Applebee’s

About This Project

Pulse Group professionals were retained by Dine Equity to design a benchmark study that quantitatively allowed for competitive menu evaluation across major categories (appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and desserts)  as well as provide individual menu item analytics to accurately assess if and where Applebee’s was competitively advantaged or disadvantaged. Using a proprietary multi-mode approach to calibrate in-store with online guest feedback to provide a high-level menu/ product line review among a customizable set of competitors both across and within specific menu/product categories (evaluations of individual menu items took place within 48-hours of respondents’ restaurant visit.) Our research allowed for targeted insights for category and overall menu item improvement and incorporated secondary sales data such as CREST, proprietary sales and advertising spend to holistically inform strategic decision making.