1. Is The Web An Appropriate Investment For A Restaurant? E. Benjamin Spanier University of St. Thomas December 16, 2004

2. Perkins of Northern Colorado  MN origin  Licensed franchisee  4 operating units Nationally  494 units nationwide  Mostly in the Midwest / Florida

3. The Situation  Outlier status  Unable to participate in national advertising campaigns  Needed more targeted marketing initiatives  Launched independent website in 2001

4. The Problem  Non-existent website measurement or analysis  Increasing monthly hosting cost

5. Key Questions  Were customers even aware of the website?  What website tools did they value?  Should the website continue operation?

6. Current Literature Indicated  “Bandwagon” effect on adoption  Promotional expenses to drive website traffic cannibalized limited resources  Ineffective “menu-ware”

7. Research Question “Is the web an appropriate marketing tool for Perkins of Northern Colorado?”

8. Two-Pronged Investigation CUSTOMER SURVEYWEBSITE DATA

9. Survey Methodology Sample [who]:  Random sample of customers  10 day period  Four restaurants, all day-parts Survey [how]:  320 randomly printed invites on guest checks  Web based survey  13 total questions

10. Survey Discoveries  7% response rate  Typical respondent  31-45 year old females  local zip codes  no children

11. Survey Discoveries Website awareness:  80% were unaware of the Perkins of Northern Colorado or corporate websites  Only 20% had visited a restaurant website of ANY brand (87.5% of those people found those websites useful)

12. Survey Discoveries Website tools:  Very useful  Find locations/hours of operation  Print out coupons  Not at all useful  Company background  Employment info

13. Website Data Discoveries Daily average: 15 Monthly average: 132 visitors

14. Website Data Discoveries Real-estate transactions MS Walk-a-thon sponsorship

15. Summary of Findings  Perkins of Northern Colorado customers are NOT aware of the website  Restaurant patrons do not value company information  Minimal website visits

16. Answer “Is the web an appropriate marketing tool for Perkins of Northern Colorado?” Negligible

17. Recommendations  Take the Perkins of Northern Colorado Website offline  Focus limit budget on proven marketing methods  Clearly define business objectives

18. Thank You Any questions?