The document provides a creative brief for a marketing campaign targeting college students who visit Denny's during late night hours. The goal is to increase late night traffic. The target audience is "night owl" college students looking for a fun place to eat after partying or studying late. The strategy is to create humorous graphs and charts playing on silly things that happen when people are tired late at night. The creative executions will be print ads in college newspapers featuring graphs about slap-happiness and food-related behaviors after hours. There will also be a social media campaign inviting stories with the hashtag #onlyfunnyat4am.

1. Kyle James & Maria Buitrago

2. CREATIVE BRIEFCREATIVE BRIEF
WHAT’S OUR TASK?
We are communicating because Denny’s is looking to reach the “night owl” segment of college students
and increase the number of people coming into the restaurant during the late hours of the night and
early hours of the morning. Our assignment is to reach out to a new segment of customers in a fashion
that will attract the late night crowd without devaluing the Denny’s brand.
WHO ARE WE TALKING TO?
We are mainly talking to the “night owl” college student population in college towns around the country.
These are the people that will go to Denny’s during these late hours to get food to help themselves “un-
wind” from a long night out partying or studying.
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
The problem is that there are no restaurants open after college students spend a long night out partying,
studying, or working late shifts where they can get food with friends without having to worry about
disturbing other people.
WHAT’S OUR GOAL?
Our communication should tell our audience that Denny’s is a fun place to both get food and hang
out with friends during any hour of the day, and especially late at night. It will do this by utilizing humor
and graphs, something that almost all college students will recognize, in a way that communicates that
Denny’s is the go to spot when the sun goes down.
What is the strategic idea?
The strategic idea is to create graphs and charts that utilize breakfast food to play on some of the humor-
ous things that people do late at night in restaurants. While we will obviously focus on some of the funny
things said by people who have had a little too much to drink, we also will focus on the “slap-happiness”
that comes with being overly tired.
How will we support it?
• We will support this idea through a line graph about slap-happiness, a bar graph about productivity
levels during finals, and a pie chart that breaks down some of the common things that people under
the influence of alcohol might do at Denny’s.
• We will make these ads stand out by incorporating a Denny’s theme against a diner-colored back-
ground that incorporates breakfast foods.
• We will also give the ads an animated feel, which is something that very few companies are doing in
print ads, but still stays on brand and will help the ads stick out amongst the clutter.
Must-do’s
We must make the graphs easy to understand and visually appealing, or we can come off as “too much
like school” and complicated.
Creative considerations
How will we create an ad that is humorous and attracts college students for late night eating, yet still
remains classy enough to not alienate the older crowd that comes to Denny’s in the mid-morning and
evening?
Deliverables & MEdia
The deliverables are three print ads that will run in college newspapers in the midwest. We chose these
ads based on the fact that incomes are lower in midwest college towns when compared to colleges on
the east and west coasts, and because chain restaurants tend to do very well in the midwest. There will
also be a social media activation that will invite users to share stories, quotes, and pictures at Denny’s
that are #OnlyFunnyAt4AM on Twitter, Facebook, and Vine.

3. Slap-happiness levels,
(by time of night)
midnight humor. Made better at
1:00 a.m. 2:00 a.m. 3:00 a.m. 4:00 a.m.
“I’m crying please
send help”
“ha.”
Share your Denny’s late night story that’s
#onlyfunnyat4AM @DennysDiner

4. finals week productivity levels
(during an all-nighter)
classic all-nighters.
Made better at
“I wrote three
term papers in
one night.”
“Plenty of people
college.”
on an empty
stomach
with a Bold Roast
Coffee
with a Bold Roast
Coffee AND a
Grand Slam
Share your Denny’s late night story that’s
#onlyfunnyat4AM @DennysDiner

5. Breakdown of a 3 am visit to denny’s,
(post-party)
end-of-the-night recaps.
Made better at
Wondering Where Sarah Went
Discussing the Merits of R.
Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)”
Ordering More Pancakes
Because 3 AM Pancakes Don’t
Count
Laughing Way Too Loudly at
Your Own Joke
Thanking Baby Jesus and Also
Beyoncé for this Feast
Eating a Grand Slam
Singing R. Kelly’s “Ignition
(Remix)”
Overzealously Telling Your
Friends You LoOoOve Them
Share your Denny’s late night story that’s
#onlyfunnyat4AM @DennysDiner

6. CREATIVE BRIEFPRINT PLACEMENT
The Lantern The Daily Cardinal
The Purdue
Exponent
We plan to place our advertisements in the student publications of various
midwestern colleges, such as Ohio State, The University of Wisconsin-
Madison, and Purdue University. At large-scale universities such as these,
our ads will have great reach, and the advantage of immediacy, as the
opportunity to go to a Denny’s Diner after a party is likely to arise soon
after reading. In order to increase the immediacy, we plan to place these
ads on Thursdays and Fridays (possible because each of the papers chosen
is a daily publication). Finally, we have selected full-page format, which will
immediately draw attention to the ads.

7. Have a funny, ridiculous, or otherwise
memorable experience at Denny’s? Share
it with us on Twitter @DennysDiner or on
Instagram @Denny’s to win some Grand
Slams for you and your friends, on us!
EATIVEBRIEFSOCIAL MEDIA
#onlyfunnyat4AM
#onlyfunnyat4AM
Have a funny, ridiculous, or otherwise
memorable experience at Denny’s? Share it
with us on Twitter or Vine @DennysDiner or
on Instagram @Denny’s to win some Grand
Slams for you and your friends, on us!

8. PPROCESS WORK
NANNERPUSS: ENSHROUDED
IN MYSTERY

9. SOCIAL MEDIA INSPIRATION
PRELIMINARY TREND
BOARD

10. PPROCESS WORK

12. thethe pitch
Primary research
For our primary research we
used the tactic of observation to
get the insights that we desired.
We went to Denny’s three
different nights throughout the
week between the hours of 1 and
4 a.m. (Wednesday, Saturday,
Sunday) to try to get an idea
of who, if anyone, was there at
that time. On Wednesday, we
saw a few people at Denny’s in
work outfits from other places
of business that had closed at
midnight. These people were
often with friends, or coworkers,
and were laughing and unwinding
during this time. On Saturday, the
crowd at Denny’s were people
who seemed to have just come
from the bars or a house party
and were looking for a place
where they could enjoy a post-
party meal and discussion with
some of their closest friends.
On Sunday, we found students
in Denny’s at this hour with
notebooks and laptops on the
tables either by themselves or
with others, discussing things
going on in classes, studying for
the next batch of tests, and trying
to destress in advance of the
week ahead. These insights told
us that Denny’s can be used as a
late night hotspot for three things
that largely make up the life of a
typical college student: working,
partying, and studying.
Secondary research
Our secondary research
showed us that Denny’s is
classified as a small restaurant
chain that employs approximately
8,250 people. Their stock is
currently selling at around $9.69
a share (As of Nov. 29) and
their estimated takeover cost is
$900,620,000.
Denny’s true competitors lie in
the “mom & pop diners” that
exist in many of the small towns
and cities across the U.S. Denny’s
also finds competitors in other
late night dining options such
as the International House of
Pancakes (IHOP) and Steak N’
Shake. Denny’s competitive
advantage against all of
these places is that Denny’s is
seen as more of a welcoming
environment. Where as other
places might scold you for being
too rowdy, Denny’s will likely join
in on the excitement going on.
Denny’s will need to start
standing out in the industry if
it wants to survive. “Mom and
pop” diners are slowly starting
to die off around the countries
and many similar chains, such as
Friendly’s, are starting to see their
doors close at an alarming rate
as well. The more that Denny’s
can reach a niche market and
have strong brand loyalty of the
customers in that market, the
better their chance becomes
at surviving in the restaurant
industry.
target market profile
Staci is a 21 year old fashion
merchandising major from Kent,
OH. She lives in a sorority house
with all of her Gamma Delta Phi
sisters and loves going out on the
weekends. Staci loves to sit down
to a meal with her sisters after
she tears up the town on Fridays
and Saturdays, but always has
trouble finding places that are still
open when the bars close. The
places she does find constantly
tell her and her sisters that
they’re being too loud and totally
kill their vibe. She just wants to
find a place as fun as she is and
can keep the good times rolling
even after drinks stop pouring.
Goal and objective
The goal of the campaign is
to increase the number of people
who come to Denny’s during the
late night hours. The objective of
this campaign is to target college
students who have just finished
working, partying, or studying
and persuade them to visit
Denny’s to cap off the night with
food and many laughs.

13. strategy
We will accomplish this goal
by creating ads that poke fun
at some of the ridiculous things
that happen when people are in
their “slap-happy” or “punchy”
mode. These will be presented
on graphs, which will appeal to
the college student crowd.
The promise
We promise to offer
customers good food,
good times in an inviting an
environment no matter what time
of the night you show up. Get
ready for laughter when you walk
through the door, because late
night humor is better at Denny’s.
the big idea
Our big idea centers on the
notion that a visit to Denny’s isn’t
just about the excellent food—it’s
about the quality of the shared
experience with your friends.
It’s about the conversations that
become inside jokes for the
entirety of friendships. Most
importantly, it’s about the lack of
judgment involving your choice
to order Red Velvet Pancake
Puppies at a diner at 3 a.m.
What makes it better is that it
happened at Denny’s.
Creative
Our creative choices reflect the tone and spirit of our message,
namely that Denny’s is a fun, whimsical, and welcoming place for
college students in a late-night setting. The color palette was selected
from Denny’s existing branding, and the executions were made to be
understood at a glance. Simple, almost flat graphics and clear, crisp
type also contribute to this goal. The idea is that our target market has
neither the time nor the attention span to read excessive body copy
or get into the details of a complicated visual; however, a simple graph
can evoke a laugh and is easily shared with friends via social media,
which is one of Denny’s strengths.