We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
OLIVE GARDEN AND THE PLAYBOY CONTEST.
- Authors
Berger, Karen A.; Kirk, Colleen P.
- Abstract
Kendra Wilkinson loves Olive Garden, and she tells her boyfriend, her friends, and her 1.4 million fans. So what's the problem? Kendra is the blonde bombshell star of The Girls Next Door, the popular E! television program about life as one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends in the Playboy Mansion. Kendra loves Olive Garden, Darden Group's successful family-oriented Italian restaurant chain, so much she convinced Hugh to sponsor a "Sexiest Girls of Olive Garden" contest, with the prize of a nude Playboy pictorial. Normally, free publicity from a devoted celebrity customer would be welcome. However in this situation, the Olive Garden brand manager is not so sure. This critical incident addresses the topic of brand equity in a context familiar to today's youth. The case assesses Olive Garden's extensive brand-building history, marketing strengths, and target market and provides an opportunity for students to discover the vital constructs of brand equity: brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, and brand associations, and evaluate them in relation to Olive Garden and Kendra Wilkinson's actions.
- Subjects
OLIVE Garden Restaurants; MEALS; RESTAURANT advertising; ADVERTISING campaigns; ADVERTISING media planning; ADVERTISING effectiveness; SALES promotion; MARKET penetration; WILKINSON, Kendra, 1985-; CONTESTS
- Publication
Journal of Critical Incidents, 2009, Vol 2, p66
- ISSN
1943-1872
- Publication type
Article