Case Study
East Tennessee State University
PUBR-5310 – Media Management
Richard Amoako, Tedra Bennet, Ahliyah Gavin, Courtney Spencer, Colton Fenner
INTERNAL SWOT
• Serves more than breakfast  
• The company has 30,000+
employees
• 1,500+ stores in America and a Strength
few international locations in the s 
Middle East
• Has been financially stable for
55+ years 
• Poor brand identity guidelines that
direct a course of action for
campaign success.
• Poor content strategy for social Weakness
media campaigns; low es
engagement with followers
• Quality control issues across
franchises
• Improve and expand menu
to include healthy choices
• Improve social media Opportuniti
presence  es 
• Improve service 
 • Competitive landscape
• Health risk consuming
pancakes (and now burgers)
Threats

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION IHOP. (2004). IHOP CORP. Retrieved from 

https://investors.dineequity.com/static-files/87eb7e66-64c6-4fe7-8519-bc73eb868651

BuBusiness Radio. (n.d.). IHOP to IHOB: Will the New Marketing Strategy Work? Retrieved from
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ihop-to-ihob-will-the-new-marketing-strategy-work/siness
Radio. (n.d.). IHOP to IHOB: Will the New Marketing Strategy Work? Retrieved from
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ihop-to-ihob-will-the-new-marketing-strategy-work/
Zigu. (n.d.). IHOP SWOT Analysis | Competitors & USP | BrandGuide. Retrieved from
https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/food-and-beverages/9412-ihop.html
EXTERNAL SWOT
 • High brand recognition
• Competitive edge and Strengths 
more opportunity

IHOP SWOT Analysis, Competitors & USP. (n.d). Retrieved from

https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/food-and-beverages/9412-ihop.html
• Poor customer service reflected
in customer reviews/feedback
• Yelp – low to mid rankings
Weaknesses
at different franchises
• Facebook – 1.9/5
• Trip advisor – 3-4/5
 • Can embrace additional
markets (lunch food, burgers)
• Franchised restaurants have
increased opportunity
for global expansion at a Opportuniti
faster rate and at a lower cost
than if a company were not a
es
franchise

IHOP SWOT Analysis, Competitors & USP. (n.d). Retrieved from

https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/food-and-beverages/9412-ihop.html

Pros & Cons to Franchising. (2009). Retrieved, from

https://www.franchisorattorneys.com/franchising/pros-cons-franchising/
 • Franchise regulations
• Competitors (Waffle
House, Denny's)  Threats
• Potential competitors (Burger King,
Wendy's)

Legal Framework. (2009). Retrieved from

https://www.franchisorattorneys.com/franchising/legal-framework/

Pros & Cons to Franchising. (2009). Retrieved, from

https://www.franchisorattorneys.com/franchising/pros-cons-franchising/

Taylor, K. (2018, June 12). Fast-food chains including Wendy's, Burger King, and Whataburger are ganging
up on IHOP to slam its IHOb revamp. Retrieved from
Specification
of Problem
Communication – Response to Customers 
  Facebook page dominated with bad
customer reviews
 There is minimal response to these
bad reviews, and when there is a
Feedback response, it's always the same with
a link to a complaint form 
and  Not personalized to the incident
Response that occurred
Communication – Content Strategy 
 Misleading contents in ad campaigns: 
Deals and foods that have been shown
on their social media campaigns have
not been offered at every location.
Poor content journalism approach on
social media: 
"Our Story" doesn't tell a story, but

Content rather tells their mission and guide

for moderating their social
Strategy media account
Posts are not engaging 
Majority of posts read like ads  
Inconsistent posting schedule 
Potential Strategy
  The course of action that needs to be
taken is growth 
 Interactive and engaging content
  Social media calendar
 Word-of-mouth recommendations
Growth have been shown to have the greatest
impact on choosing a restaurant 
Strategy

Ha, E. Y., & Lee, H. (2018). Projecting service quality: The effects of social media reviews on service
perception. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 132-142.

Romeo, P. (2019). MEASURING INSTAGRAMS INFLUENCE ON DINING: The social media channel boasts drool-
worthy food photos, but how much does it affect restaurant choice? Restaurant Business vol.118, p.29.
 Crucial
Success Factors
 Increase positive reviews
Decrease negative mentions
Crucial Increase engagements
Success Increase "follower" count
Factors
Courses of Action &
Recommendations
 An improved strategy for handling
Fixing negative reviews needs to be
implemented
Response to Perhaps a general framework, but
Customers  not a "wash-rinse-repeat" system 
The key is to personalize,
empathize and offer solutions 
Person-to-person interaction
 Dealing with negative posts/comments:

Fixing "Hide" extremely negative comments

from timelines; not all, just the vicious,
Response to unconstructive ones

Customers  How to improve Facebook review score:

Implement review process at each
(cont.) location with incentives (discounts, gift
cards, etc.) 
Track the review to the location,
server, and cook at the time it was
submitted 
Gives customers a place to express
negative reviews that isn't public
Advertiser-to-restaurant
communication:
Create clear line of communication
between advertisers and
restaurants to ensure marketing
materials used for IHOP reflect
what is sold in each location
Revamp "Our Story" profile section Fixing
on Facebook: 
An engaging story about the
Content
history of IHOP, who they are Strategy  
today, what they stand for and
what they have to offer
Increase social media
engagement through
personable content
Garner shares, likes,
positive comments, positive
reputation, etc. 
Fixing
Consistency and uniformity on Content
all media platforms, Strategy
especially social media
(cont.)  
 Recommendations
 Improve in-store service 
Have brand consistency 
Increase social media presence
with diversified, personable
content 
Recommendatio
Direct negative reviews to
ns   constructive inboxes
Thank you. 
Questions?