Lenny’s Sub Shop Highlights ‘All-American Classic’

Memphis, TN – To help celebrate our nation’s independence day, Lenny’s Sub Shop, a national sub sandwich franchise, is kicking off a two month long promotion featuring its All-American Classic sub in all of its sub shops nationwide.

With a value price point of $4.95 for this half pound sub, Lenny’s highlights the deliciousness that sets their subs far above their competition.  The All-American Classic is Lenny’s personal spin on the traditional ham and cheese sub sandwich by adding Capicola – one of their signature Italian meats.  

“I had our All-American Classic sub for lunch the other day and it’s really awesome,” said Brent Alvord, President of Lenny’s Sub Shop. “This promotion is bringing focus to our brand’s roots with the All-American theme.  Since inception 15 years ago in the heart of the mid-south with red, white, and blue colors, we have always taken pride in identifying with hard working Americans and providing hearty subs at an affordable price. ”

The promotion will also be supported on their website, their 90,000+ fanned Facebook page, and in-shop with red, white, and blue visual displays featuring “All-American Classic ½ Pound of Delicious for $4.95” content.   

“We really are making more targeted marketing decisions this year.  Look for continued exciting initiatives to come from our brand,” Alvord said.  “The quality of our big, fresh, and fast subs will always be the cornerstone of Lenny’s.”

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/LennysSubs or https://twitter.com/lennyssubs.

ABOUT LENNY’S SUB SHOPS

Lenny’s Sub Shop features AWESOME half pound subs with premium meats sliced to order and Authentic Philly Cheesesteaks served hot off the grill.  Lenny's commitment to quality and fast, friendly service has helped Lenny's to become one of the most admired sub sandwich chains.  Lenny's Sub Shop continues expanding with great franchise opportunities still available.  Authentic Philly Cheesesteaks & The Deli Fresh Experience™ are reasons why our loyal guests say they prefer a Lenny’s sub hands down to our competition.  Lenny’s subs are big, fresh, and fast!  For more information, visit www.lennys.com.

Lenny's Gives Back Contest Winners Announced

Lenny's Sub Shop announced the winners of its holiday contest. Each contestant had to tell the story of someone they know who was in need of financial help during the holiday season. All entries were judged on their passion and sincerity. The winning story received  $1,000 and the second through fifth place winners won $500 a piece. Below is some of Juanita Miller's story which won first place.

Overcoming breast cancer, battling hypothyroidism  and continuing to have a positive attitude throughout all of their trials and tribulations is the reason why the candidate I am writing about deserves the Lenny's Sub Shop prize. To read the full story on Lenny's Facebook page click here.

Lenny's Featured on Proof Positive

Lenny's Sub Shop was recently mentioned on the blog Proof Positive in an article covering the Featured Video Contest details. Click here for the original post, or read it below.

Lenny’s Sub Shop ‘Featured Teacher’ Video Contest

Lenny’s Sub Shop is giving you the opportunity to honor that teacher of yours who made a meaningful difference in your life via an original song, performing a rap, a funny or heartfelt testimonial, or however you wish to showcase your passion through video.

Videos must be 90 seconds or less in length. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 years of age or older. The entry fee is free.

Prizes:
Grand Prize: The honored teacher and nominating student in the grand prize winning video will both receive $1,000
Second Place Prize: The honored teacher and nominating student in the second prize winning video will both receive $500
Third Place Prize: The honored teacher and nominating student in the third prize winning video will both receive $250

For more information please visit Lenny’s Sub Shop ‘Featured Teacher’ Video Contest.

Lenny's featured on FastCasual.com

Lenny's Sub Shop was featured on FastCasual.com in an article titled “Lenny's hosting Facebook contest to honor teachers.” The article discusses the object of the Facebook contest and the first prize of $1,000 for both the nominated teacher and the nominating student. Click here to read the full article, or begin reading below.

Lenny's hosting Facebook contest to honor teachers

Lenny’s Sub Shop, a 150-unit sub sandwich franchise, launched its first Facebook video contest to honor school teachers nationwide and help celebrate “World Teacher Day” on Oct. 5.

From now through Oct 10, the chain is encouraging the brand’s 87,000-plus Facebook fans to submit creative videos sharing stories of teachers who positively impacted their lives. Then, Oct. 11-12, Lenny’s Facebook fans will vote for their favorite videos, and prizes will be awarded for the grand, second and third place winners.  The grand prize-winning school teacher and nominating student will each win $1,000.

(Read More)

Lenny's featured on AllFacebook.com

Lenny's Sub Shop was recently featured on AllFacebook.com in an article titled "Restaurants Compete With Major Chains Through Facebook," which was based off of the recent NRN Article. The article discusses the engagement-driven initiatives that have helped fans and customers have a say. Click here for the full article, or begin reading below.

Restaurants Compete With Major Chains Through Facebook

Smaller chain restaurants may not be able to compete with major chains in terms of volume, but they do have a vital way of bringing in business and keeping customers happy: Facebook. A story in Nation’s Restaurant News illustrates how restaurants are reaching out to customers through social media.

The story details how regional chains Lenny's Sub Shop and Toppers Pizza have used Facebook and other forms of social media to grow their businesses. They have one advantage over larger companies such as Subway and Pizza Hut: fans per unit. Nation’s Restaurant News cites statistics from No Limit Media Consulting, showing that Lenny’s Facebook page had more than 84,000 likes for its chain of 147 locations — roughly 578 fans per unit. Subway, by comparison, may have 15 million likes, but they’re also more spread out, with 469 fans per location. Toppers recorded 1,228 fans per location.

(Read More)

Lenny's featured in Nation's Restaurant News

Lenny's Sub Shop was recently featured in an article in Nation's Restaurant News titled "Maximizing the value of the social media fan." The article talks about the success Lenny’s has had with its social media and how the brand has been clever with its social media initiatives. Brent Alvord talks about how this method has helped Lenny’s become a leader in the social space and outperform larger competitors. The article also includes information about some of the new product launches and promotions. Click here for the full article, or begin reading below.

Maximizing the value of the social media fan
Smaller restaurant chains share Facebook strategies that have helped them grow sales and units

Upstart restaurant brands like Toppers Pizza and Lenny’s Sub Shop have to compete against industry giants like Pizza Hut and Subway for sales, and while they acknowledge that they can’t match their rivals’ size, they can punch above their weight in terms of marketing through social media.

Executives at both brands said they concentrate less on the total number of “likes” they earn on Facebook compared with much larger chains than they do at their likes per store. Though the number of restaurants in their systems do not approach the same league as the competition, often their stable of Facebook fans per unit far exceed that of their peers.

(Read More)

Lenny's featured in Memphis Business Journal

Lenny's Sub Shop was recently featured in an article titled “Social media: Lenny’s meal ticket” in Memphis Business Journal. The article included a section based on Lenny’s from the interview we secured for Brent Alvord with Michael Sheffield.

In the article, which includes two great store photos, Brent talks about the success Lenny’s has had with its social media brand initiatives. He does a great job talking about how the brand has connected with its fans and followers to handle all social experiences, and has increased its social fan base better than its larger competitors.

Social media: Lenny’s meal ticket
by Michael Sheffield
Sub sandwich chain rewards fans, draws customers

What was once its slowest day of the week has transformed into one of the busiest days of the week for Lenny’s Sub Shop, thanks to Facebook.

Since launching its Facebook page three years ago, Memphis-based Lenny’s, which has 150 locations across the country, has grown its fan base to more than 85,000 followers, with an average of 578 fans per location. By comparison, Subway, with more than 37,000 locations around the world and 16.4 million followers, has an average of 442 fans per location, according to industry statistics.

Brent Alvord, president of Lenny’s, says the company has tapped into its followers through its Social Wednesday promotions.

Social Wednesday provides Lenny’s followers with coupons ranging from free chips and drinks to free subs, and has increased annual sales among the company’s top franchisees by more than 9 percent. Lenny’s top franchisees average about $694,000 per year. The top 5 percent of the company’s franchisees average around $1.2 million in sales per year.

Lenny’s top store is based at Memphis International Airport and is owned by Kelly Green Restaurants, which owns eight Memphis locations.

Alvord says Social Wednesday evolved from a Valentine’s Day coupon the company launched three years ago that gave customers a free sub. That giveaway alone increased the company’s modest fan base by 43,000 people. Alvord says Lenny’s increased its fans by another 20,000 last year.

The company worked with Chicago-based No Limit Media Consulting on its web initiatives.

“We analyze how many friends those people have and how many their friends have, which is more than 19 million people,” Alvord says. “It continues to build momentum.”

Nick Powills, chief brand strategist for No Limit Media, says Lenny’s has an active engagement with its customers through initiatives like Social Wednesday.

No Limit estimates a non-Facebook fan will spend about $150 per year in the restaurant, while a Facebook fan will spend $310 annually.

“If you can increase impressions, you can encourage them to come in more,” Powills says. “It’s important to build your fans organically. If it’s a popularity contest, I want to win one with real people instead of names I bought from someone else.”

In addition to the customers participating, Alvord says franchisees have to buy in to the promotions.

“They’re independent owners, so we cannot mandate particular things and I can’t fix pricing or an offer,” Alvord says. “So we try to make sure it’s something they’re OK accepting and something we think will be appealing to the guests as well.”

Reuben Brunson, president of Rocket Fuel, which works with its clients on social networking projects, says the best way for a company to succeed in social media marketing is to make sure it is creating a targeted message for its web audience, which is most likely different from the traditional audience. That lack of a message distinction is often where campaigns fail.

“There are things you can do on the web like ask questions and start conversations,” Brunson says. “But you have to be careful to not come across too sales-y. That doesn’t mean you can’t do specials, but you don’t want to be unbalanced.”

Brunson says direct conversation with customers can create a level of trust, and if done the right way, your customers become your best advertisers. But only if they trust you.

“In the old days, if you had a great experience at a restaurant, you’d tell your friends or coworkers; same with negative experiences,” Alvord says. “In today’s world, people tell their Facebook friends. We can head off negative exposure and seek the customers out to make it right, but we can also proactively seek customers. It’s prime territory.”

Read the article on the Memphis Business Journal site

Lenny's Social Media Update: Every Lenny's Lover's Voice is Heard

Since the creation of the Lenny's Sub Shop Facebook page, Lenny's has provided online experiences unmatched by others in the segment. Lenny's has rolled out countless social media initiatives and programs, back-boned by the success of their weekly, exclusive social media deal, Social Wednesdays. Through these initiatives the page has grown from 10,000 fans in January of this year to 57,000+ fans today. Through this explosive growth comes more interactions.

On a daily basis, an average of 5-6 guests go off the common status update threads and post comments, critiques and praises on the Lenny's wall. Each of these comments is responded to by Lenny's and handled with care. If one walks into a Lenny's restaurant, they receive tremendous customer service and now that same service is being delivered on a social landscape.

Below is an example of the interaction between brand and consumer on the Lenny's Facebook Page. If you are not yet a fan of Lenny's on Facebook, be sure to click here.

Guest Service 2.0 from Lenny's Sub Shop

Pretend you’ve just gotten home from a long day at work. Exhausted, your one goal in life is to microwave whatever is hiding in the back of your freezer and collapse on the couch. After fishing out a passable frozen dinner and waiting five minutes while cosmic rays bombard it, you make a sad discovery. Inside the black plastic tray is not the sesame chicken with noodles you expected but a greenish-gray mass of indistinguishable origin. What do you do? manyny would curse their luck and reach for the peanut butter, but for some it’s the start of a guest service encounter.

Guest service is one of the most important duties of any venture, no matter if it’s a $15 billion corporation or a mom and pop down the street. Although it’s impossible to keep everyone happy all the time, doing your best to keep guests content with your service and products helps create and maintain a positive brand image and increases word-of- mouth traffic.

In decades past, guest service has been handled over the phone, by mail or in person. Television not working? Call Sears. Chocolate malt milkshake not malty enough? Write a letter. Steak too bloody? Ask to speak with the chef.

The problems plaguing these methods are painfully familiar. They’re slow, unpleasant and, more often that not, rather inefficient. So why is it that so many companies still adhere to these tired and outdated forms of guest service?

Great guest service has always been a key part of the mission at Lenny’s Sub Shops, but recently they’ve taken the concept to the next level by using social media as another point of connection between the franchise and its loyal guests. By addressing guest service issues through Facebook, Lenny’s can solve problems more quickly and in a format many consumers are more comfortable with.

Take Robert, a Lenny’s guest from Arkansas. On a trip to his local Lenny’s, Robert was unsatisfied with a particular element of his trip and, instead of writing an email or calling corporate, he sent a message to Lenny’s Facebook page. Within 24 hours, he had a response from the Facebook page, apologizing for his bad experience and explaining the process by which the local manager would be informed of the situation. In addition, Lenny’s was able to send Robert some swag as an additional form of apology. The exchange clearly impressed Robert, who left a message saying, “I was thinking was never going to hear from somebody at Lenny’s again.”

Social media has many applications, but one of the newest and most promising is guest service. Lenny’s Sub Shops have blazed a trail by responding to guest complaints and questions through their Facebook page, transforming a traditionally slow and tedious process into a quick, efficient way to maximize guest satisfaction and build positive brand image.