SONIC yesterday & today
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Yesterday
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Today
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Mixology
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Limeades for Learning
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Appendix
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Yesterday As the nation’s largest chain of drive in restaurants, SONIC has more than 3,500 drive-ins coast to coast and serves approximately 3 million customers every day.
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Smith & Pappe
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With more drink combinations than any other quickservice restaurant, SONIC is Your Ultimate Drink Stop.
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1950s Following World War II, Troy N. Smith Sr., Sonic’s founder, returned to his hometown of Seminole, Oklahoma, where he became employed as a milkman. He decided to work delivering bread because bread was not as heavy as milk. In 1953, Smith went in with a business partner to purchase a five-acre parcel of land that had a log house and a walkup root beer stand, already named the Top Hat. The two men continued with the operation of the root beer stand and converted the log house into a steak restaurant. 6
After realizing that the stand was averaging $700 a week in the sale of root beer, hamburgers and hot dogs, Smith decided to focus on the more profitable root beer stand. He also bought out his business partner. Originally, Top Hat customers would park their automobiles anywhere on the gravel parking lot and walk up to place their orders. However, on a trip to Louisiana, Smith saw a drive-in that used speakers for ordering. He suspected that he could increase his sales by controlling the parking and 7
having the customers order from speakers at their cars, with carhops delivering the food to the cars. Smith borrowed several automobiles from a friend who owned a used-car lot to establish a layout for controlled parking. He also had some so-called “jukebox boys” come in and wire an intercom system in the parking lot. SONIC’s unique use of curbside 8
speakers to allow customers to place food orders without ever leaving their cars, spawned the slogan “SONIC, Service with the Speed of Sound.� Sales immediately tripled. Charles Woodrow Pappe, an entrepreneur, chanced upon the Shawnee drive-in and was very impressed. He and Smith negotiated the first franchise location in Woodward, Oklahoma, in 9
1956, based on nothing more than a handshake. By 1958, two more drive-ins were built in Enid and Stillwater. Upon learning that the Top Hat name was already trademarked, Smith and Pappe changed the name to Sonic in 1959. The new name worked with their existing slogan, “Service with the Speed of Sound�. After the name change, the first Sonic sign was installed at the Stillwater Top Hat drive-in, which is why the Stillwater location is officially considered the first Sonic Drive-In; the original sign still can 10
Troy N. Smith Sr.
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be seen there. Although Smith and Pappe were being asked to help open new franchise locations, there was no real royalty plan in place. The first franchise contracts under this plan were drawn up, but there was still no joint marketing plan, standardized menu, or detailed operating requirements.
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1960s – 1970s Sonic’s founders formed Sonic Supply as a supply and distribution division in the 1960s. Under Smith longtime franchise holders Marvin Jirous and Matt Kinslow were hired to run the division. In 1973, Sonic Supply was restructured as a franchise company that was briefly named Sonic Systems of America which provided franchisees with equipment, building plans, and basic operational instructions. As the company grew into a regionally known operation during the 1960s and 1970s, the drive-ins were located mainly in small towns in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, 14
New Mexico, Missouri and Arkansas. In 1967, the year Pappe died, there were 41 drive-in locations. By 1972 this number had risen to 165 and by 1978, 1,000.
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In 1977, the Sonic School for manager training was established under Winterringer’s guidance. Most of the drive-ins were operated by franchises who often made the store manager a business partner, which is still often the case today.
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1980s – 1990s In 1983, Smith and Sonic’s board of directors saw the need for change and Stephen Lynn was hired as president. In 1984, Lynn hired Clifford Hudson, an attorney, to head the legal department. Under Lynn, Sonic and its major franchises began to encourage the development of local advertising cooperatives and developed a field structure to work with the franchises. New franchises began to expand the company into new areas and redevelop markets that had been unsuccessful in the past. These developments, combined with a major advertising campaign featuring 18
singer and actor Frankie Avalon, led to significant growth and a new image that would make Sonic a nationally recognized name. In 1986, Lynn, with a group of investors, completed a $10 million leveraged buyout and took the company private. The next year Sonic moved its offices to leased space at 120 Robert S. Kerr Avenue in downtown Oklahoma City and began to assume a higher profile in the community.
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In 1991, Sonic became a publicly traded company again. By 1994, the corporation had renegotiated the franchise agreements with all of its franchises. In 1995, Hudson became president and chief executive officer and Sonic Industries became Sonic Corp.
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During the mid-1990s, Sonic opened 100–150 new restaurants a year. Beginning in 1998, Sonic began a retrofit program called “Sonic 2000” to redesign and update all 1,750 stores in its chain to what was called a “retro-future” look.
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2000s Celebrating its 50th birthday in 2003, Sonic briefly added the Birthday Cake Shake to the menu. Development milestones celebrated in the 2000s include the opening of the 3,000th Sonic Drive-In in Shawnee, Oklahoma and the 3,500th Sonic Drive-In in the Chicago market (Algonquin, Illinois). In 2007, the company opened its first restaurants in the Northeastern U.S., in New Jersey.
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In 2009, Sonic partnered with DonorsChoose.org on a collaborative effort, Limeades for Learning, the chain’s first system wide cause marketing initiative. Public school teachers request needed supplies and materials and Sonic customers vote on how to allocate more than half a million dollars each fall. In the first three years of the program, Sonic and its franchises have donated more than $2 million and impacted learning for more than 111,000 students nationwide.
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In September 2009, Omar Janjua joined the company as president of its restaurant operating subsidiary, Sonic Restaurants, Inc. (“SRI�) and more recently was appointed as executive vice president of operations for Sonic Industries.
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Today SONIC, which specializes in made-to-order fast food, is known for its specialty menu items and personal service. In December 2008, SONIC launched a system-wide value menu.
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2010s Despite growth into new markets outside the brand’s traditional footprint, the company was hit hard by the recession of 2008–2009. In 2009, the brand saw multiple quarters of declines in same store sales for the first time in recent memory. Sonic reformulated its popular soft-serve drink to meet FDA guidelines and introduced Real Ice Cream on May 17, 2010.
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Craig Miller was hired as chief information officer for Sonic in January 2010. In June 2010, Danielle Vona was hired as chief marketing officer. In late 2010, Sonic announced it was ending its 17–year relationship with advertising agency Barkley. A group of specialized agencies were selected to represent the company and in early 2011, the San Francisco based Goodby Silverstein & Partners was named as the new creative agency for the company. 32
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Mixology
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With a near limitless selection of flavorings and drink choices, it’s impossible to get bored at SONIC. Here are some combinations of delicious thirst quenchers and curious accidentals.
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Oompa Loompa 1/
Grape
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Vanilla
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Appearance:
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Fanta
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Chocolate River Taste: Everlasting Gobstoppers 38
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Sprite
5 straws
Luke Skywalker 1/
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Cream
Blue Coconut
Appearance: Dagobah Taste: Courage, Bravery 3/ 5 straws
& Leadership 2/
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Fanta
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Shrek 1/
Orange
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Grape
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Appearance: Shrek’s Swamp Taste: No Happly Ever After 40
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Green Apple Slush
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Berry Berry Berry Berry Tasty 6
Strawberry
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Cranberry
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Raspberry
Appearance: Blood & Guts 5/ 5 straws
Taste: Forbidden Fruit 3/
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Lemonberry Slush
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e
Lim
ad
es
for
Learning
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What is Limeades for Learning? Limeades for Learning is a national initiative of SONIC, America’s Drive-In to support U.S. public school teachers in local communities. In partnership with DonorsChoose.org, SONIC will provide essential funds needed for learning materials and innovative teaching techniques to inspire creativity and learning in today’s youth. It allows SONIC customers and fans to make a difference in their local communities by voting for public school teacher projects they want SONIC to fund.
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How is the program different from 2011? In 2012, there are even more ways to make a difference in local classrooms by voting for teacher’s projects. You can visit your local drivein and receive a special code on the bag sticker worth two votes or you can vote once per day with a valid email address. Make an even bigger impact in your community and reward yourself at the same time. If Limeades for Learning reaches 4 million votes for projects by October 29, then SONIC will unlock an additional 46
$100,000 donation to fund more projects and a free Medium Cherry Limeade for everyone that voted. That means $200,000 will be directed to the top voted projects in the last week of the campaign, making the total donation at least $600,000. Vote every day to help us all reach this goal and help even more students.
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When does Limeades for Learning occur? Voting officially takes place from September 24, 2012, until October 29, 2012. Participation is easy anyone with a valid email address can go online and vote for their favorite teacher’s project once per day. Get two extra votes with any SONIC purchase. Vote codes are provided on the bag sticker. Vote online ten times and get two extra votes. Vote codes will be sent via email. Repeat the process once a day to help your favorite project get enough votes to be funded!
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When will the voting and funding happen? During the five week campaign, SONIC will fund $100,000 of the top vote receiving projects weekly on October 1, 8, 15 and 22. The final round of funding for votes gathered (October 23-29) will take place on October 30. If a project is not funded, then all previous votes for the project will carry over to the next week.
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Where do I go to vote? Go to the FIND A PROJECT section on LimeadesForLearning.com. There are a number of search criteria you can choose from including city, state, subject of interest, classroom resource and teacher name.
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How much is my vote worth? All votes with a valid email address will be worth one vote. All vote codes from the bag sticker at the drive-in are worth two votes. Both votes will be applied to the same teacher’s project. If you vote ten separate times you’ll receive a special code via email worth two votes to be used toward the same teacher’s project. Please note that there is no monetary value associated with a vote.
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Who benefits from Limeades for Learning? Students benefit from Limeades for Learning. When students are inspired by their teacher to learn and create, they have greater opportunity to reach their full potential. Currently, teachers spend $1 billion annually out of their own pockets for basic supplies and inspirational learning materials for students. This program is designed to ensure no student goes without because of a lack of resources.
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Through Limeades for Learning, SONIC and its franchise partners have donated more than $2 million to public school classrooms in local communities across the country. Visit www.limeadesforlearning.com to learn more about SONIC’s commitment to education.
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The entirety of this book uses
FUTURA std Bold Condensed - 30pt Book - 12 pt Medium Condensed - 12pt & 24pt Light - 10 pt Book Oblique - 8pt
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Appendix www.sonicdrivein.com www.limeadesforlearning.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Drive-In
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