Applebee’s new creative south of the border is describing a range of Gen Z personality types to rally them around the casual chain’s always-on appetizers.
The new work for the U.S. company was completed by Toronto-based agency The Local Collective. It helped develop a campaign that includes personality archetypes like The Coach, the person who wrangles friends together for a night out, as well as the Fact Checker, Investigator, Accomodator, all in the service of promoting Late Night Half Price Appetizers, via TikTok.
It’s about celebrating the simple pleasure of hanging out, while appealing to the full spectrum of personalities that people are familiar with, the agency says.
Matt Litzinger, founder and chief creative officer of The Local Collective, tells strategy the agency had done work with Applebee’s and IHOP, which are both Dine Brands International IPs, in Canada and that it’s been on the North American agency roster for roughly two years.
“I think they just like the way we connect culturally with their audience in what we consider authentic ways,” Litzinger says. The nature of the work, he explains, is to make it feel like it was created by the audience and for the audience, in a kind of “channel first” approach.
Most of the dialogue included in the finished campaign was developed during the filming process.
“This campaign is a two-way playful conversation with their customer,” Litzinger notes. “When you are talking about late night, you have to have some fun with it.”
The campaign is running for four to six weeks, a reminder through the summer months to trial Applebee’s discount apps.
