KBP Brands needed a route into mobile that could help them drive profitable sales, localize their marketing and deliver increased value to guests. They turned to the Vibes mobile engagement platform as their trusted partner across 900+ restaurants.
KBP Brands wanted to enhance its regional marketing efforts and to complement other marketing tactics with trackable options. KBP leaned into mobile marketing initiatives, and specifically Vibes’ SMS and Mobile Wallet, to help connect with hard-to-reach, value-driven consumers, boost revenue, and increase in-store traffic.
After looking at various alternatives, KBP Brands turned to Vibes as their mobile engagement platform partner to help boost their local consumer engagement, increase their in-store traffic and grow loyalty at its KFC and Arby’s restaurants through the delivery of timely, personalized messages.
The KBP and Vibes program started in 2022 as a pilot that would test a SMS and mobile wallet program at 162 KBP-owned KFC restaurants in Texas, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Arkansas. “We wanted the ability to activate compelling messaging quickly based on our restaurants’ unique needs,” said Michael Kricsfeld, Senior Marketing Manager at KBP Brands. “The quick-service restaurant industry is highly competitive, and SMS marketing is a cost-effective tool that helps us attract new customers and retain current customers.”
Vibes provides KFC customers with real-time updates at the right place and right time, ranging from changes to local store hours and menu tests to limited-time-only deals, which encourage customers to visit and repeat business.
Within months, the pilot program was expanded to include all 800+ KBP-owned KFC restaurants. This was later augmented with a rollout to more than 100 Arby’s restaurants in multiple states.
KBP Brands is a leading restaurant franchise group with a clear vision: to create a great place to work, a great place to eat, and a great place to own. KBP Brands is one of the largest franchisees in North America, and they operate ~1,000 KFC, Arby's and other leading restaurants brand franchises across 31 states.
month-over-month subscriber growth
subscribers per-store
Initial strong financial results and 30% month-over-month subscriber growth, with an effective tripling of subscribers per store - primarily through word-of-mouth and in-store POP only – is what led to the pilot with Vibes being expanded into a full 830-restaurant KFC launch.
Kricsfeld says that “We’ve seen continuous growth with Vibes at a very reasonable cost. The Vibes platform allows us to create new offers and campaigns at the drop of a hat and easily reach a value-driven audience who now aren’t excluded if they don’t have the KFC or the Arby’s apps.”.
KBP’s always-on tool can instantly reach consumers through SMS and mobile wallet with targeted messages based on menu preferences, pricing tier, demographics, and competitive factors. Importantly, opting-in to participate in the program reduces cannibalization while increasing the value proposition by giving KBP the ability to target offers to consumers that choose to participate. Customers opt-in by texting the word DEAL to 25899, at which point they receive a geo-targeted instant offer and new specials weekly.
The results and ease of enrollment speak for themselves. “Our goal has been to drive profitable sales, localize our marketing to compete more effectively and deliver increased value to our guests,” said Kricsfeld. “We keep expanding our SMS and mobile wallet program with Vibes because of strong consumer engagement, impressive ROI and ability to be regionally relevant in a timely manner. The text-to-enroll program is low risk, easy for consumers to join and delivers immediate advantages.”
KBP Brands promotes its SMS and Mobile Wallet offers through print, in-store signage and – crucially – word of mouth. They’ve promoted the program at community events to various local audiences and see it as a crucial part of many of their one-off engagements. “We’re now seeing some great incremental foot traffic that we wouldn’t be achieving without the Vibes platform”, says Kricsfeld.
Initial strong financial results and 30% month-over-month subscriber growth, with an effective tripling of subscribers per store - primarily through word-of-mouth and in-store POP only – is what led to the pilot with Vibes being expanded into a full 830-restaurant KFC launch.
Kricsfeld says that “We’ve seen continuous growth with Vibes at a very reasonable cost. The Vibes platform allows us to create new offers and campaigns at the drop of a hat and easily reach a value-driven audience who now aren’t excluded if they don’t have the KFC or the Arby’s apps.”.
KBP’s always-on tool can instantly reach consumers through SMS and mobile wallet with targeted messages based on menu preferences, pricing tier, demographics, and competitive factors. Importantly, opting-in to participate in the program reduces cannibalization while increasing the value proposition by giving KBP the ability to target offers to consumers that choose to participate. Customers opt-in by texting the word DEAL to 25899, at which point they receive a geo-targeted instant offer and new specials weekly.
The results and ease of enrollment speak for themselves. “Our goal has been to drive profitable sales, localize our marketing to compete more effectively and deliver increased value to our guests,” said Kricsfeld. “We keep expanding our SMS and mobile wallet program with Vibes because of strong consumer engagement, impressive ROI and ability to be regionally relevant in a timely manner. The text-to-enroll program is low risk, easy for consumers to join and delivers immediate advantages.”
KBP Brands promotes its SMS and Mobile Wallet offers through print, in-store signage and – crucially – word of mouth. They’ve promoted the program at community events to various local audiences and see it as a crucial part of many of their one-off engagements. “We’re now seeing some great incremental foot traffic that we wouldn’t be achieving without the Vibes platform”, says Kricsfeld.
“We’ve seen continuous growth with Vibes at a very reasonable cost. The Vibes platform allows us to create new offers and campaigns at the drop of a hat, and easily reach a value-driven audience. We keep expanding our SMS and mobile wallet program with Vibes because of strong consumer engagement, impressive ROI and ability to be regionally relevant in a timely manner".
Senior Marketing Manager, KBP Brands
