International House of Name Changes

(Waco)

 In the digital era, with so much content out there it can be difficult for brands to stand out and spark conversations. Some brands make a statement with corporate social responsibility, some do so with humor, or with celebrity endorsements. But IHOP (International House of Pancakes) tried a different approach: changing its name...for a hot second.

On June 11, 2018 the Twitter universe had its eyes on IHOP. Or should I say IHOB. After weeks of speculation, the brand announced it was changing its name to International House of Burgers (IHOB). Not only did the brand receive criticism from consumers, but its competition seized on the moment to humiliate IHOB. Whataburger, Burger King, and Wendy's, and others all threw major internet shade at the new and improved IHOB (USA Today).

(Fox LA)

To add insult to injury, just one month later IHOB returned to its pancake roots and changed its name back to IHOP again. However, the brand then said the original name change had actually been a hoax in order to promote its burgers. Per USA Today, Stephanie Peterson, IHOP's Executive Director of Communications said "We knew we had a very tough job to do to convince people that we take our burgers as seriously as we take our pancakes." The idea that the name change had been #fakenews all along was received with skepticism. Some consumers were relieved while others thought the brand was just trying to save face.

The good news for IHOP was that the name change definitely generated online buzz and conversation. Many top - tier media outlets reported on the incident, and Chrissy Teigen weighed in on the issue, comparing IHOP to a guy who gets a tattoo of a girl's name after the first date (Bloom Joy Collective).

So what was the result of this intentional fake campaign? Like the reaction to both name changes, the results were mixed. In an interview with CNN Money, IHOP President Darren Rebelez said “Literally everyone on the planet now knows we’re in the burger business.” (Fortune). Rebelez also said that the campaign earned IHOP 32.3 billion earned media impressions (Fortune). This is quite impressive as earned media is perhaps the new word - of - mouth.

(AdWeek)

Although there was considerable buzz around the name change, polling firm YouGov reported that the buzz did not necessarily result in changes in consumer's purchase considerations (USA Today). This makes sense - if we found out Pizza Hut also sold sushi, would we ever consider Pizza Hut when we felt like eating sushi? It's unlikely when our associations of a brand are so rooted in its name, as is the case with the International House of Pancakes.

I believe the brand should have promoted its burgers without the dramatic name change. Yes, the campaign was bold and newsworthy but from observing consumer's reactions on social media it didn't really seem as if the talk was truly about the burger. I think IHOP would have been better off positioning itself like the Cheesecake Factory or TGI Friday's - a restaurant that has everything. The brand should have recognized that even if consumers were aware of the burger offerings, that might not mean consumers would prefer a burger from IHOP.

The biggest problem with this campaign was that it raised questions about whether IHOB would still serve pancakes. I think the worst thing you can ever do as a brand is to alienate your most loyal consumers. For consumers who love IHOP's pancakes, how would they feel knowing the brand was heading in a different direction? Even after the brand announced that the name change was fake, would loyal consumers be relieved or skeptical? Either option isn't great.

(Bustle)

For a campaign like this to be effective, both PR and Marketing teams must work in sync. For example before the name change, the PR team would have been closely monitoring IHOP's social media conversations. Had they ever noticed any consumers expressing interest in IHOP offering burgers? If not, this would not have been an insight the Marketing team would have used to build a campaign strategy. There often isn't enough dialogue between PR and Marketing during campaign launches. Marketing develops and executes, and then PR monitors and manages crisis. With better communication, I think the crisis itself could be avoided but if it does occur both teams need to work on a solution together. In this case, IHOP can always rely on the age old saying there's no such thing as bad publicity.