Denny's Hungry for Education™ Scholarship Program

Client

Denny’s

Services Provided

  • Strategic planning
  • Program development
  • Copywriting
  • Creative
  • Marketing Plan
  • Experiential event activation planning and management

‍

About the Project

MRS helped Denny’s develop the Hungry for Education™ Scholarship Program. Since 2011, HFE has increased Denny’s relevance with minority communities and has awarded more than $2.6 Million in scholarships to outstanding students in partnership with numerous non-profits. Since the launch of HFE, Denny’s has experienced increased restaurant visits by African American diners; and its brand reputation scores with African Americans have improved in every dimension and are higher than scores from Caucasian consumers. Also, of all Denny’s guests, African Americans have the highest average guest checks.

The Problem

Denny's Hungry for Education™: MRS helps Denny’s combine two worthy causes in one perfectly on-message initiative.​ As corporate social responsibility and community engagement have become a greater part of Denny’s winning business strategy; two areas of interest have bubbled to the top: dealing with childhood hunger in America and expanding opportunities for current and prospective college students. MRS took on the challenge of combining these two vitally important causes.

The Solution

Hungry for EducationTM scholarship program encourages students to come up with workable solutions to childhood hunger; the students who offer the most compelling solutions are rewarded with college scholarships, and their solutions are implemented in the real world. The scholarship program raises awareness of a serious but under-reported problem, makes higher education more attainable for all students, and creates partnerships between Denny’s and organizations that are already doing important work in the community, including the Tom Joyner Foundation, the Magic Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute, and the U.S. Pan-Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

As part of the program development, MRS Unlimited created the brand for the program. Denny’s wanted a logo that easily conveyed their two-pronged platform, helping students further their education and fighting childhood hunger in America. The logo needed to be fun and bright and incorporate a USA-style color palette (red, white & blue) to reach high school and college students, and their families and communities and while tying into the overall Denny’s brand identity.  MRS dived headfirst into this project with an initial in-depth discovery session with Denny’s.  Our takeaways: stars, a pencil, a fork, and a plate.  Simple in terms, these key components allowed MRS to create a logo that shouted “fun and exciting” while keeping with the true vision of the program initiative and Denny’s overall brand identity. The A+ signals to students, their families and their communities that Denny’s has created an initiative benefiting them and other youth.

Denny’s VP, Chief Inclusion and Community Engagement Officer, April Kelly-Drummond, praised the MRS team for keeping the project on schedule and delivering a creative logo to serve as the brand foundation of HFE: “Thank you for exemplifying the ‘POWER OF WE’ and for making the Denny’s brand awareness more relevant to our diverse consumer base. Your handiwork, creativity and support were truly instrumental in making the Denny’s Hungry for EducationTM launch successful.”

orange arrowback to case studies
Let us introduce you to
an all new demographic
orange arrowSchedule a Consultation