Sonic’s consumer engagement play: touch-screen tech at the drive-in

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.

https://digiday.com/?p=129593

More in Marketing

How creator platforms are building tech infrastructure to keep pace with a maturing industry

The creator economy is growing rapidly, but the technology infrastructure required to manage and scale influencer marketing has yet to catch up.

The Upfronts got a taste of the creator economy

At the Upfronts, creator took the stage — but not the power. Yet

Can brands like American Eagle appeal to Gen Z with Substack?

Brand-owned publications are arguably a cyclical trend and we’re in the next cycle of such a trend with Substack.