Homage to Atari
We paid homage to Atari's retro TV commercials with a spot of our own and custom-built four retro arcade consoles, designing and tweaking them until they were ready for action. Then, we tracked down the high scorers for our games and invited them to a showdown of epic proportions in Las Vegas, and we streamed it all live on Twitch. When the dust finally settled, two ordinary fans were transformed into gaming legends. Denny's experienced their highest sales and restaurant traffic since 2006. The app was downloaded 475,868 times in the first three months, and the buzz that was generated produced over 10 million additional impressions. In the end, Denny's had the most engaging and successful partnerships in its 65-year history.
Strategy and Execution
One of the coolest parts of this campaign is the fact that it was created in-house by our agency. In addition to being a blast to play, our app game partnership garnered some impressive results. During this campaign, Denny's experienced their highest sales and restaurant traffic since 2006. The app was downloaded almost a half million times in the first three months, and the buzz that was generated produced over 10 million additional impressions. In the end, Denny's had the most engaging and successful partnerships in its 65-year history.
Project breakdown
Denny’s aimed to enhance the downloads of their newly launched app during a quarterly promotion focused on reimagining their beloved diner classics. I proposed an innovative approach: what if we incorporated elements from iconic video games, making them exclusive to the Denny’s app as a strategy to drive engagement? This led to a unique fusion where we reinterpreted Atari classics like Asteroids, Centipede, and Breakout with a diner-themed twist.
To bring this vision to life, we developed the custom in-app games internally. Subsequently, we constructed arcade cabinets featuring high scores for an event in Las Vegas, allowing attendees to experience the games firsthand. We also created a media buzz by modifying Atari consoles to enable the play of our unique mashups. Comprehensive advertising campaigns, alongside robust social media content, were designed to promote the initiative effectively.
The outcomes were remarkable: we achieved 500,000 app downloads within the first three months, surpassing our initial targets significantly. Additionally, we witnessed a boost in sales during the campaign period and garnered an unprecedented level of organic press and brand awareness that eclipsed all previous Denny’s promotions. The campaign also received accolades for its creativity, earning recognition in prestigious publications such as the Communication Arts Exhibit Annual, CA Online, and the NY Festivals, among others.
Denny's Social
