Manchu Wok is giving customers a chance at some cash to help it stand out from competitors in crowded food courts, bringing back last year’s “Manchu Wok of Fortune” contest and expanding it to the U.S.
Launched on Aug. 22, visitors to Manchu Wok will receive a game card with a unique pin until Oct. 16, and can enter it on the contest microsite for a chance to win a daily prize of $100 prepaid credit cards or a grand prize of $5,000.
The contest will be supported with in-store merchandising, radio, OOH and social outreach with highly functional messaging encouraging potential customers to visit a location and play.
Tag Franchise led development of the contest, with support on social channels coming from Lg2.
Before the chain launched the “Manchu Wok of Fortune” contest in 2015, Lucy Todish, director of marketing for Manchu Wok at parent company MTY Group, says it had previously focused on promoting products and limited time offers to drive traffic. She says it decided to try something new to differentiate itself in the crowded food court landscape, where most of its Canadian locations are found.
“We were planning on putting some media dollars behind it, so we wanted to be able to bring in something new and talk about something more exciting and different than what we had before,” Todish says. “When we saw that there was an effect on traffic and sales, we knew this was something we should bring back bigger and stronger.”
The main goal of the contest, Todish says, is to create a new opportunity to drive overall awareness for the Manchu Wok brand.
“We’ve been around for 35 years and we have a pretty close fan base,” Todish says. “We want to maintain that and keep Manchu Wok top of mind, and felt the incentive of a contest was a different way to do that, in addition to our regular limited-time offers. It’s also a great way to offer an incentive that rewards both loyal and new customers.”
In addition to its 75 Canadian locations, Manchu Wok has 39 locations in the U.S., most of which are located in military bases or “non-traditional” locations like airports or casinos. Todish says while these non-traditional locations reach a different audience from those in a Canadian food court, the U.S. environments are similarly competitive and standing out is just as important.
Featured image via Shutterstock
