IHOP
Fresh Market Campaign
Role: Creative Lead
Core Domain: Creative Direction, Campaign Strategy, Digital Ecosystems, Location-Based Marketing
User Journey Scope: Full Funnel (Awareness → Engagement → Drive-to-Store)
Executive Summary
As Creative Lead, I directed the digital creative strategy and execution for the product launch of IHOP’s Fresh Market Limited Time Offer (LTO). Marking a major strategic milestone for the brand, the campaign introduced a dedicated price point for the first time in IHOP’s history to lower the barrier to trial and drive immediate foot traffic into physical restaurant locations.
Overseeing the end-to-end digital experience, I led the creation of an integrated campaign centered on intense appetite appeal and ingredient uniqueness. By pairing a complete web ecosystem overhaul with location-gated social activations, rich media publisher placements, and drive-to-store navigation ads, the campaign successfully bridged digital engagement with physical store visits.
Technical & Professional Scope
| Categorization | Details & Competencies |
|---|---|
| Role & Focus | Creative Lead (Creative Direction, Campaign Strategy, Digital & Social Advertising) |
| Domain Scope | LTO Product Launches, Digital Ecosystem Overhauls, Location-Based Mobile Marketing |
| Cross-Functional Stakeholders | Marketing Strategy, Product Development, Digital/Web Engineering, Paid Media Teams |
| UX/UI & Production Workflow | Discovery, Creative Direction, Web Redesign, Social Asset Production, Rich Media Ad Design |
| Optimization & Mechanics | First-Ever Price Point Messaging, In-Restaurant Geo-Gating, Contextual Driving Navigation |
| Lifecycle Stages | Awareness (CBS Sports, Waze, Email) → Engagement (Social Ads, Web) → Conversion (In-Store Foot Traffic) |
Key Initiatives & Strategic Impact
A. Web Ecosystem & Full-Funnel Digital Refresh
- Homepage & Landing Page Redesign: Overhauled IHOP’s core web presence to lead with mouthwatering appetite appeal, highlighting the freshness and quality of the Fresh Market ingredients alongside the new price point messaging.
- Targeted Email Campaign: Designed promotional email series deployed to IHOP’s subscriber base, driving early awareness and highlighting value directly to loyal guests.
B. In-Restaurant Geo-Gating & Social Innovation
- In-Restaurant Snapchat Filters: Developed custom Snapchat Geofilters promoting both the Fresh Market LTO and IHOP’s core equities that could only be unlocked inside an IHOP restaurant, creating a direct digital incentive for in-person visits.
- Multi-Platform Social Creative: Directed the creation of native social assets including Instagram Snap Ads, custom stickers, and Twitter GIFs designed to capture feed attention through vibrant visual storytelling.
C. Contextual Media & Drive-to-Store Execution
- High-Impact Publisher Placements: Produced rich media banner campaigns deployed across premium digital properties, including CBS Sports, to drive broad reach and appetite appeal.
- Waze Location-Based Advertising: Integrated drive-to-store mobile advertising on Waze to reach drivers in proximity to IHOP locations, capturing high-intent consumers actively on the road.
Workflows & Governance
- Strategic Briefing & Positioning: Translated IHOP’s historic first price point directive and LTO product goals into a high-impact creative direction.
- Digital Ecosystem Redesign: Led the visual and structural redesign of homepage and landing page touchpoints to balance brand equity with promotional value.
- Social & Location Asset Production: Directed creative teams across multiple social formats (Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter) and location-based platforms (Waze).
- Media & Engineering Handoffs: Partnered with paid media and web development teams to deploy rich media banners and execute location-gated digital triggers.
- In-Market Execution & Performance Monitoring: Evaluated performance across digital touchpoints to ensure appetite appeal and drive-to-store mechanics performed effectively.
