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Applebee’s has always tried to be true to its “Eating good in the neighborhood,” tagline by maintaining a local focus and encouraging franchisees to stay connected to their local community. Social media has been instrumental in providing franchisees the opportunity to connect with their local customers. However, with 2,000 restaurants and 44 franchisees, executives at Applebee’s were worried that all of the different messages could potentially dilute the brand or differ from Applebee’s corporate driven initiatives.
National brands, like Applebee’s, are recognizing the need to create specific social media pages tailored to a local audience. For now, Applebee’s is mostly focusing on Facebook content rather than building YouTube and Twitter sites as well. They want to focus on one component of social media to build credibility and trust before trying to reach customers through multiple social media outlets.
Applebee’s is also realizing that the franchisor needs some control over individual franchisees or local sites to ensure that the Applebee’s brand image is being accurately portrayed. The company hired the firm Expion to help manage its online social media presence across franchises and to extend social media development from the brand level to the store level. Franchisees are allowed, and encouraged, to develop their own local social media pages.
A franchisee has to go through an approval process through corporate headquarters to post comments and post photos before they appear online. Reviews are usually approved (or sometimes denied) within several hours. In addition, corporate headquarters can send out mass updates, like new menu items or promotional initiatives. These updates will appear to customers as if they are coming from the local store rather than the corporate headquarters. In addition, when customers post negative comments, local and regional managers are alerted immediately. This provides managers with the opportunity to respond quickly to customer complaints and address problems. Applebee’s wants to create a connection with the customer and ensure them that Applebee’s is listening to their comments, both positive and negative.
This new system is paying off for Applebee’s. Since January 2011, Applebee’s has gone from 180,000 fans to over 1,000,000. Individual Applebee’s restaurants that use Facebook to promote events have also enjoyed significantly stronger sales.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are Applebee’s franchisees doing to communicate with its customers?
Karen Kroll, Localizing the Message,” Stores News, September 2011
Grewal Levy Marketing News 
It would appear that Applebee’s has properly approached social media with caution and a keen mind for the possible benefits and detractions for their business. The quick rise to more than 1 Million facebook fans certaintly shows a great deal of sucess from a penetration stand point.
I think Applebees will need to focus on integrating its new soical media with its old, and also not dilute its media quality.
For a chain to be able to properly communicate, resond and satisfy customers, an effective system with an attentive managerial staff will continue to be neccesary.
For now however, Bravo Applebees on a job well done. From managers responding to complaints, to censoring their own data and instilling leadership in thier franchisors, they have sercured their postion in the media world.
Applebee’s faces a dilemma when maintaining it’s “Eating good in the neighborhood” tag line. By creating a local feel through the use of social media, the franchisees are attempting to avoid the dilution of the brand image as a local establishment even as the company spreads across the country. Personally, my local Applebee’s has not done any social media advertising besides that which is done on the corporate-run pages. However, they have worked extensively to promote word-of-mouth buzz around town.
When I go to my Applebee’s I find myself greeted by people that I know from high school as they hire many young college-age hosts/hostesses and waitstaff. This atmosphere combined with low-prices and convenient hours make Applebee’s seem like it is a “local” business. If they added a social media component, I would definitely appreciate seeing updates from a great place to eat on my Facebook news feed. In this economy it seems that creating that personal touch is more and more important in retaining customers. In this way, Applebees’ local appeal is working in their advantage.
Facebook pages seem to be the future for customer service. Places like Applebee’s and Chipotle have started to take advantage of social media sites to help spread their message. It is obvious that this is working for Applebee’s, perhaps because most consumers are spending more time online than they are watching TV, and certainly more time online than watching TV commercials. They are not only able to advertise, but also respond to their customers immediately in a way that has never been done. Perhaps Applebee’s should look into other social media, specifically monitored by corporate to spread word as well. It could potentially be an even faster method to respond to negative feedback from customers, and fix any issues that might occur. If consumers see that Applebee’s is taking care of any complaints, it might change their outlook on the customer service that Applebee’s gives to its patrons.
This is surprising because I don’t personally recognize Applebee’s as a community restaurant. They have reached out so far that I think their desire to connect with local neighborhoods has decreased significantly. They will need some serious investment to change the image that Applebee’s is not just another restaurant chain, and I do not think they have the means to stay competitive while changing this strategy. Also, I don’t think it is worthwhile for them to stress so much of a communal feel. The communal feel is not generally what drives people to go to Applebee’s. Their half priced appetizers and cheaper food opens them up to people just searching for a well-priced meal. They are particularly successful in luring in younger customers due to these low prices and these customers low spending abilities. Overall I think that Applebee’s shouldn’t worry too much about being recognized as a communal restaurant.
Applebee’s Franchisees are connecting with their customers on a more individual basis and are using social media to attract a wider audience. I think it is very important that Applebee’s addresses customers who might post negative comments or complain in a fast fashion not only to maintain the company’s integrity but also to show that the company cares about each customer’s needs. If the company instead chose to ignore or even delete these customer comments, it would lessen the trust customers have with the brand and customers could potentially use social media to further promote their negative attitudes towards the restaurant (which Applebee’s would clearly not want). Perhaps Applebee’s can further promote it’s focus on “local” by partnering with local businesses or suppliers and then promote how it is doing this on Facebook.
Applebee’s is improving its social media allowing Applebee’s to connect and create awareness for their restaurant. By reading this article, I wonder if Applebee’s offers specials on their facebook which may encourage more consumers to drop by Applebee’s instead of Outback or Ruby Tuesdays. Since Applebee’s is connecting with their local neighborhoods they are differentiating themselves from other restaurants. Many consumers want to a unique experience or a restaurant that is local when going out to eat. I know sometimes when I go out to eat, I prefer to eat at a family owned restaurant. The fact that Applebee’s improved their communication throughout the company will benefit the company long-term as everything is becoming very much social media driven. Being able to connect with their employees and managers allow Applebee’s to be aware of the message they are sending their consumers.