Wayback Burgers - Davis Advertising

Objective

Promote a new, limited-time-only menu item, the Philly Cheesesteak, and drive sales of the new sandwich product.

Approach

Play off the appeal of the iconic Philly Cheesesteak experience—heartiness and messiness—to create excitement for a variation of the classic sandwich.

Process

Creative Concepting & Message Strategy
Copywriting & Graphic Design
Video/Audio Production
Website Design

Situation Overview

During each quarter of the year, Wayback Burgers offers its customers new, limited-time-only (LTO) menu items. The LTO included a unique variation of the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich.

Challenge

With a reputation as a hamburger QSR, Wayback Burgers first needed to convince customers that its cooking expertise could expand to other sandwich lines. Since Wayback Burgers has franchise locations near Philadelphia, the QSR also needed to convey that its intent was not to recreate the Philly Cheesesteak, but to craft its own version of the sandwich—one that would appeal to both true-Philly-Cheesesteak-aficionados as well as those customers interested in a cheesesteak sandwich.

Process

We worked closely with the Wayback Burgers internal marketing team to develop buyer personas based on the QSR’s consumer insight for sales of like-products. We determined that the target audience would likely skew male over female and would relish the hearty messiness of the classic Philly Cheesesteak.

Using these demographic and psychographic insights, we developed messaging that would capture the appealing essence of a Philly Cheesesteak while reflecting the Wayback Burgers brand personality and tone of voice. We paid special attention to the marketplaces in which this sandwich would be sold, as we identified potential resistance within markets closest to Philadelphia.

Execution

This promotion was planned as a multi-channel campaign including TV/video, radio, digital display and web content, social media content, POP and merchandising. We began our creative concepting with TV/video for its unique power as a multi-sensory medium and high level of viewer engagement.

The ensuing story we developed showcased how this limited-time sandwich can be the perfect meal-maker for those with an appetite for sandwiches so hearty they require two hands to eat. Moreover, we deliberately exaggerated the messiness and heartiness of the experience in a male-skewed context to appeal to our buyer personas while also creating a memorable and humorous play on “wearing your ‘steakface’ with pride.”

We translated our ‘steakface’ story into the various media of the campaign, capitalizing on the engaging visual representations of the sandwich. As part of the digital display, social media content and POP campaign communications, we encouraged potential consumers to become part of the story and share content of themselves eating the sandwich with #Steakface.

Summary

The LTO sandwich exceeded initial sales forecasts to such an extent that the product has become a permanent offering on the menu.

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