Join us Sept. 24 in NYC to connect with execs from Digitas, Claire's, Marriott, Havas and others
Like all marketers, Sonic is grappling with how to utilize technology. For Sonic the challenge is to wow customers and make them continue to return to its fast food restaurants — and to do it in a way that makes sense for a classic burgers and shakes drive-in chain.
The 60-year-old brand has embarked on a project to install touchscreen displays at all of its 3,500-plus restaurants across the country. The drive-in screen tech has allowed Sonic to maximize the 11 minutes on average a customer spends on its property, far longer than most fast-food joints. The idea is the systems will allow for customized messages to consumers — and an opportunity for Sonic to capture e-mails for future marketing. Sonic has said the “point of personalized” feature drives higher order size.
“It’s pretty powerful and I don’t think it will allow any fast-food chain to catch up to in 10 years because it is so incredibly unique to our brand,” Sonic director of national marketing Sarah Beddoe said at the Digiday Content Marketing Summit yesterday in Half Moon Bay, California.
Watch the three-minute clip below for Sonic’s thinking behind the initiative.
More in Marketing
OpenAI’s next ChatGPT ad format: click to chat, not to site
The new format lets brands turn an ad click into a conversation with an AI agent inside ChatGPT, rather than sending users to their websites.
As Google’s ad tech case nears its end, the antitrust fight moves to AI
Google avoided breakups in antitrust cases as AI ads and CTV draw scrutiny; see what regulators may target next.
Future of Marketing Briefing: One more helping, for gluttons still hungry for Publicis and PepsiCo takes
Yes, more thoughts on what it means, or doesn’t, that Publicis walked away from competing for Coca-Cola’s media dollars to grab PepsiCo’s instead.