Company: Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp.
Contact: Jill Trecker, Manager of Guest Loyalty
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Industry: Restaurant
Annual revenue: Confidential
Number of employees: Confidential

Quick Read

Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., which operates a restaurant chain, had more than half a million customers on its email list. But the company wanted customers to do more than print out coupons. It sought to build customer loyalty by using the email channel as an interactive tool.

Challenge

Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Garden Fresh operates 102 casual-dining, buffet-style Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants in 15 states. The company had an enviable 500,000-plus membership for its Club Veg email list—but wasn't using it to its fullest advantage, instead leveraging it primarily as a one-way marketing channel.

"We wanted to be more interactive with our online club," said Jill Trecker, manager of Guest Loyalty.

Garden Fresh hoped to engage its customers in a dialogue that encouraged visits to the corporate website, the sale of additional meals at the restaurants, and increased customer loyalty.

Campaign