Gen-Z, Millennial Opps: Jack In The Box opens first drive-thru-only restaurant, launches new product (Score 32)

Sales Lead: Jack in the Box recently debuted its first-ever drive-thru-only location and a new munchie sauce.

• The company opened the first location of this kind in Ogden, UT, and will open more by the end of the year.
  • Jack has been strongly focused on UT, having just launched in Salt Lake City - the company's first new market entry in over a decade.
  • The new location features Jack's dynamic new CRAVED image, which consists of new packaging color, signage, and imagery, per Tim Linderman, Jack's chief development officer.
  • Linderman leads and works with Jack's franchise marketing team and outside agencies on lead generation and digital marketing strategy.
  • Already, Jack's leadership has announced plans to open three additional CRAVED units by the end of 2023.
  • Jack's experimented with a location in Tulsa, OK, late last year.
  • So far, the new location has experienced "record breaking sales," per a Jack release, "with full-first month sales that outperformed the previous record setting new market opening by 66%.”
• Separately, the sauce launch was made possible by collaborating with Michelin-starred chef Tim Hollingsworth and his LA eatery, Chain.
  • To celebrate this partnership, Jack and Chain will invest in experiential activations in the form of dinner events featuring the new menu items & limited-edition apparel.
• The company will likely:
  • Continue pursuing brick-and-mortar expansion of its CRAVED locations.
    • This will also likely impact localized advertising efforts around these new restaurants.
  • Invest in similar experiential initiatives
  • Keep increasing spend
  • Seek new agency partners
• Target demographic: 
  • A wide, but slightly male-skewed, audience ranging from Gen-Z through Gen-X

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: Since the beginning of 2023, Jack has spent approximately $3.2m on national TV commercials, double the approximately $1.6m spent within the same 2022 timeframe.
  • Last year: The company spent around $4.3m on this channel in 2021 and 16% less, around $3.6m, in 2022.
  • 2023 ad programming: Jack's 2023 commercials have targeted male sports enthusiasts watching shows such as MLB Baseball, NHL Hockey, NBA Basketball, NFL Football, and Tennis Classics.
• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: The fast-food chain has allocated roughly $13.9m toward digital ads YTD, 14% more than the roughly $12.2m allocated by this point last year.
  • YTD data: So far this year, Jack has earned ~1.9b digital impressions via Instagram (41%), YouTube (33%), Facebook (15%), X/Twitter (9%), and desktop display (2%) ads.
  • Last year: Jack's estimated full-year 2022 spend decreased by 14% to $17.7m from that of $20.7m in 2021.
• Additional channel insights  
  • The company utilizes Google Ads along with OOH, digital, local broadcast, radio, Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, and online video (via Youtube Android, Youtube.com, and Youtube IOS) ads.
  • Jack works with influencers such as Snoop Dogg and Mark Hamill.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: Reach out soon to see if Jack needs additional agency support to get the word out about its new kind of restaurant.
• Current agency roster:
  • ​​​​​​​TBWA \ Chiat \ Day: Creative AOR
  • Small Girls PR: PR AOR
  • Conscious Minds: Digital and social AOR
  • Carat: Media AOR

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix.