An extra cheesy burger from Applebee's is showing how casual dining chains are creating experiences through menu innovation.
The O-M-Cheese Burger, which launched in January, is a cheeseburger with bacon that is cut in half and dunked in a skillet of queso for additional cheesiness. It costs $11.99 and is part of Applebee’s 2 for $25 value platform.
Within months, the item became the most ordered burger at Applebee’s, Dine Brands CEO John Peyton said during an May earnings call. Content featuring the burger generated over 9 billion impressions, reached 96 million people on social media and led to nearly 80 times more organic views than traditional campaigns, Peyton said.
The success of the burger has pushed Applebee's to create an entire platform around cheese, according to Michelle Chin, CMO of Applebee's. The O-M-Cheese platform takes popular items from Applebee’s menu and combines them with skillets of queso and melted cheese.
The chain has already launched new twists on the concept including an O-M-Cheese-adilla Burger. The item combines Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger with bacon and Paper Jack cheese and places it on a skillet of queso and melted cheddar cheese.
“We identified a clear guest desire for more cheese and saw an opportunity to elevate an American icon in a way only Applebee's could,” Chin said in an email. “The enthusiasm told us we were onto something bigger than a one-time innovation.”
Competition continues to increase as casual chains like Chili’s, TGI Fridays and Red Robin, offer new menu and value items, making it all the more important for innovations to hit on flavors and on price. Brands that can succeed in these areas are reaping the rewards of same-store sales and traffic increases.
“You'll continue to see us reimagine the foods guests know and love, looking for opportunities to turn the familiar into something unexpected,” Chin said. “That's where we believe the biggest opportunities exist — creating distinctive menu experiences that drive excitement, spark conversation, and strengthen guest loyalty.”
Applebee’s considers menu innovation through seven lenses: brand, vision, guest, occasion, marketplace, trends and operations, Chin said. Each culinary idea must then pass another three tests of “Is it desirable? Is it valuable? Is it feasible,” Chin added.
“Guests have to want it, Applebee's has to be able to deliver it consistently, and it has to work for our franchisees,” Chin said. “When those things align, we know we've found something worth building on. That's exactly what happened with O-M-Cheese.”
Marketing the platform effectively
Following the chain’s initial success with the O-M-Cheese Burger, Applebee’s needed to tell the next item’s story in an authentic way to continue to drive the emerging platform’s success as it launched the O-M-Cheese-adilla Burger.
“The strongest campaigns are the ones where the product, the partner, and the consumer insights all work together,” Chin said.
Marketing starts with having great consumer insights, Chin said, adding that Applebee’s knew guests wanted “more cheese, more indulgence, and more elevated dining experiences.” The chain then looked at some of its most iconic items to find a way to make them more appealing through the O-M-Cheese platform.
From that point, Applebee's leaned on marketing to bring the item’s story to life and capture what’s unique about it alongside brand partners who can tell an authentic story. The chain partnered with former NFL player Marshawn Lynch, for example, since he had several memories eating at the chain during his NFL days and thus had a personal connection to the brand.
“With Marshawn, there was a natural connection between the product, the brand and his own Applebee's history,” Chin said. “Add in the cultural connection to quesadillas, and it became a fun, authentic way to tell the story of the O-M-Cheese-adilla Burger. That's what we look for in every partnership: a connection that feels real and makes the creative stronger.”
