Dave & Buster’s Gift Cards Case Study

Dining and entertainment pioneers Dave & Buster’s enlisted Stoner Bunting Advertising to breathe new life into their existing business-to-business gift card sales. We were charged with growing existing partnerships, and obtaining new business-to-business sales channels for their gift card.

Research

Studies showed that Dave & Buster’s was a top destination for corporate events, and that restaurants are the most popular category of gift cards. But Dave & Buster’s existing programs weren’t leveraging their position in the B2B gift card marketplace or getting their fair share of the dollars being spent on restaurant gift cards.

Strategize

SBA focused on Dave & Buster’s unique position as an entertainment venue as well as a restaurant, which allowed us to promote them as a special offering to both existing and new buyers. Since we had existing relationships with potential partners for Dave & Buster’s, we immediately started implementing new strategies to get additional sales. We also identified sales categories where Dave & Buster’s was underrepresented, and large buyers who didn’t have strong restaurant offerings. And we prioritized our sales approach to target accounts that have historically brought in new customers.

Create

To capture bulk sales from Dave & Buster’s existing corporate events relationships, we created a web link on their consumer site to convert those accounts into bulk gift card buyers. We took over fulfillment, and created a more streamlined experience for buyers, so Dave & Buster’s got more product featured in buyers’ programs. This also allowed Dave & Buster’s to reduce shipping costs. We worked with existing Dave & Buster’s bulk accounts to get them into more rewards programs. In a number of cases, we were able to negotiate free media, providing valuable exposure and incremental program sales. And we worked with client management to show the value of new rewards and incentive programs, particularly in points and prepaid programs.

Measure

SBA has substantially increased the number of programs in which Dave & Buster’s participates, and increased sales with existing programs. This equated to a 45% increase in gift card sales year over year — a substantial increase in a tough economic environment. In addition, Dave & Buster’s has gained substantial free media impressions in just about every medium available. Impressions in 2008 reached over 100 million, giving them significant value in return for the bulk discount provided to buyers.