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What’s for breakfast?

With so many restaurants adding breakfast options to their menus, the daypart is becoming increasingly competitive. A new report by Chicago-based NPD Group shows that breakfast accounted for nearly 60% of the restaurant industry’s traffic growth during the past five years. And leading market intelligence firm Mintel predicts that the breakfast foodservice market will be up 14% by 2014.

So, how will you stand out among the competition?

1. Know what the customers want

Depending on which day of the week it is, consumers seem to have different desires of what they want their breakfast experiences to be. Mintel’s recent survey found that people seek low prices and conveniences during breakfast time, whereas food quality and variety seem to be more important to weekend diners. Other diners are looking for places that serve breakfast outside of traditional breakfast hours.

2. Know what your competition is serving and how they’re marketing

Burger King has recently unveiled its largest menu expansion ever.

  • 9 new BK Breakfast Menu items offered until 10:30 am daily
  • Items are priced from $1 (for the Value Menu options) to around $4.29
  • The varied menu includes traditional items like the CROISSAN’WICH, a Club Sandwich, Mini Blueberry Biscuits, pancakes and Seattle’s Best Coffee
  • In Mid-September, they launched a 60-second TV commercial featuring a group of neighbors from different professions who chant: “Burger King for breakfast? There’s really such a thing.”
  • Accompanying 30-second spots showcase how the individual menu items get people marching to the beat of the BK drum for breakfast
  • The campaign also includes digital banner ads, a mobile application and out-of-home advertising

In April 2010, Subway started opening stores at 7:00 am and offering breakfast.

  • Menu includes a variety of sandwiches made with eggs, served on English muffins, flatbread or Subway’s fresh-baked sub rolls
  • Prices range from $1.75 to $2.25 for the English muffin sandwiches and $4 to $6 for subs

According to a September 2010 interview that Brandweek conducted with Tony Pace, Subway CMO, the breakfast menu is already seeing success. Pace states that the breakfast menu is going very well and that Subway is making money a lot faster than McDonald’s did. Like Burger King, Subway has upgraded to Seattle’s Best coffee.

Though they tested breakfast before, Taco Bell is in the process of introducing a permanent menu for the morning daypart at its 5,600 restaurants in the U.S.

  • In past test markets, Taco Bell breakfast items focused on higher flavor profiles and/or food quantity
  • New focus is on value pricing
  • Items such as a Potato & Cheese Roll-up for 79 cents, breakfast burritos for 89 cents and 99-cent hash browns will be offered
  • Combo meals will be offered for $4 each

Wendy’s has seen failure in previous attempts at breakfast but, in an effort to increase profits and stay in line with the competition, they’re once again back in the game, serving breakfast at test markets.

  • Items include burritos, egg sandwiches, oatmeal bars and paninis
  • If successful, the plan is to take on breakfast nationally in 2011, according to CFO Stephen Hare

Fast-casual spots aren’t the only ones serving breakfast. Casual restaurants with breakfast/brunch offerings include UNO Chicago Grill, California Pizza Kitchen and Cheesecake Factory. Others include:

  • Applebee’s, which launched its breakfast menu in late 2009. This menu features pancakes, french toast and eggs, all for under $3. And some locations open as early as 7:00 am.
  • Ruby Tuesday, which began a nationwide rollout of brunch in December 2009. Select locations open at 9:00 am, two hours earlier than normal store hours. Consisting of traditional brunch cocktails and a selection of breakfast foods, the menu features entrees costing between $9.99 and $13.99, and kids’ meals priced at $4.99.
  • Luby’s introduced all-you-can-eat breakfast on weekends, from 8:00 am to noon, at select locations in August of this year.

3. Other marketing trends

Once you decide to take the plunge into the breakfast daypart, it’s time to market yourself. With so many restaurants competing for breakfast traffic, how will you draw in the consumers?

In a recent study by New York-based Scarborough Research, 37% of adult consumers had eaten breakfast at a quick-service chain in the past month. Most (47%) of those diners went to McDonald’s, while Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks were the choices of 19% of respondents. Burger King wasn’t too far behind, with 12% of respondents having eaten there.

One way to appeal to morning consumers is to offer Wi-Fi at your restaurant. This enables diners to stay and enjoy additional menu offerings.

Offering digital and text coupons also help to draw consumers who spend time online. Facebook is a great venue for coupons and targeted-marketing efforts. The creation of Facebook apps can aid in further drawing in consumers by offering personal options, such as Starbucks’ latest app that allows patrons to manage their Starbucks Card account and balance.

Despite the digital age being upon us, there’s always the option of a good old-fashioned giveaway. Denny’s gave away about 2 million Grand Slam breakfasts not too long ago, as did select Chick-fil-A locations.

4. Keep price in mind

To lure breakfast customers, you must keep in mind that diners do not want to be turned off by your prices. Intellaprice, a Boston-based foodservice consultancy, found that quick-service breakfast menu prices only increased 1% (3 cents) from 2009 prices. “The increase is modest, and reflects an effort by operators to be conservative and retain customers,” said Leslie Kerr, founder and president of Intellaprice.

5. Know what doesn’t work

In 1985, Wendy’s originally rolled out its breakfast menu. But there were problems. Many of the menu items weren’t the type of grab-and-go food convenient for morning diners, some of it took 6 to 8 minutes to prepare and some of the sandwiches fell apart. In addition to price, these are some things to keep in mind. Breakfast items need to be made quickly and easy to eat.

We can help you grow

Of course, you must keep in mind that one reason the breakfast daypart has so much growth potential is because it has seen such decline in recent years. Essentially, it has nowhere to go but up. But, while critics may see this as a bad thing, restaurateurs see it as potential.

Push has extensive experience working with developing, growing and mature brands in the restaurant industry. If you would like to see examples of work done for a variety of our clients, visit www.pushhere.com.

To talk to Push directly, please contact John Ludwig, CEO, at 407-841-2299 or at jludwig@pushhere.com.