Boston Market CEO responds about coupon promotion
Boston Market CEO Lane Cardwell wrote in Tuesday after reading our post, Boston Market coupon promotion a success or failure?, to share details about the deal from the company's point of view: As the CEO of Boston Market I must admit right off that I am biased. Let me tell you about the $1 promotion from our perspective, since everyone is entitled to an opinion.
When KFC released their press release on Thursday, Oct. 22 that they were going to repeat their 1 piece of chicken giveaway on Monday, Oct. 26 we decided this time to not let it go unchallenged. By late Thursday we had decided on our offer: $1 for 1/4 of a white meat chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. A real meal, not a piece of chicken.
Our biggest challenge was in deciding whether our stores would have enough food, since they would not have time to place an order for more food before the promotion would begin. We decided that we were safe with up to a tripling of our normal business and would not be advertising or publicizing the promotion.
We e-mailed our 400,000 VIP Club members, included a "Forward to a friend" button, and sent out the e-mails on Sunday night. We expected the promotion to be picked up on the many "deal" websites and were okay with that.
Our mistake was in thinking that we were making things better by having the promotion run for a week, instead of 2-3 days. We never would have done a 1 day promo like KFC since it makes your guests jump through too many hoops to take advantage of it.
However, by the third day it was clear that instead of making the situation better from a guest standpoint, it make it worse. It allowed the coupon to take on viral properties and spread throughout the country. It gave time for people to come back a second, third, and fourth time, which we were okay with, but it made the lines longer, not shorter.
Our biggest difficulty is that ...
... we deal in fresh, not frozen food. Our chickens have to be shipped from near where they are raised and it can take up to two days, with two drivers driving overnight, to reach some of our stores. KFC had the advantage of stockpiling frozen chicken for one month leading up to the promotion.*
We had to start with the food that we had, and then replenish during mid-week. We did fine until the fifth day, when about 5% of our restaurants ran low (mostly in the midwest), then out of food. Our offer was for chicken and mashed potatoes. When we ran out of those we started offering all of our meats and all of our sides. Cost was never an issue. Not disappointing was always on our minds.
However, when demand outstripped supplies, and restocking was at least a day a way, we had to temporarily close stores that were one day away from receiving more food. When this happened we had our staff inside the store greet guests in the parking lot and give them an apology letter and explanation from me, and a raincheck for the following week for the same deal.
I have read a lot of comments on the internet saying that we should have known better than to offer such a good deal during these tough times with a coupon that could be copied and forwarded. We did know better, we just underestimated the popularity of our food when combined with a $1 offer. We served 1.7 million meals last week for $1 each. It was as if the city of Phoenix decided to show up at our all of our restaurants and ask to be fed for $1 for one week. And we did. We never had more than 8% of our stores without food at any time, and we always gave rainchecks when it happened. If we served frozen food it would have been so easy!
We did this promotion for two reasons, one selfish and one altruistic. We have learned from our Two Kids Eat Free promotion, which runs on the weekends through Jan. 31, that times are tough on families right now. Our $1 meal deal was, first, to fight back against KFC, and second, to give a true deal to people in true need of a good meal.
I am so proud of our people. They showed up every day, for seven days, faced long lines and served food with smiling faces. They were proud of what we serve and the true meaning of what we were trying to do. Do we hope that we will be well thought of in the future and that we will get some full-paying business? Of course. Even charities have to break even or they go out of business and can't help anyone.
Thank you to those of you who supported us by voting "yes" on this poll. I am glad that you "got it". To those of you who voted "no", please give us another chance at full-price sometime in the future. I think that you will agree that it is worth it.
I can tell you from the hundreds of phone calls and e-mails that we have received that times are tough for a lot of people. We know that and are proud of making our contribution to help. We look for others in our industry to respond in the same way.
Lane, thanks for weighing in. Right now the poll results on the Boston Market promotion indicate that many Consuming Interests readers were pleased with the promotion. Several said that this coupon came at a pretty tough time for them financially.
This was the first time I'd heard that rainchecks were distributed, however. Folks, if you received a raincheck from a Boston Market location that closed early, please let us know!
In other Boston Market news, on Friday, Boston Market extended its Two Kids Eat Free promotion through January 30, 2010, giving families another chance to try their food at a lower price.
*UPDATED: Don't miss KFC's response to Boston Market's statement about its chicken.
(photo: Boston Market)
Comments
Thanks for posting Liz, and thank you to Lane for reaching out to his customers to explain the thought behind the promotion and the steps they took to execute it. Most CEO's would not find the time, and that is very refreshing.
As a Boston Market lover for years I was very excited about the promotion and took full advantage (emphasis on Full!). Even though the lines were a little longer I still did not find them unreasonable. And even when they ran out of chicken I was more than pleased to find out they were accepting substitutes. I really cannot understand people that find room to complain; get there earlier next time, or find another restaurant that is willing to serve you a full meal for $1. Some people just cannot be happy whatsoever.
I also happened to be at a restaurant that was handing out rain checks, and doing it with a smile I may add. All of the employees were great throughout what had to be a tumultuous week.
I was interested in reading about the results of the campaign, especially after Popeye's, KFC's, and Quizno's coupon fiascoes. I am glad to hear the BM learned through the mistakes of others, because running a bad campaign often has negative results exponentially larger than the positives they may have received if executed correctly. And as a BM fan, I'm glad they got it right (in my opinion...although I wouldn't rush into it as quickly next time. Proper preparation is vital).
I am one of the people that voted "yes" on the poll and look for more great things to come from Boston Market and it's excellent management team.
Posted by: KOTWINY | November 5, 2009 4:20 PM
What a great response from the CEO and I love that the poll numbers are showing people appreciate a good deal and what is involved in delivering it. I am in Chicago and I was one of the consumers that received a raincheck. I think Boston Market handled this promo a lot better then KFC's Oprah Grilled chicken fiasco.
Posted by: Love a Good Deal | November 5, 2009 5:59 PM
THANK YOU SO MUCH...CEO CARDWELL!!!!!
I THANK GOD AND CEO LANE CARDWELL FOR THE WONDERFUL GIFT BESTOWED UPON ME. A FREE DINNER. IN AN ECONOMY WHERE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHERE THEIR NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM, WHERE FOOD BANKS ARE RUNNING LOW ON FOOD, WHERE RESTRAUNTS ARE NOT SELLING,(NOR MAKING MUCH OF A PROFIT) FOOD AS USUAL-BECAUSE PEOPLE DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO EAT OUT ANYMORE......THE CEO OF BOSTON MARKET HAD THE GUTS TO FEED MANY AMERICANS A FULL MEAL FOR ONE DOLLAR!!!!!!! THE PEOPLE WHO ARE COMPLAINING ARE "HATERS". THEY SHOULD BE GRATEFUL...BOSTON MARKET DOESN'T OWE YOU ANYTHING......YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOUSELVES FOR BAD MOUTHING SUCH A NOBEL DEED. I
WANT TO APPLAUD THE CEO FOR THE CHICKEN PROMOTION. I DONT FEEL THAT HE SHOULD HAVE TO MAKE AN APPOLOGY TO THE CONSUMER FOR RUNNING OUT OF FOOD. YET, BECAUSE HE IS A STAND-UP GUY, HE DID MAKE AMMENDS. I LOVE THE FOOD AT BOSTON MARKET. I HAVE BEEN A PATRON FOR YEARS, YET DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS, I HAVE NOT ATE OUT FOR A WHILE. IT WAS CERTAINLY A TREAT FOR ME.
I & MY FAMILY ARE GRATEFUL IN INDIANAPOLIS, IN FOR SUCH A FINE GIFT & THE FOOD AS ALWAYS WAS VERY DELICIOUS. THANKS..KAREN S. BARNHILL-DUNN
Karen S. Dunn
Environmental Health Specialist
Posted by: kbarnhill | November 5, 2009 6:24 PM
no rain check, no coupon, long line last week and no chicken. ran out.
no more boston market or kfc for me ever again. popeyes has chicken.
alvinguy@aol.com 11/6/09
Posted by: al hays | November 6, 2009 1:15 PM
no rainchecks were handed out at Altamonte Springs location on Sat night when they were "closed for halloween"(posted on door) or the night before or on sunday when they closed at 8pm. also,employees were inside but totally ignoring customers who were showing up outside.
Posted by: Chuck | November 8, 2009 7:12 AM