Something’s always cooking at Pei Wei locations across the nation, which is constantly bustling with customers. The Asian restaurant’s fast-casual concept resonates strongly with those who are hoping to enjoy freshly wok’d, made-to-order meals while on the go. Pei Wei turned to Waze, looking for a way to satisfy time-sensitive customers, spread awareness about their locations, and highlight curbside pickup options.
Getting on the map and getting out the word
To let drivers know they’re near a Pei Wei location, the restaurant launched Pins on Waze, an ad format that showcased their red-and-white tiger logo. But the restaurant knew that just letting people know about their proximity wasn’t enough — they wanted to connect specifically with one of their key customer segments: diners who were looking to save time. Alongside Pins, the team also launched Location Personalities badges. Location Personalities add more information to the Pin, and Pei Wei took advantage of the feature to show users that they could either dine-in once they arrived or pickup their meals via curbside pickup.
Keeping all options open
Pei Wei’s curbside pickup option began in response to pandemic-driven public health guidelines. Still, the team decided to continue the service since it has resonated so well with their customers. "We still want to build on that momentum of our curbside and takeout advantages," says Brian Dreeland, Director of Marketing, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen. During a time when many customers aren’t sure about their everyday dining out choices, Location Personalities help them know what to expect.
Waze has been just a phenomenal way to drive additional traffic to our stores and build awareness.
Kyle Wright, Digital Marketing Manager, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen
Highly engaged customers increasing footfall
After enabling Location Personalities, Pei Wei saw their ad engagement increase by 18%. The campaign also drove a significant amount of navigations to their locations, with 55% of those navigations resulting in in-store visits. And they didn’t have to dig deep to uncover these metrics. Pei Wei was surprised at how easy it was to measure their success and how quickly Waze could update ad creative for new advertisements. "The ease of accessing metrics is fantastic," says Dreeland. "And Waze’s ability to update ads for us to replace existing ads is compelling."
