By Kevin McCauley
Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar has picked Kansas City hometown-based Crossroads, a unit of Barkley ad agency, to handle its PR business after a competitive pitch.
Charlotte-headquartered DFPR had done PR for the nation’s largest chain of casual dining restaurants with nearly 2,000 units in 16 countries. Its contract expired in July.
Mike Swenson is president of Crossroads, which has worked for clients such as Weight Watchers, Krispy Kreme, Big Bunny Ice Cream, Missouri Lottery, Lee Jeans and New Era Cap Co., Sporting Kansas City and March of Dimes.
A key focus of Crossroads will be to promote Applebee’s “See You Tomorrow” positioning that debuted in July.
Crispin Porter + Bogusky, a unit of MDC Partners, kicked off an advertising campaign in July to support that effort to encourage regular visits to Applebee’s to sample new menu ingredients and combinations.
That push coincides with a $200M system-wide restaurant upgrade that ditches Applebee’s traditional stained glass light fixture-look in favor of sleek new lighting and murals that link each outlet to its neighborhood.
Applebee’s is owned by DineEquity Inc. Barkley bills itself as the largest employee-owned ad agency.
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