[Blogger’s note: This is the first of a two-part post on Chili’s Create a Pepper promotion benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The campaign is notable because it has grown approximately 400 percent since going national in 2004. How did they do it? Read on.] The casual dining category of chain restaurants have been death for many cause-related marketing campaigns. You can guess why. The chains are national, but there aren’t many charities with sufficient affinity to span the nation. The employee turnover rate among restaurants tends to be quite high, making continuity challenging. The patrons of the big chains aren’t particularly loyal. Not too many people head to their local Applebees four times a week. [Although I did hear Jim Cramer, the voluble (and volatile) TV stock picker, say that he loves to eat at Olive Garden ]. And I would add that too many charities that have sold in a cause-related marketing campaign to a casual dining chain have not brought much creativity ...
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