Meet the CMO Behind the Transformation of America’s (Favorite) Diner

Denny’s has had something of a renaissance over the last few years. Once seen as a roadside restaurant for senior citizens and truckers, “America’s Diner” now has a much younger, cooler image. The main marketer behind this transition is John Dillon, now the chief marketing officer, who’s watched the industry itself transition over the course of his 20-year marketing career.

After he graduated from Baylor University, Dillon’s marketing career began at Pizza Hut. That was in 1995, back when widespread home Internet access was still in its infancy. Pizza Hut’s marketing was very print- and radio-heavy, though digital was beginning to take off by the time he was hired as the senior director of marketing and insights at Denny’s 12 years later (after a brief stint at an agency and two years with the Houston Rockets basketball team).

A lot of changes came with that appointment. Dillon moved his wife and three daughters to the chain’s South Carolina headquarters – his favorite aspect of which is its relatively close proximity to both the mountains and the ocean. And professionally, Dillon wasn’t transitioning Denny’s marketing to a digital world, as much as it was transitioning Denny’s to the digital world. At the time, the brand was 55 years old and faltering.

“I think it was just a brand that needed some energy and needed some focus,” Dillon says. “What we found very quickly talking to guests and lapsed guests was that they still had love for the brand so we didn’t have to recreate anything. What we needed to do was redefine who Denny’s was in the eyes of our guests to appeal emotionally to get people back in our restaurants.”

Though Denny’s, like Friendly’s, did extensive remodeling (“there’s no better billboard,” Dillon says) and added healthier options to the menu, there was no brand overhaul. Rather than rebrand, Dillon decided to focus on its core identity as “America’s Diner.” Many of the nearly 1,700 locations are strategically placed near freeway exits and open 24 hours, giving Denny’s a sense of omnipresence.

“We’re always open in the literal sense, but also in the emotional sense: all different types of people from all walks of life come in whenever they’re hungry, whatever time of day it is,” Dillon says. “That’s what a diner is and the ‘America’s Diner’ position serves as a very important North Star for our brand, both internally and in the eyes of our consumers.”

Denny’s aims to be seen as America’s Diner, both offline and online.
The kind of informal conversations about anything people tend to have in diner booths have extended to the brand’s now-famous social media profiles.