Denny’s Brings Back Birthday Meal Program in Arizona
Denny’s Arizona-area restaurants are renewing an old-time favorite—the company’s birthday meal program—to reward loyalty customers and boost sales.
Customers who visit any one of the more than 70 participating restaurants on their birthday will receive a free meal with the purchase of a second meal and two beverages. The program is open to any guest. To redeem the offer, people must show identification with their birth date.
The effort marks the program’s return to the U.S. market in several years. Denny’s ran a national birthday club in the 1990s, but later dropped it to move on to other marketing initiatives, the company said. A similar program has been running in Canada for about five years.
The idea originated after franchisees in Arizona ask to bring the program back, Joe Gisbert, Denny’s director, field marketing-west, said.
“There is good value and good will for consumers,” Gisbert said. “It’s a way to drive more business into the restaurants, too.”
The program is being promoted via door and window clings, server buttons and local print ads, which run in June. For now, the offering is specific to Arizona. But depending on its success and interest generated from other franchisees, it could expand to other locations, Gisbert said.
