Denny’s Former CMO Says Pricing is Key to 2010 Success
Published 1/6/2010
Author: Piet Levy
Summary
Mark Chmiel may be out as Denny’s Corp.’s chief marketing and innovation officer, but he says his legacy will live on with a new pricing strategy this year that could turn sales around at the troubled Spartanburg, S.C.-based family dining company.
“Research suggests … that [Denny’s] is no longer everyday affordable,” Chmiel tells Marketing News Exclusives. “Over the last four or five years, pricing increased because the cost of commodities increased, and the brand was not relevant. As pricing went up … consumer visitation went down. … Pricing is the last chink [to be mended] to turn the brand around.”
Please register or login to view this article
Ron Strauss wrote:
It strikes me that Denny's pricing approach, at least how it's described in the article, is being used as a blunt weapon. There was no mention of a segmentation strategy aimed at fine-tuning pricing and menu offerings for 'heavy' users or those loyal customer segments that may be responsible for delivering higher margins. Pricing problems are usually symptomatic of a disconnect between what the brand stands for (its promise) and how customers view the actual experience. Futhermore, the problems underlying the disconnect between the brand promise and the customer experience may also be related to issues with employee morale and/or franchisees willingness/unwillingness to support corporate programs. I'd like to hear what has been done to make the brand experience more relevant - as well as a definition of what 'relevance' in this case means as it relates to brand equity.
Posted on : 1/7/2010