News Briefs

IHG Hotels & Resorts and Google Cloud announced an expanded partnership that will fuel new customer experiences within the IHG One Rewards mobile app. With Google Cloud's technologies, IHG will launch a generative AI-powered travel planning capability that can help guests easily plan their next vacation directly in the IHG One Rewards mobile app in a suite of new features that will launch in the second half of 2024, creating a more dynamic digital guest experience.

"Working with Google Cloud as an AI innovation partner, we're making trip planning easier and more interactive for prospective travelers. Our customized travel planner will use GenAI to help people discover destinations among our more than 6,000 IHG hotels across 19 brands in over 100 countries," said Jolie Fleming, Chief Product & Technology Officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts. "Soon, guests will use the IHG One Rewards mobile app as a true mobile travel companion to build a full itinerary and book hotels in a few taps."  

With IHG's Travel Planner, a guest can get recommendations and ideas for both broad and nuanced requests like, "Give me four late-night dinner options near the InterContinental London Park Lane," or "Does the Kimpton Shinjuku Hotel in Tokyo allow pets?" to "What jazz shows are happening near the Holiday Inn Express Manhattan Times Square South the weekend of October 12th?" Additional features will launch in the months following the Travel Planner's public launch.

Investments in the IHG One Rewards mobile app and technology to support IHG's loyalty program are critical parts of IHG's efforts to grow customer loyalty and engagement, and working with Google Cloud will enable the company to move quickly to deploy features loved by guests. The Travel Planner will be developed using Vertex AI, Google Cloud's AI platform, and Google's Gemini models.

"IHG is not only reimagining how people travel, but also how people interact with brands," said Thomas Kurian, CEO at Google Cloud. "This implementation of generative AI combines Google's technical expertise with IHG's commitment to service, raising the bar for how the hospitality industry thinks about guests' digital experiences." 

Google Cloud became IHG's cloud provider in 2022, when IHG migrated components of its data to BigQuery, a fully managed, serverless data warehouse. IHG's selection of Google Cloud's AI technology for its upcoming Trip Planner feature was based on a variety of factors, including Google Cloud's suite of AI technologies that IHG can grow with, and Google's broad ecosystem of consumer products and services that will enable opportunities to create personalized experiences for travelers. IHG continues to explore how secured technology innovation can drive increased investment returns for hotel owners, and better experiences for guests.  

Google Cloud's approach to cybersecurity, data governance, and privacy also allows IHG to retain control over its data, and enables data and applications to meet compliance and security standards, a key priority for IHG. Further, Google Cloud's responsible and ethical approach to generative AI also means IHG has access to tools which enable direct review of model responses for appropriateness and accuracy. This access enables IHG to tune and update its applications, powered by Google's models, to ensure optimal performance.

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Powered by insights from more than 100,000 restaurant locations, Toast’s new Restaurant Management Suite provides enterprise brands with the data and insights, control and support, and integrations they need to better manage their businesses.

With innovations like Benchmarking and improved tools like Multi-Location Management and Menu Manager and Publishing Center, Restaurant Management Suite is designed to help restaurants of any size, especially multi-unit brands, perform at their best and grow.

Advanced Restaurant Analytics

According to a recent Toast survey, top challenges for operators include the administrative aspects of the restaurant business, including managing multiple service channels and locations, and interpreting guest data.  With Advanced Restaurant Analytics, restaurant brands can provide their teams with detailed data and insights to know what’s happening across their locations — and why — to make better business decisions

• 85% say integrations with other systems is driving POS purchasing decisions, according to HT's 2024 POS Software Trends Survey

Coming soon: Benchmarking tool that will enable leaders to compare restaurant and menu category performance against aggregated data from Toast restaurants categorized and analyzed leveraging an AI-based classification tool. 

• Improved Multi-Location Reporting empowers restaurant leaders to see their entire business at a glance, segment locations, and compare them using an expanded list of key performance metrics.
• The Menu Manager and Publishing Center feature enables teams to effectively manage their menus across locations, including scheduling menu items and price changes for the future, allowing managers to react quickly to changing guest needs and operational costs. Multi-Location Management allows restaurants to efficiently manage and standardize configurations and settings across large location footprints. Enhanced settings management will make it easier to copy virtually any aspect of restaurant configuration across multiple locations.

“With hundreds of locations across multiple geographies, brands like ours need the ability to reduce complexity and manage our operations at scale,” said Adam Kinsinger, Director of Technology at WaBa Grill, an over 190 locations fast-casual brand. “Toast’s consistent investment in enterprise-grade Multi-Location Management and Menu Management tools has made it easier for our teams to drive operational consistency, make settings and menu changes quickly, and reduce administrative workload. Whenever our IT or operations teams can more easily copy a setting or make menu changes across our footprint, it frees them up to focus on other tasks and building for the future.”

Additionally, Toast’s Restaurant Management Suite empowers brands to better manage their business with:

• Partner Integrations + Toast API access: Operators can seamlessly share data between Toast and widely used third-party tools via easy-to-use integrations with 200+ partners. Toast Application Programming Interface (API) access enables brands to share data between Toast and custom apps. Toast APIs also empower brands to build robust custom apps. 
   
• E2EE + P2PE payment security solutions: The Toast platform and all devices provide End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) to enable a high degree of payment security for enterprise brands and their guests. Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) security solutions are also available to meet their security requirements if needed. 
• Enterprise Toast Care: Fully included ongoing support specifically designed for the more complex configurations, tech stacks, and scale of enterprise brands. Enterprise care agents have deep knowledge of the specific configurations, settings, and integrations used by the brands they cover to help resolve issues faster. Enterprise care agents are equipped to support issues that arise with more complex tech stacks.
• Coming soon: Benchmarking tool that will enable leaders to compare restaurant and menu category performance against aggregated data from Toast restaurants categorized and analyzed leveraging an AI-based classification tool. 

Restaurant Management Suite functionality is available to restaurants of all sizes and types in tiered offerings to meet the unique needs of different customers, from small and medium-sized restaurants to enterprise brands.

 Jack in the Box  Inc. is modernizing all of its Jack in the Box and Del Taco restaurants using Qu’s unified commerce platform. The visionary brand that introduced the two-way intercom at the drive-thru in 1951 is bolstering its innovation roots by partnering with Qu as the foundation for Jack in the Box’s digital-focused store of the future.  

Jack in the Box will leverage Qu’s enterprise cloud platform to fuel multi-brand, omni-channel ordering and kitchen fulfillment, enabling the iconic restaurant brand to execute on its digital transformation roadmap and achieve its goal of 20 percent digital sales by 2026.

Digital Expansion Strategy

 “We’re building for growth,” said Doug Cook, SVP and CTO of Jack in the Box, Inc. “Investing in this technology is key to our expansion strategy, increasing connections across ordering channels, geographies, and brands. Our partnership with Qu is the technology foundation we needed to deliver on our digital channel goals, drive automation, and increase efficiency.”

Everything from food lockers, automation, digital menu boards, and AI-enabled voice ordering to kiosks and personalized in-store ordering can be realized with Qu’s cloud-native POS and open architecture. New capabilities and features will be available quickly due to Qu’s frequent software releases and API-friendly approach.

“We weren’t looking for just a POS system. We were looking for a stable platform we could build on for years to come. Our digital roadmap includes constant innovation and multiple upgrades, but none of it is achievable without Qu’s commerce platform. I can’t think of anything we want to do in the next five years that doesn’t revolve around this platform,” said Cook. 

Speed, scale, and multi-brand support were key platform requirements. Although the separate brands have different guest experiences, they have shared technology initiatives. Qu natively supports multi-brand portfolios with one common architecture, menu structure, dataset, reporting, and API infrastructure—from one pane of glass.

With only 15-20 percent of Jack in the Box orders coming from inside the store, Qu’s unique Commerce Cloud plays a pivotal role in managing a high-volume drive-thru business. The triple redundancy of a replicated in-store platform, powered by the industry’s first in-store cloud, keeps stores up and running through internet or public cloud outages. Qu’s integrated kitchen display system (KDS) allows Jack in the Box to increase speed, throughput, and order accuracy across channels.

Franchisees will benefit from Qu by gaining more control and flexibility with an integrated system and access to Notify, Qu’s real-time mobile reporting app. Notify surfaces sales, labor, product, and store-level data using AI and machine-learning for busy managers on the go. The predictive analytics and forecasting capabilities of Notify help franchisees efficiently manage their operations and labor based on demand peaks and valleys.

Data-Driven Decisions 

Marco's Pizza adds three marketing leaders to its team: Ben Halliwell as senior vice president of digital marketing, Tanisha Chea as vice president of brand marketing and Kathleen Kennedy as director of culinary innovation.

After being appointed in June 2023, Chief Marketing Officer Denise Lauer hired industry experts to help drive Marco's Pizza forward through innovative products and digital marketing advancements. As a challenger brand in the category, Lauer looks to drive continued sales growth and achieve new levels of customer engagement.

New technology rollouts

In addition to new menu items, Marco's commitment to new technology is also a top priority as the brand rolled out its Marco's Order Management System (MOMS), a proprietary 100% cloud-based technology platform, which gives Marco's the flexibility to customize and pivot to meet ever-changing consumer demands compared to an off-the-shelf technology stack.

"We made great strides last year in evolving our brand strategy, digital and product innovation pipeline," said Lauer. "Looking ahead, we have plans to launch a transformative brand strategy geared to wake up minds, hearts and tastebuds of consumers everywhere. This new team has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life and I cannot wait to show America what Marco's is all about."

SVP of Digital Marketing, Ben Halliwell, comes with an impressive 20-plus-year history of driving customer growth across e-commerce, performance marketing, loyalty, and digital platforms in the telecommunications and restaurant industries. Known for leading digital transformation initiatives and delivering brand affinity, he has a proven track record with several recognizable consumer brands, including Inspire Brands, HSNi, and Time Warner Cable.

In his new role, Halliwell is excited to learn from the Marco's team while sharing perspectives from his own experiences to build off the success that's built Marco's into the brand it is today. As Marco's further solidifies its positions as one of the fastest growing pizza brands, Halliwell is responsible for enhancing the e-commerce customer experience, optimizing digital demand, paid media and creating a marketing engine to convert and engage consumers from trial through loyalty.

Also playing a key role in Marco's next era is VP of Brand Marketing, Tanisha Chea, and her 15-year expertise in consumer marketing and integrated multi-channel launch campaigns for restaurant brands such as Krispy Kreme, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Taco Bell. In addition to her brand marketing responsibilities for Marco's, she works closely with newly appointed Chef Kennedy on overseeing new product development.

Finally, the newest addition to the Marco's team is Director of Culinary Innovation, Kathleen Kennedy, who boasts more than 40 years of experience. Having been inspired at a young age by family members who loved to cook, she went on to hold executive chef, product development, and consulting positions for global brands such as Kraft, Starbucks, Walmart and more. Kennedy noted she knew Marco's was a brand she could get behind because of the quality of its food. As director of culinary innovation, she looks forward to accelerating future innovations and developing, testing, and bringing new flavors to the Marco's menu.

With Marco's targeting continued growth following an impressive 2023, these additions to its leadership team help strengthen its strong development support system. In addition to a network of industry leaders, Marco's offers technology and tools to help identify territories for expansion, plus support in real estate, construction management, field operations, and information related to financing. FRANdata, a leading research and advisory firm that analyzes the franchise market, reports Marco's 2023 FUND Score of 895 is in the top 1% of all evaluated franchise systems and is among the top three scores for all QSR brands.

The brand's recent performance has earned multiple awards and recognition: Ranking in Newsweek's 2023 America's Best Customer Service in the pizza chains category, earning a spot on QSR's Top 50, appearing on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious Top 500 ranking, and most recently claiming the No. 48 spot on Entrepreneur's 2024 Franchise 500® ranking.