With a library of more than 2,000 menu items, The Melting Pot needed to empower their 132 locations to assemble menus that were on-brand, and filled with just the right combination of options for their individual markets. The content management system in CampaignDrive made it possible—with transformative results.
Manual Menu Production Just Can't Keep Up With The Business
Imagine you're a graphic designer in the Melting Pot Restaurant Support Center. One of your locations sends you an email to request assistance building a new menu for a special marketing event. They want to include three dozen items on the menu, each with a unique description and price. They want photography that reflects the unique character of the event—and of their customer community. They want the piece to be on-brand, 100%. And they want it in—oh! About 45 minutes.
That's the situation we faced with Melting Pot when we introduced the Menu Builder as part of CampaignDrive. And it's a situation that many restaurant brands face every day.
Content Management Turns Menu Production Into a "Pick and Mix" Task.
How did we handle the challenge? By giving users a curated set of content blocks that they could use to assemble their menus—without putting their hands on the keyboards. The resulting user experience yields complete menus (2-page, 4-page, and longer) in a matter of minutes. And the system gives the Restaurant Center the option to turn an approval loop on or off based on their availability—and the restaurant manager's skill set and experience with the system.
Just as important as design fidelity, CampaignDrive gives the Restaurant Support Center the power to control the product items that are available for inclusion—so restaurants can activate new items in coordination with national advertising and promotional campaigns, and leverage the brand to maximum effect.
Instant, Enthusiastic Adoption.
When the Menu Builder was unveiled to the Melting Pot franchisee community at the annual conference, it won a standing ovation. That's because it promised to take one of the most time-consuming (and frustrating) tasks on the local manager's plate, and transform it into a simple, point-and-click affair. And over the years, that promise has been fulfilled, as the franchisee community has built about 5,000 menus annually. That's about one menu per restaurant, per week, system-wide.
Modular Content Is King.
Several years ago, the marketing world recognized that consumers today are interested in being informed—not sold—and that content, therefore, was king. But in the content arms race that has ensued, most brand managers find themselves struggling to produce content to keep pace with demand. The Melting Pot was visionary in its desire to modularize its menu content and to embrace franchisees as a part of the creative production process. The benefits—in sales, franchisee happiness, and brand productivity—have been substantial ever since.
To see an example of modular content in action, request a free demonstration with a CampaignDrive expert today.
