Brand-building with Buzztime

Brand-building with Buzztime
A case study: How promotions do more when you make them personal
NTN Buzztime is an interactive restaurant and bar entertainment network and the
marketer of Buzztime, an entertainment and marketing tool that helps restaurants, bars
and hospitality locations drive business and enhance revenue. And, for many bars and
restaurants, Buzztime is an integral part of their brand and business success.
Extensive research shows that Buzztime players stay nearly a half hour longer in a venue
and spend $5 more per person per visit. In the past year, nearly 700,000 consumers
played Buzztime, representing over 16 million visits.
Overview
For a 2010 promotion, Buzztime proved that it can do more than improve consumer
dwell times nearly a half hour and increase check averages $5 more per person
per visit.
Buzztime partnered with one of its chain account customers to run a 360° marketing
program incorporating a customized in–restaurant game promotion, player prize
incentives, social media announcements, staff promotions, on-screen advertising,
and a post-game player email marketing campaign.
The result? A strong brand promotion that engaged bar and restaurant patrons with
entertainment, blended with consumer marketing and advertising exposure at multiple
touch points.
Brand-building with Buzztime
1
More about the
interactive promotion
In 2010, an innovative
and tailored program
was created exclusively for this brand. In fact,
Buzztime offers a full array of entertainment
solutions for its national accounts. Many of its
gaming and promotional components can be
packaged into a fully branded solution, with
as much customization and exclusivity as the
customer wants.
As determined by the Buzztime national
account customer, the exclusive game,
developed for their promotion, was available
to their guests at any time via the Playmaker®
device and during scheduled and on-demand
on-screen airings.
The 30-minute on-screen version aired on the
same day every week, at 2 different times,
given the national chain is located in all time
zones, and they wanted to appeal to the broadest audience possible. The first half of the
game included a recap of the previous week’s
scores and results so patrons could find out
who was the big winner from last week’s game.
At each restaurant, the guest with the
highest score was awarded a restaurant gift
card, and the patron with the highest weekly
score across all the restaurants won a grand
prize trip. All told, 8,700 prizes were awarded
during this promotion, with more than 81% of
those that won redeeming their gift cards.
Brand-building with Buzztime
“We’ve been
successful because
our team (is) knowledgeable about the program
and have been heavily
involved from the start.
We also utilized the POP
items and placed those
around the restaurant
for awareness.”
Restaurant Manager
2
More than the game
The full campaign of marketing and support
that surrounded the game is what made
this promotion so innovative and effective,
with components directed at consumers, restaurant staff members
and corporate management.
Personalized player
communications
To participate in the promotion
and win prizes, consumers were
required to be registered
PlayersPlus members. To sign up
for PlayersPlus, patrons provided
their email addresses and zip
codes and created distinct
Buzztime usernames and
passwords.
Email Campaign Schedule
Monthly promotion update
email blast
Weekly Player results
email
Weekly Winners
email with redemption link
Weekly Winner reminder
email
weekly reminder
to non-regular players
This information allowed
Buzztime to track each player’s
participation, playing location,
games played, play frequency
and game statistics with a minimum of privacy intrusion. Buzztime
tracked how many times a month a player participated, what games
he or she played and how long they stayed and played.
This detailed player data fed a highly personalized email marketing campaign that
encouraged return visits and participation. Each week after the previous week’s
scores were tallied, players were sent personal emails containing their scores and
their performance as compared to others. Those emails garnered an open rate of
48.21% and a click through rate (CTR) of 11.68%. In addition, a “come back and
play” series of emails was tailored by user behavior, such as if the guest played the
previous week or skipped a week. This reminder series generated a 25% open rate
with a 4.28% CTR.
Emails also invited consumers to share their experiences on the brand’s Facebook
page, providing another level of consumer engagement on this popular social media
site as well as generating viral marketing for the program.
Brand-building with Buzztime
“The great thing about
(this program) was that
it got guests who may
not have played
Buzztime before to
pick up a Playmaker
and participate…
Knowing they had a
chance to win each
week kept guests
engaged.”
Operations Manager
3
Analysis and Reporting
PROGRAM RESULTS
Buzztime’s detailed customer participation data and
restaurant-by-restaurant promotion performance allowed
for granular analysis by the brand’s management team.
Each week, Buzztime sent email updates to executives
with restaurant performance breakdowns, system-wide
performance data and hints/tips for promoting the game
for increased participation. This information was also
shared with the restaurants and franchisees and posted
in an update sent each week.
over 17 week program
Total
Games Played
172,395
UNIQUE PLAYERS
46,222
With this detailed look at performance variability from restaurant to restaurant, managers could isolate the influence in which staff member involvement and promotion had on
player volumes and return on investment (ROI). Detailed and specific restaurant-level
data provided a tool for identifying low-performing restaurants and creating specific,
actionable strategies for improvement.
The data underscored that when restaurants used the Buzztime tools at their disposal
and engaged with consumers about the game, it was reflected in game performance
metrics and guest engagement. As an additional benefit, staff members were also given
the chance to win a grand prize trip based on mystery shopper scores and a number of
staff members did indeed win!
Branded POP materials
Point of Purchase (POP) materials provided to educate the staff and their patrons about
the promotion were another component of this successful promotion. A POP kit including flyers, banners, window clings and a 6 foot, freestanding sign was provided to every
restaurant. These and other branded materials were also made available on the brand’s
intranet for the restaurant to access and display throughout the program.
On-screen advertising
To keep the game top-of-mind for consumers
already inside the restaurants, twice-hourly
advertising ran in all locations throughout the
program. Restaurants could choose to run the
generic ad or customize the screen image with
location-specific messaging.
The program was also promoted on the front page of the Buzztime.com, where Buzztime
regulars and new visitors could be steered to locations to play this new game on their
favorite platform. The ad linked to a dedicated page with details about the promotion.
Brand-building with Buzztime
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Results
Over 45,000 unique players came into the restaurants to
play the game, for nearly 175,000 logins. Thanks to detailed player tracking throughout
the promotion, there was an insightful breakdown of player behaviors available to guide
decisions during this and for future promotions.
g
75% of the participants played
one time only
g
11% played 2-3 times
g
3% played 4-5 times
g
2% played 6-7 times
g
2% played 8-9 times
g
1% played 10-11 times
g
6% played more than 11 times
With week-by-week performance metrics available, restaurant managers were also able
to watch trends emerge. One notable trend was that the game drove business on what
was traditionally one of their slowest weeknights.
66.9%
return visits
At the end of this promotion, Buzztime assessed the
effectiveness of the personalized email reminder
campaign on return participation rates. The analysis
showed a 66.9% in return participation by those who
opened the email vs. those who did not receive it.
from those that opened a
come back and play email
Campaigns such as this also create opportunities to run
follow-on campaigns to build on promotion momentum
after this initial program ends. Data from the campaign can be used to invite patrons to
return for new games and promotions using coupons and other incentives, reminding
them of their player passwords, and providing directions to nearby location.
For national chains, Buzztime can provide:
custom Ad TemplatesLive Trivia
Social Media Support
custom Game BrandingConsumer Polling
Dynamic Promotions
custom Game ContentEmail Marketing
Server Training
Exclusive GamesDedicated national account manager
Brand-building with Buzztime
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Conclusion
For brands large and small
, Buzztime is a proven way to
bring in customers and get them to stay longer, spend more and return frequently.
For national accounts, Buzztime provides fully integrated, multi-pronged and
personalized communications campaigns that can take those benefits even farther.
The success of this promotion and especially the personalized email campaign
demonstrated how a lucrative relationship can be strengthened with consumers
based on their Buzztime engagement.
Brand-building with Buzztime
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About Buzztime
NTN Buzztime, Inc. is one of the most popular interactive bar and restaurant entertainment networks. Buzztime develops trivia, card and sports games and broadcasts them
on the Buzztime Network to 3,900 locations throughout North America. 1,900,000
registered players use a Playmaker device or their Apple iPhone® or AndroidTM device
to compete in nearly 50,000,000 games each year. Players spread the word and invite
friends and family to their favorite Buzztime location to enjoy an evening of fun and
competition or unwind from a hectic day. Buzztime helps turn visitors into regulars and
attract new players every day of the week.
ntn buzztime, inc.
ph:: 760 438 7400
2231 rutherford road, suite 200
carlsbad, ca 92008
Brand-building with Buzztime
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