Mitchells & Butlers, the leading restaurant and pub company in the UK operating brands including All Bar One, Toby Carvery and Harvester, has won the coveted top prize for Customer Insight at the Marketing Society of Great Britain Awards for Excellence 2011.
The awards, now in its 26th year, aims to set the standard for marketing excellence in the UK and brings together an industry mix of companies including BSkyB, Pepsico, British Gas, Love Film, Britvic, Pizza Express and Tesco amongst many others.
In a competitive 'Customer Insight' category, which saw entries from BSkyB, Tesco and Standard Life, Mitchells & Butlers took the top accolade with judges citing the Company's determined approach to gathering and understanding customer feedback for each of its brands, acting on it as well as integrating it into the broader strategic agenda. Judges commented: "Consumer insight is being lived and breathed by all parts of the business".
Mitchells & Butlers' forward-thinking approach to customer insight has seen it set out on an ambitious and all-inclusive programme to improve every aspect of the service it offers to customers since establishing a dedicated guest-satisfaction team in 2009.
Through the team each of the company's brands conducts in-depth qualitative and quantitative research, as well as modelling, to understand guests' opinions and emotions at every touch point. This allows Mitchells & Butlers to define the ultimate guest experience. The Company uses customer feedback simultaneously at an operational and corporate level, giving it a unique competitive edge by helping the organisation plan location strategy, optimise campaigns and conduct ongoing communication and market research.
Achievements to date include:
- Mitchells & Butlers boasts industry-leading brand-recommendation scores
- In 2010, this approach garnered 15m pieces of guest feedback
- Since the programme launched, customer satisfaction has significantly improved, with 55% of guests strongly agreeing that they are satisfied
- Brands have significantly extended their catchment penetration, expanding the combined 'guest base' by more than 500,000 a year
- Job satisfaction levels have also increased
Una Beck Johnson, Director of Branding, Insight and Advertising for Mitchells & Butlers, said: "We are delighted to have won this award in recognition of the great insight work that has been achieved and is ongoing within Mitchells & Butlers. Understanding what our guests really think and feel and using this insight to drive our strategy has helped us to grow our market leading restaurant and pub brands and will enable us to support further expansion."
The judging panel for the Marketing Society Excellent Awards 2011 was chaired by Ken Wood, CEO, Weetabix, and included Sally Cowdry, UK marketing director, O2; Craig Inglis, marketing director, John Lewis; Catherine Kehoe, group brand and communications director, Lloyds TSB; Alistair Macrow, UK marketing director, McDonald's; Amanda Rendle, global head of marketing CMB, HSBC; Timothy Ryan, senior vice president marketing, EMI Music; and Sarah Warby, marketing director, Heineken, amongst others.
Notes to editors:
Mitchells & Butlers is the leading operator of restaurants and pubs in the UK. Its leading portfolio brands includes Harvester, Toby Carvery, Vintage Inns, Premium Country Dining Group, Crown Carveries, Sizzling Pubs, Browns, Miller & Carter, Metro Professionals, All Bar One, Nicholson's, O'Neill's and Ember Inns.
Further details are available at www.mbplc.com and supporting photography can be downloaded at www.mbplc.com/imagelibrary.
For more information on the Marketing Society Awards for Excellence visit www.marketingsocietyawards.com.