Dave & Buster’s + Branded Integration
Challenge
At D&B, our marketing budgets were significantly lower than others in the casual dining and entertainment industries. This meant we were in a constant struggle to drive top-of-mind Awareness as effectively – and efficiently – as possible. It is especially challenging, when consumers can easily skip commercials.
In addition, our core focus as an organization was to offer the latest and greatest games. We needed a constant stream of Intellectual Property to build unique, proprietary games. Ideally, the IP in these cases would be on the cusp of heightened popularity and relevance.
Insight
D&B had recently opened a location in the middle of Hollywood in a location next door to the Dolby Theatre (where the Oscars and Emmys are held) and across the street from the El Capitan Theatre where Jimmy Kimmel Live! is taped.
I saw this as an opportunity to make D&B feel like a much, MUCH bigger brand.
In short, make D&B famous.
the solution
A strategic, concerted effort to leverage our new Hollywood location to increase our presence in pop culture and boost our relevance. It was a three-pronged plan:
- Partnerships with the Creators. We met with film and television studios to identify opportunities. We knew the upcoming blockbusters, so that we could start building corresponding games.
- Celebrity & Writers Outreach. We set up a contact for celebrities and their handlers to call if they needed a special “hook-up”. We ensured confidentiality at the time, and requested subsequent promotion. We set up happy hours with writers’ rooms to help familiarize them with D&B.
- VIP Program. We provided celebrities that visited most frequently with a Black Membership card that they could use for special benefits.
results
Increased Media > Increased Relevance > Increased Sales
Media. Tens of millions of media impressions.
- Social. Each celebrity visit was leveraged (with their permission), from Justin Bieber to Selena Gomez to record release parties for Beyonce and Drake (in NYC). A birthday party for Khloe Kardashian at D&B garnered millions of impressions alone.
Intellectual Property. We were able to use the motion picture properties in the development of new games. Examples include:
- Jurassic World Virtual Reality
- Rampage
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Spider-Man
Talent. D&B was able to leverage the footage from the films, and even the Talent in some cases.
- Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appearing in a D&B commercial to promote Jumanji.
