Digital Signage

I n 1988 the founder of Jose Pepper’s opened his first res-taurant in a suburb of Kansas

City with a $6,000 loan from his father, and since then, the family-friendly “border grill & cantina” has expanded to 14 locations in both Kansas and Missouri. In ad-dition to being a favorite local res-taurant, Jose Pepper’s has expand-ed its product and service offerings beyond the local grill and cantina. For example, not only can hungry hombres bring home the bacon, but also tasty Jose Pepper’s-branded products purchased from nation-wide grocery store chains. Addi-tionally, diners can experience their favorite Tex-Mex dishes anywhere they choose by ordering on-site, full-service catering for either private or business events.

Brent Sullivan, Food Strategist for Jose Pepper’s, manages key food and communication decisions. He is an active board member of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, advocating food quality, freshness, and sustainability. Besides being a promoter for quality food products, Sullivan is also an advocate of consistent branding, which ultimately led him to the decision to employ Keywest Technology’s managed-network services using the Breeze Digital Signage solution, a.k.a., JPTV (Jose Pepper’s TV).

Sullivan’s expertise in restaurant marketing provides many useful insights into the ways digital signage is enhancing the communication to both customers and employees. He backs up his experiences with practical advice that is partly attributed to his collaboration with Keywest Technology.

THE CHALLENGESFaced with diverse customer demographics and hard-to-forecast service demands, Jose Pepper’s has the on-going challenge of maintaining communication channels that reach full circle, from Baby Boomers to Gen-Y. These channels of communication must engage and entertain patrons waiting for service, present useful information to service staff that prefer to be busy on their feet instead of

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

CASE

STUD

YKEYWEST TECHNOLOGY

Want

to le

arn

mor

e? w

ww.ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

in

fo@

keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

Cal

l: 80

0-33

1-20

19

Out

side t

he U

.S.:

913-

492-

4666

C

opyri

ght ©

2015

Key

west

Tech

nolog

y, In

c. Al

l Rig

hts R

eser

ved

sitting in “boring” meetings, and just as importantly, help mitigate food price volatility. It’s a tall order to be sure, but growing restaurant chains like Jose Pepper’s are not afraid to try new things.

THE SOLUTIONSullivan commented that digital signage allows him to put his “best food forward.” It helps create a service attitude that puts the customer first and goes so far as to build a community around the experi-ence. Additionally, when it comes to digital communications to build community, he champions the use of multiple digital channels, including the extensive use of social media, a Belly rewards program that includes an in-store kiosk and smartphone app, and of course, the ubiquitous website.

With little doubt, the centerpiece of this multifaceted communication effort is JPTV. Reflecting on the digi-tal sign installed in each restaurant’s waiting area, Sullivan remarks, “The daily ebb and flow of hungry patrons is not always predictable, so addressing wait-time anxiety is a big priority.”

Communicating directly with customers in the service area is a chief concern for quality restaurants that provide a service that is highly optional and personal. And since mass communication is not personal com-munication and social media is most effective outside the restaurant, Sullivan considered the question, “How can we better communicate to customers inside the restaurant in real-time?”

To tackle this problem of personalization first and foremost, he decided the digital sign in the waiting area must not only promote food items, but also offer infotainment in the form of local trivia among other engaging media. According to customer feedback re-ceived by service staff and restaurant managers, this tactic has proven to be highly effective at reducing wait-time anxieties.

Sullivan explains, “When the high school band de-cides to come to Jose Pepper’s on a busy night, that creates an interruption in the service flow, and the last thing we want to say is, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ over and over while the wait times increase dramatically. By using local trivia questions in the waiting area, we successfully reduce wait-time anxiety.”

Working in conjunction with friendly and helpful service staff, communication on food choices and cross promotions is greatly enhanced with digital signage.

By using local trivia questions in the waiting area, we successfully reduce wait-time anxiety.

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

CASE

STUD

YKEYWEST TECHNOLOGY

Want

to le

arn

mor

e? w

ww.ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

in

fo@

keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

Cal

l: 80

0-33

1-20

19

Out

side t

he U

.S.:

913-

492-

4666

C

opyri

ght ©

2015

Key

west

Tech

nolog

y, In

c. Al

l Rig

hts R

eser

ved

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

What may be a 20-40 minute wait time during peak demands can be perceived to be less by present-ing local trivia on the screen that gets patrons guessing answers and sharing stories while they wait. This simple but effective approach fits well with the smartphone-toting demographic that frequents Jose Pepper’s.

But local trivia is only part of the story to reducing wait-time anxieties. As part of the network-managed services offered by Keywest Technology, Keywest Creative was engaged to develop monthly campaigns based on a media planner provided by Sullivan. Of course, some things you can put on a schedule

and some things you can’t. However, with the ability to change the Breeze digital signs near real-time for local events, it became possible for the first time to acknowledge a local high school football victory as part of the media playlist at a specific location. This “keep it local” effort also includes the acknowledgement and personalization of many other school events, birthdays, holidays, fundraisers, etc., simply depending on what

the community is doing and engaged in at any moment.

Even though the digital sign in customer waiting areas gets all the glory, another major and as impor-tant communication effort is not so apparent—the back-of-house system. Sullivan explains that young service crews “do not read instructional memos very well. Being raised with digital media instead of print media, they are inclined to treat a paper memo more like tissue paper…” Jose Pepper’s has found that communicating visually with the younger generation via the back-of-house digital sign is far more effective than any printed announcements. Sullivan says, “If it’s not visual, they are probably not paying attention to it.”

Setting the brand standard for the service staff is another ma-jor benefit to back-of-house communications. By constantly displaying to staff photos of new menu items including long-time favorites, everyone from the janitor to the servers knows what a particular food serving is supposed to look like. In this way, everyone manages the food standard that helps establish expectations in quality.

Finally, the Breeze Digital Signage system addresses a prob-lem that every business has to some degree, price fluctuation. Sullivan quips, “I need to control the unknowable, which is the cost of wholesale food in the commodity markets.” From sea-son to season the cost of food fluctuates widely, battered by weather conditions, market demands, political influence, etc.

So, with food being a major commodity, there is price volatil-ity in the marketplace that makes some menu items not so

Noting that the back-of-house digital sign is far more effective than printed announcements, Sul-livan says, “If it’s not visual, they are probably not paying attention to it.”

By constantly displaying to staff photos

of new menu items including long-time

favorites, everyone from the janitor to

the servers knows what a particular food

serving is supposed to look like.

CASE

STUD

Y

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGYWa

nt to

lear

n m

ore?

www

.keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

info

@ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

C

all:

800-

331-

2019

O

utsid

e the

U.S

.: 91

3-49

2-46

66

Cop

yrigh

t ©20

15 K

eywe

st Te

chno

logy,

Inc.

All R

ight

s Res

erve

d

profitable in a given season. Restaurant owners cannot dictate what customers demand, but they can persuade guests to buy those more profitable items, which makes good business sense. Influencing the consumer at the point of sale is a key to dealing with this dilemma, and the most cost effective way to do that is with digital signage.

THE RESULTSAs this case study helps clarify, a good digital signage deployment for full-service restaurants is not just about sales lift because sales lift in itself does not explain the qualitative factors that produce sustainable sales gain. Digital signage can offer a lot more value than just flashy promo-tions on LCD displays. For successful restaurant chains like Jose Pepper’s, digital signage is an integrated part of the marketing mix, where performance is measured at many levels providing a clearer understanding of return-on-objectives (ROO). ROO measures value that is illustrated by customer behavior and attributes, such as, satisfaction, experience, influence, loyalty, and recall among other factors, which are all key components that have a lasting effect on the bottom line

of the ledger.

For instance, let’s consider how improved recall of promoted items influences return-on-objectives and ultimately a restaurant owner’s bottom line. According to Nielsen’s third-quarter (2013) Digi-tal Place-Based Video Report, ad recall for POS-type digital signage is typically in the 60% range,

which is more than twice the average recall of static signs. This is the reason you can so easily recall the rich color of a creamed latte topped with cinnamon spice at your local McCafe.

Such recall makes digital signage a natural choice for promoting those more seasonable and profitable food items at the right time and place, which does translate into sales lift. According to a Networld Media Group report, Digital Menu Boards and ROI, the average sales lift of any digitally promoted item averages around 3-5%.

Sullivan says, “If you cannot measure it you cannot manage it. Producing even a 3% sales lift of pro-moted items during its prime season not only makes the business more money but also provides diners the freshest choices.”

When it comes to return-on-objectives, Sullivan provided the following key points of improvement that digital signage (JPTV) provides the restaurants day in and day out:

Improved point-of-sale communication to customers

Improved back-of-house communications

Increased staff adherence to instructions with visual reminders

Labor savings from reduced meeting times

Promotional cost savings

Reduced wait-time anxieties for customers

Sales lift of promoted items

Keywest Creative builds high-quality

promotions using Jose Pepper’s’ exacting

brand standards with skillfully produced

food images, projecting an appealing and

consistent image in all locations.

CASE

STUD

Y

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGYWa

nt to

lear

n m

ore?

www

.keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

info

@ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

C

all:

800-

331-

2019

O

utsid

e the

U.S

.: 91

3-49

2-46

66

Cop

yrigh

t ©20

15 K

eywe

st Te

chno

logy,

Inc.

All R

ight

s Res

erve

d

To be sure, all of these factors are measured in different ways, but all of them ultimately impact the bottom line while improving customer relations.

When asked if customers notice the digital sign campaigns, Sullivan answered, “Yes, customers notice everything, from the taste of the cheese to the dynamically promoted menu items on JPTV. We don’t leave customer service to second-guessing. We proactively seek comments as part of our quality service cycle. After all, restaurant managers tend to be extroverts. They like to get out in the service area and solicit feedback on the food and service directly from patrons. People will say, ‘I love reading the trivia, but you should change it more often,’ so we know they are paying attention.”

When deciding to go with a network-managed digital sign solution, Sullivan related that he had to consider the value proposition of the entire package. Rather than bogging down restaurant operations with another time-consuming marketing task that is not their forte, he enjoys the freedom of guiding Keywest Creative to design and manage campaigns and promotions around his schedule. Keywest Creative builds high-quality promotions using Jose Pepper’s’ exacting brand standards with skillfully produced food images, projecting an appealing and consistent image in all locations.

Sam Ruggles (left), Keywest Technology’s Solution Manager, and Brent Sullivan, Jose Pepper’s Food Strategist, pause at the cantina for a drink.

CASE

STUD

Y

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

KEYWEST TECHNOLOGYWa

nt to

lear

n m

ore?

www

.keyw

estte

chno

logy.c

om

info

@ke

ywes

ttech

nolog

y.com

C

all:

800-

331-

2019

O

utsid

e the

U.S

.: 91

3-49

2-46

66

Cop

yrigh

t ©20

15 K

eywe

st Te

chno

logy,

Inc.

All R

ight

s Res

erve

d

Brian Bibler, Chief Designer at Keywest Creative, developed the advertising campaign for the Belly rewards system that included a stand for the Belly tablet. Bibler noted that it was important to “place the Belly promotion…at the point-of-wait to stimulate awareness and encourage usage of the Belly rewards program.

CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHT Building loyalty for one’s brand has always been a challenge, and it has become even more of a challenge in this instant-information age where business may rise or fall based on one’s social media ranking for service and experience. This could not be truer than in the finicky food service environ-ment where restaurants cater to personal tastes and whim.

To help build brand loyalty, Jose Pepper’s employs the Belly system, which is a personalized loyalty and reward program. New members can sign up via a small touch screen located in the waiting area. There is also a smartphone app that cus-tomers can use to collect and manage reward points.

However, for the Belly reward program to be effective, Jose Pepper’s customers need to know about it, sign up for it, and then use it. At first, Jose Pepper’s promoted the Belly program via social media, table signs at public events, and through an awareness campaign performed by table servers.

This effort provided the starter seeds for the reward program, but as Brent Sullivan explains, “I’ll give [Keywest Creative] most of the credit for the successful campaign message and growth of our rewards program.”

Since customer signup for the Belly rewards program requires patrons to be physically in the restaurant, Sullivan had Key-west Creative design digital promotions for Belly rewards.

Brian Bibler, Chief Designer at Keywest Creative, noted that it was important to “place the Belly promotion in the com-munications mix at the point-of-wait to stimulate awareness and encourage usage of the Belly rewards program.”

After Jose Pepper’s marketing team had approved the pro-motions, Keywest Creative uploaded the Belly campaign to the cloud-based Breeze server, which instantly distrib-uted the promotions to the digital signs located in each restaurant’s waiting area. To say the least, if the digital signage campaign for Belly rewards were fuel, then the daily promotions on the digital sign at the point-of-wait was the needed launch pad for program acceptance that took off like a rocket!

From March 2013 through August of 2014, the cross-promo-tion campaign produced almost 17,500 new users, and with the daily reminders promoted at the point-of-wait, Belly us-ers grew to an average of over 100,000 check-ins monthly. These results were “very successful”, according to Sullivan.