Video: O'Charley's Serves Up Humor in New Marketing Campaign, Featuring Unsliceably Soft Roll, to Ignite Guest and Associate Passion

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Although it is only a few inches high and a couple of inches wide, O'Charley's Restaurants' unsliceably soft roll has been assigned the substantial task of igniting passion in its guests and 17,000 associates at more than 230 restaurants located in 20 states. And, no pun intended, the iconic, proprietary yeast roll more than rises to the occasion, and does it with a dollop of humor. O'Charley's is a division of O'Charley's, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHUX) , a multi-concept restaurant company.

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On January 21, the company will launch a television advertising campaign in 33 markets, with three, 30-second spots, each featuring a basket of the popular rolls and showing its immediate positive effect on people caught in uncomfortable, but humorous situations.

In one spot, a woman's dress gets tangled in a shopping mall escalator and is ripped off, causing her to quickly cover herself up with her shopping bags. A basket of O'Charley's rolls magically appears before her, bringing an immediate smile to her face along with the comment, "Is it cold in here, or is it just me?"

To support the program, on January 28 O'Charley's will launch a micro Web site: www.therolls.com. The site features a game that challenges visitors to slice an unsliceably soft roll with a knife, enter-to-win contests, the television spots and an animated fable about the roll, showing how it became a "roll" model for the industry.

"What began as an advertising campaign has mushroomed into a fully integrated marketing program that resonates completely throughout the company," said Jeff Warne, O'Charley's concept president. "Sometimes the solution is so obvious, you just don't see it. We knew that our guests liked our signature rolls, but did not fully realize how passionate they were about them. During a series of focus groups, guests just lit up about the rolls when we asked them to identify what they associate most with the O'Charley's experience. We confirmed that passion with our team members, who were equally passionate about the roll, which led to the campaign theme, 'It all starts with the rolls'."

"Once we began to develop the creative, we realized that we had something much bigger than just an advertising campaign," added Dawn Boulanger, O'Charley's vice president of marketing. "Simply put, the roll is just the beginning of a very positive experience when you come to O'Charley's.

"The second 'aha' was the realization that the campaign was also a way to build upon our already strong internal culture and to clearly differentiate our concept from other casual dining restaurants," she said. "The new commercials will help bring people to our restaurants, but we have to deliver on that promise from the moment they walk in the door. By focusing on the good feelings that our guests have about our rolls, we rekindle all the positive feelings about O'Charley's and move the brand to top-of-mind. We added a dollop of humor and highlighted popular and limited-time-only (LTO) dishes to complete the messaging. Based on feedback from our focus groups, we believe this campaign will influence return visits for current guests and trial for new or less frequent guests."

Prior to the launch of the advertising campaign, the company conducted an eight-city blitz, sending out a group that included the O'Charley's concept president, as well as operations and marketing support staff, to talk to more than 700 managers representing every restaurant in the system. In addition to presenting the new campaign, the group placed a renewed focus on roll preparation and service to the guest and introduced their new beverage program.

"Once guests arrive, our associates will be better trained and motivated to provide higher levels of service, which adds significantly to the O'Charley's experience and value proposition," Boulanger added. "Combined with recent enhancements to our menu and highly popular LTO specials, we expect to achieve higher guest satisfaction, which not only will benefit us now, but will also have long-term residual benefits."

"I've seen lots of marketing programs and training tools in my 30-plus years in the restaurant industry," said Guy Stanke, O'Charley's vice president of operations. "But, this is the first time I've ever seen such a comprehensive program, one that includes all facets of the restaurant's operations, from guests to team members. The energy level generated at our initial meeting was incredible, and the response I've received from team members in the field has been well above anything I've experienced in my career."

About O'Charley's Inc.

O'Charley's is a division of O'Charley's, Inc., a multi-concept restaurant company that operates or franchises a total of 365 restaurants under three brands: O'Charley's, Ninety Nine Restaurant, and Stoney River Legendary Steaks. The O'Charley's concept owns and franchises 240 restaurants in 20 states in the Southeast and Midwest, including 229 company-owned and operated O'Charley's restaurants in 16 states; four franchised O'Charley's restaurants in Michigan; one franchised restaurant each in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee; two joint-venture O'Charley's restaurants in Louisiana and one joint-venture O'Charley's in Wisconsin.

The menu, with an emphasis on fresh preparation, features several specialty items, such as hand-cut and aged USDA choice steaks; a variety of seafood and chicken, freshly baked, unsliceably soft yeast rolls, fresh salads with special-recipe salad dressings and signature caramel pie.

The company operates Ninety Nine restaurants in 115 locations throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Ninety Nine has earned a strong reputation as a friendly, comfortable place to gather and enjoy great American food and drink at a terrific price. The menu features a wide selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees and desserts.

The company operates 10 Stoney River Legendary Steaks restaurants in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. The steakhouse concept appeals to both upscale casual-dining and fine-dining guests by offering high-quality food and attentive customer service typical of high-end steakhouses, but at more moderate prices.

    Contact Information
    Jeanne Ludington
    O'Charley's Inc.
    (615) 744-3666

    Jerry Daly or Carol McCune
    Daly Gray Public Relations
    (703) 435-6293