TV Dinners

TV Dinners: Interactive entertainment with a side of fries

PRN took over operations of a nationwide digital network in restaurants owned by Taco Bell, McDonalds, Wendys, and others. It was a new animal considering that the company wrote the book on shopper marketing via media at retail.

Engagement in fast-casual restaurants was untested ground.

With theBite, we had the opportunity to re-think and test a new approach television with mobile engagement at the core, with the promise that existing shopper marketing advertisers would want to invest.

10 people were assigned roles with this new startup-within-a-company venture.

I began as Executive Producer, and out of necessity and opportunity, I assumed responsibilities of Creative Director and Product Owner.

theBite Channel Program had numerous concurrent projects

MVP: Product Launch and Optimization
CX Strategy
Media Production
Listening to the data: Interactive Engagement

The Platform: A network of locations, from sea to shining sea

MVP / Live Beta

With zero downtime, we went live with our MVP the moment the former owners ceased operations. Many were surprised how seamless it went, which was a testament to the high level of expertise IZ-ON had in managing the enterprise, in this case, of 6000 screens and 4000 servers across 2000 locations. An Agile process ensued, focusing on back-end bug bashing and trimming helpdesk requests.

While systems and infrastructure were being optimized, the content team focused on creating a meaningful experience for the millions of diners watching our screens everyday.

Entertainment media served up while we dine.

UX Strategy

With a wealth of research at our fingertips, the first challenge was to define what value TV could provide to a mobile-first audience. Short-form content was a must, but what media really mattered, when we finally have the finest on-demand entertainment systems in human history at our fingertips?

What would turn passive viewers into active participants?
Isn't TV dead?

Serious questions, indeed. We started with the assumption that we had a shot at being relevant and delightful if we treated their attention as gold, and in exchange we'd give them fun content which could be converted into social currency.

Because we were on-air on Day 1, we adopted an abbreviated CX process, where testing was done live, rather than in a sandbox.

Project Phases

DISCOVERY

Define Business Requirements, Platform + Competitive Landscape

Understand Users, Systems Limitations

DEFINITION + DEVELOPMENT

Structure and Scope
Personas, Flows, Scenarios
Consumer Experience, Interactive Engagement / Show Flow

TESTING and DELIVERY

Structure: this went quickly, as we were already on-air
Content and Creative Products
Community Engagement

What we did, ways we pivoted, things we learned

Details and findings from the project are explored on the following pages

From a universe of diners, we targeted
college-age guys and shaped experiences for them

The Brand: Bite-sized entertainment
that keeps you current with
things sports-and-pop-cultural

Creative Samples

Labor Day Interstitial
Animator: Lauren Friedrich | Sound Design: Michael Becker

Mother's Day Interstitial
Animator: Lauren Friedrich | Sound Design: Michael Becker

Sports Quiz: Basketball
Animator: Jonathan Cooksey | Sound Design: Michael Becker

Content Block Bumper
Animator: Jonathan Cooksey | Sound Design: Michael Becker