Guest Speaker Day- Chris Krohn of Restaurant.com

Posted By Lauren Labrecque ~ 14th September 2011

Last week Chris Krohn, President and CMO for Restaurant.com, spoke to my class about Restaurant.com’s wide array of online marketing programs. Restaurant.com follows an online brokerage model by offering discount restaurant gift certificates to consumers. Restaurants benefit by attracting new customers and filling empty tables. Consumers benefit by finding new restaurants and getting great dining deals. Last year, Cary Chessick, founder and CEO, spoke to my class about the company’s evolution. The company started in 1999 by offering websites to local restaurants. After little success, the company started working with restaurant owners to sell discounted gift certificates on Ebay. They quickly realized that this model was unscalable and moved to their current model, working directly with restaurants and consumers through their own site. Cary’s entrepreneurial spirit and openness to change allowed the company to grow and prosper. Today Restaurant.com works with over 18,000 national restaurants and has provided savings of over $500 million to customers through their printable gift certificates.

Chris gave the class an overview of Restaurant.com’s current marketing programs including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Search (PPC), Social Media, Email, and Affiliate Marketing. He also discussed the company’s dedication to giving back to the community through education and donations. Their altruism has been acknowledged through their award winning “Feed it Forward” online gift-giving initiative. Since 2008, Restaurant.com has enabled consumers to give away $10 gift certificates, for free, during the holiday season. Consumers can give up to 40 per day to anyone, except themselves. This year the company hopes to give away $40 million worth of certificates.

Restaurant.com works closely with interactive marketing classes at NIU, offering students real-world experiences through the use of data and through the creation of their own online marketing programs in MKTG 470. We are grateful for their support!

Check out what the students had to say about the visit on their class websites.