by Connie Burtcheard
Chief ADvisor - Agency ADvisor

Today, February 23, 2010, Jack in the Box restaurants offered a free deli sandwich (one of their new menu items) if you purchased a large soft drink.  I received an email, a text and a voice mail from Jack himself about the offer.  Great use of social/viral marketing as I did pass each contact along to anyone I knew who I thought would be interested.

I'll admit that we have been a little disenchanted with Jack in the Box since they have changed their legacy favorites - either a change in the recipe or removing from the menu.  So, it has been quite a while since we have visited a Jack in the Box.  So, today, we chose to venture from the norm and decided that free was a good reason to try this QSR again.

We entered the newest store that has opened within the past 6 months or so and we have not visited yet.  The decor was a big change - seemed more comfortable and not as sterile as the ones we visited in the past.

The Manager of this store was working the register.  He was all ready to hand me the large soft drink cup - I'm sure my order wasn't the first he heard for the day.  He was incredibly polite and friendly.  He even brought our food to us since we were close to the order counter despite the amount of business they were getting.  I even heard him telling people (even those not fluent in English) about the promotion.

So, up to this point, I am really impressed with the concept and execution of the campaign.

As I bite into my deli sandwich (I had the Turkey, Bacon and Cheddar) I have to say that I was less than impressed.  This is a matter of personal preference - purely editorial - and you should try and form your own opinion.  It wasn't bad, but not what I would have expected given the great campaign.  This isn't my point and you may really like the sandwich.

As I started forming opinions about the sandwich and what I thought would make it better, I grabbed the receipt from our tray expecting to find something like "visit www.jackwantsmyopinion.com" to enter my thoughts.  To my surprise and dismay.  Nope.  No such thing.  What about a answer this quick survey and get a $1.00 off your next purchase.  Still, no. 

The lesson to be learned is that having a great campaign and executing that campaign in a stellar manner is a mute point if you don't get something out of it.  In this case, Jack in the Box missed the opportunity to get my (and others) opinions about their new menu items.  This would equate to free focus group information. 

Since I was under-impressed with the sandwich and had been disenchanted with Jack in the Box prior to this visit, they also missed out on the opportunity to get me back to try other menu items.  If they had offered the survey, in return, they could have given me a coupon for $1.00 off my next purchase.  This would at least give me a reason to go back and try something different on the menu.

The real story here is that Jack in the Box spent a lot of effort and money to successfully get the information about this promotion out.  They did a great job with the creative execution, the delivery of the message, and even training the staff at the stores.  But, that is not where a successful campaign ends.  In this day of technology, you MUST find a way to get something back from your marketing efforts.  Don't just be satisfied to report that "x" number of people took advantage of your free offer.  Be able to go further and know what they thought about it, how you can improve on it, and that you will get them back as paying customers.

Jack - you called, texted and emailed me to tell me about this promotion.  If you want to hear my opinions, call me (623) 825-3827.