After reading Chapter One, I thought I would share the following:
1) IHOP Corp acquired Applebee's in an effort to strengthen its market standing and competitiveness (it then changed its name to DineEquity Inc.).
2) Since IHOP and Applebee's are still two distinct restaurants - IHOP in family dining, Applebee's in casual dining - they each have different strategies.
3) IHOP's strategies include energizing the IHOP brand through advertising, as well as improving operations performance and maximizing franchise development.
4) Applebee's strategies include completing their current 3- 5 year brand revitalization plan, which is continuing the effort to drive profitable sales and traffic by offering specials - 2 for $20 - and differentiating themselves through advertising - "There's no place like the neighborhood", and offering a line of healthy meals. They also recently changed their menu design in hopes of increasing profitablilty.
Intriguing. I did not know IHOP owned Applebee's. They do indeed have different strategies. What sort of managerial issues does this present? Can they share process, systems, best practices, etc.?
ReplyDeleteWhen IHOP purchased Applebee's,they wanted to make more Applebee's franchise owned, as nearly all IHOPs are. They started a plan to franchise nearly all Applebee's (part of this is to cut costs and avoid real estate risk). I believe that they could share best practices considering IHOP was performing well and Applebee's was declining at the time of acquisition. It appears Applebee's would benefit from IHOP's leadership.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19786487/
I wanted to add a little more to that after reading more about DineEquity...
ReplyDelete"DineEquity believes that its core competencies of re-energizing restaurant brands, franchising and expense management are ideally suited to improve Applebee's overall brand and financial health.
Basically, IHOP is going to use the its successful strategy of franchising with Applebee's.
Source: investors.dineequity.com/phoenix.zhtml?=104384&p=irol-irhome