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Triple O’s Communication Audit
Triple O’s Communication Audit
Kelsey Coleman, Jonathan Cheng, Jennifer Derksen, & Kailyn Humenny
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Marketing 3211, Pat Browne, April 9th, 2013
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
Contents
Introduction & Background .......................................................................................................................... 3
Key Concerns ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Goals ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Objectives ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Strategies ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Key Components........................................................................................................................................... 6
Internal ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
External ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Graphic Identity ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Media & PR .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Analyze & Evaluate Key Components ......................................................................................................... 7
Strengths ................................................................................................................................................... 7
Weaknesses ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Media ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Paid ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Owned ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Earned ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Interview ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Qualitative ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Focus Groups .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Managers & New Hires .......................................................................................................................... 12
Surveys.................................................................................................................................................... 12
Recommendations for the Future ................................................................................................................ 12
Short Term .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Long Term .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................ 15
Appendices.................................................................................................................................................. 16
Appendix A: Peanut Butter Bacon Jalapeño Burger, Try It! We Dare You ........................................... 16
Appendix B: Triple O’s On-The-Go Truck ............................................................................................ 16
Appendix D: Twitter Campaign.............................................................................................................. 17
Appendix E: How Did We Do Today? ................................................................................................... 18
Appendix F: Triple O’s Logo and Communication Materials ................................................................ 18
Appendix G: Ingredients ......................................................................................................................... 19
Appendix H: Features Point of Sale (POS) and Till Topers ................................................................... 19
Appendix I: White Spot Head Office ...................................................................................................... 20
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
Introduction & Background
The history of White Spot all begins with a man and his truck. In 1928 Nat Bailey transformed
his 1918 Model T into a travel lunch counter. Bailey would drive around Vancouver to various
spots selling hungry Vancouverites Triple O Burgers. In 1928, Bailey opened his first drive-in
restaurant on Granville Street. From that point on White Spot has grown to over 60 locations in
BC and Alberta (White Spot, 2012).
Triple O’s, a division of White Spot Limited, is a Quick Service Restaurant serving a smaller
condensed version of the White Spot menus with its focus being on burgers. Triple O’s can be
found in free-standing locations, street-fronts and select captured markets such as BC ferries,
Chevron stations, and arenas across the world (White Spot, 2012). There are now a total of 44
locations throughout Canada, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
People would come from all over to try Nat’s Triple O sauce. The name “Triple O” originated
from a shorthand language used by the carhops. Customers could choose from mayonnaise and
relish, and the order slips were printed with three X’s and three O’s. And X meant hold, an O
meant extra and Triple-O meant plenty of everything. (Triple O’s, 2012)
Key Concerns
Goals
Triple O’s focus their goals on increased awareness of their brand, to increase traffic and unit
growth, as well as advertising and marketing the company as a brand and leader in the industry.
There are a number of key goals Triple O’s is continuously working on. These goals include
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
introducing new promotional feature burgers, community involvement and coming up with new
forms of displaying their brand.
Triple O’s develops 6 ‘Feature’ menu items per year as a promotional tool. These Features
attempt to go above and beyond the standards of everyday menu items. “Inspiration for such
burgers comes from everywhere” (Cathy Tostenson, 2013) and it is up to the Culinary Council to
develop something to talk about and create that “water cooler talk” amongst people (Cathy
Tostenson, 2013). Triple O’s definitely stood out from the crowd when they brought about the
Peanut Butter Bacon Jalapeno Burger and Peanut Butter Banana Bacon Milkshake in September
2012. Triple O’s dared consumers to try the burger, and responses were well received with
generally 4 out of 6 using the promotional coupons and incentives. (See Appendix A) As well,
Triple O’s takes to campaign conversations on Facebook, contests on Twitter, and 15-second ads
on SportsNet to grab such attention.
Reinventing how it all started, Triple O’s now has a new full service food truck. It can be seen
throughout the streets of Vancouver, at charity and community events, and is even available to
rent for special occasions. With the increased attention to food trucks in Vancouver it was
important for Triple O’s to get back to where it all began. (See Appendix B)
Objectives
To continue to have a successful growth rate Triple O’s strives to continue its brand awareness.
While it is in the same category as other premium fast food restaurants, such as Vera’s and 5
Guys Burgers & Fries, Triple O’s prides themselves on being a step above with high quality food
and a retro-cool experience (Triple O’s, 2012) (See Appendix C). The first step of brand
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
awareness comes from the external communication and all their marketing and advertising
efforts. Any efforts put forward by Triple O’s will increase in the brand awareness.
Brand awareness not only helps bring in customers but it also helps to open more locations.
Because the majority of all Triple O’s locations are franchises, the company is relying on the
investments of others for these locations.
Strategies
No matter where you are in the world all Triple O’s locations have the same look, vibe and
attitude. Triple O’s Diner and Drive-Thru are set in a 50’s diners theme with historical images of
White Spot. Memorabilia is also hung from the walls from decades past. It makes for a fun
environment for the customers on the go. While franchises have the ability to adapt to their own
environment, they all have the same look. Triple O’s focuses on building same store sales and
adding new units. This has been an important strategic advantage that ensures the company’s
market share and individual store profitability objectives are met (Triple O’s, 2012).
Triple O’s works with KidSport, a national not-for-profit organization that provides financial
assistance for registration fees and equipment to kids aged 18 and under throughout 39 B.C.
communities (KidSport, 2012.) Once a year, for 2 weeks in mid June, Triple O’s focuses their
attention on KidSport and encourages guests to donate $1 or more when ordering their favorite
Triple O’s menu items (Triple O’s, 2012.). Triple O’s also gears a Twitter Campaign towards
this partnership with KidSport. In addition to the in-store promotion, customers are encouraged
to help raise fund for KidSport by visiting Triple O’s on Twitter. For every re-tweet of the
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promotional details, Triple O’s will donate an extra $1 to KidSport (Triple O’s, 2012). (See
Appendix D)
Key Components
Internal
White Spot Limited was recently renamed as one of the top 50 Businesses to work for, 3rd year
in a row. The environment and atmosphere throughout this chain of restaurants is impeccable.
All staff are prepared, trained, and given the confidence in order to keep up the White Spot and
Triple O’s brand names. There are regular meetings at the head offices, which include the core
concepts of Triple-O’s and business reviews done at least once or twice a year in order to protect
the brand and to evaluate how they are able to better themselves.
External
“We provide customers with the tools they need to answer questions; we like to be very
transparent with our guests” (Leah Perry, 2013). Triple-O’s allows customers to indulge further
into the experience with QR codes on receipts and promotional coupons. This pilot program was
launched in late 2012 under the campaign name “How Did We Do Today?” (See Appendix E).
The QR code directs customers to the Triple O’s website to complete short surveys and receive
discounts. Promotional coupons are given out if there has been a problem, or mailed out when
there is a new addition to the menu to increase incentive. At the mid to end of the summer
season, White Spot re-vamps their burger menu and comes out with what they call “Burger
Guest Stars”; unique and funky burger options. Triple O’s also adapts their menu to include the
newest of these burgers. One of the most recent burgers contained peanut butter, which is a
widely known allergen, and had to make sure they accommodated these customers who were
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
allergic. All restaurants were changed so that these special burgers were made away from all the
other food and that there was no cross contamination with any utensils, etc.
Graphic Identity
Throughout the entire media platform the main colors are deep green and yellow. The use of
deep green symbolizes security, peace of mind, and trust (Kase, L., 2010). While the yellow
stands for freshness and helps activate the memory (Bourn, J. 2011). There is a lot of overlap of
color and symbols taken from White Spot and incorporated into the Triple-O’s graphic identity.
This is because White Spot is an older corporation that has built an incredible brand name, which
in turn has helped boost Triple-O’s credibility. All business cards, letterheads, and office
material display both the Triple-O logo as well as the White Spot logo. (See Appendix F)
Media & PR
Triple-O’s has their own official web site as well as several social media platforms in order to
attract more potential customers and increase its brand awareness; they are Twitter, Facebook
and YouTube. White Spot and Triple-O’s host contests through their social media platforms for
their customers. Triple-O’s management updates its Twitter and Facebook account every day in
order to maintain a great relationship with customers. Triple-O’s receives plenty of media and
PR through blog sites and foodie posts on the Internet. They will repost credible blogger entries
to promote how delicious their food really is.
Analyze & Evaluate Key Components
Strengths
Triple O’s also has created excellent brand recognition. This strong brand recognition creates
significant opportunities for the company. Part of the brand recognition comes from the quality
of food. Triple O’s prides themselves on their high quality of food, advertising that they only use
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
the freshest, highest quality ingredients. As well, they provide this information both in the
restaurant and on the website. (See Appendix G)
Triple O’s also has a highly qualified team of experts supported by White Spot Limited. The
home office of White Spot Ltd helps to provide guidance, leadership and vision for the brand.
This help leads to innovation and product development. They continue to build on this brand
feature by constantly looking at ways to improve the quality of their ingredients.
Between White Spot Ltd and Triple O’s a lot of investments goes into supporting their franchise
network. As part of franchise package the home office will assist with:



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Menu Development
Supply Management
National & Local Store Marketing
Training & Support
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Real Estate
Information Technology
Design & Construction
Weaknesses
Triple O’s is considered to be in the Premium subcategory of the Quick Service Restaurant
Segmentation. Quick Service meaning that it is a chain of fast-food restaurants. A quick service
restaurant is characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service. Generally a
QSR will have cooked certain menu items in advance; most items are finished and packaged to
order and are usually available ready to take away. Being grouped into this definition will have
consumers see them as on par with Vera’s, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, and Fatburger.
While Triple O’s is a household name, the name more often resonates with the burger at a White
Spot restaurant and not a Triple O’s QSR; creating a Halo Effect and brand confusion.
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
All Triple O’s locations are outfitted with the retro look from decades ago. While it is a fun
atmosphere it doesn’t relate to their original carhop style restaurant, and some may not be aware
of the history of the Canadian company.
Media
Paid
Triple O’s is not as widely advertised at White Spot locations. Being a quick service restaurant
the focus is made towards the feature burgers. When a new feature burger is out, Triple O’s will
run 15 second ads to be aired on SportsNet. Airing on SportsNet goes hand in hand with the key
demographics of Triple O’s. 54% of Triple O’s customers are males and 67% of those
purchasing a burger are males. As well, Triple O's focuses all of their in-store promotions and
advertisements on these Feature burgers with Point of Sale and Till Toppers. (See Appendix H)
As previously mentioned Triple O’s has recently rejoined the food truck scene in Vancouver.
Being a pioneer to the phenomenon it is only natural to see the truck on the streets of Vancouver,
at special events such as B.C. Lions games, the Abbotsford International Airshow, and the
Celebration of Lights. Whatever the event may be Triple O’s can be there. This is a cost to the
company for having the truck out, paying the staff, and having the appropriate permits to operate
on certain cites. While they are paying for the truck to be out, it is good advertisement for Triple
O’s.
Owned
Triple O’s uses a number of owned media as forms of outlets. The best place to start is their
website https://www.tripleos.com/. The website provides information on the history of the
company, menus, locations, franchise & career information, as well as links to all their social
media sites.
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
The Facebook page has over 3,900 likes and 268 people talking about it. The page is used for a
number of different tools. The company posts images of current products, advertisements and
reminds customers when promotions will be endings. They also post items related to current
events.
The Triple O’s twitter account has over 1,400 followers and counting. There are daily tweets
made of their product and current promotions. They will sometimes run promotions where a
follower could win an item by retweeting a Triple O’s tweet. Having a small twitter base has
allowed Triple O’s to be able to reply back to customers who have tweeted questions, comments
or pictures.
One of the ways Triple O’s has increased its social power is through the use of YouTube. Triple
O’s has created their own YouTube channel. The channel displays videos of past and current
advertisements for feature videos.
Over the past few years Vancouver has seen an influx in food cart vendors throughout the city
streets. In 2011 Triple O’s decided to back to its roots with their own food cart. The truck can be
booked for any event and having it mobile on the street brings more attention.
Earned
A lot of the buzz from Triple O’s comes from their paid and owned media. Whether it is a
current feature burger, news of the food truck being out on the town, or opening new locations
overseas.
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Triple O’s Communication Audit
The recent fad of adding bacon to anything wasn’t something Triple O’s was going to pass up. In
September 2012, the company created a buzz with their “Bacon Milkshake” and “Peanut Butter
Bacon Jalapeno Burger”. People from all over BC were heading to Triple O’s locations to try the
new items (Vancity Buzz, 2012)
Critics were happy to see the new food cart join the ranks of the Vancouver scene. “British
Columbia's iconic restaurant brand drives restaurant innovation forward...literally” said one news
article (Market Wire, 2011).
In July 2012 Triple O’s opened its first location in China. It is a whole new market and
demographic for the company. The company sent a team to China to ensure food quality and
preparation at the Chinese restaurants is to same standards in Canada. They are also sticking with
their home feel by ensuring stores aren’t orphaned in a country where there's no strategy to open
nearby locations (Korstrom, G, 2012).
Interview
Qualitative
One of the ways Triple O’s confirms the quality of the product and efficiency of their locations is
by using mystery shoppers. Mystery shoppers perform specific tasks such as purchasing a
product, and asking questions about the company or products. They will then provide detailed
reports about their experiences. Some of the information points shoppers take note of include
number of employees working, whether or not the greeting is friendly, cleanliness of store and
store associates, and speed & quality of service.
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Focus Groups
When coming out with the ‘feature’ burgers a taste testing is done amongst internal staff,
including Leah Perry (Marketing Manager) and Cathy Tostenson (Vice President Marketing). As
well, every 2 years an in-depth research regarding where Triple-O’s fits in the industry and how
they compare with the competition is evaluated.
Managers & New Hires
In order to maintain the food and service quality, there is a pre-shift meeting for every managers
and employees about the daily targets and goals of the shift. In the back office of every location
there is a store message board. The message board containers information about: current
company updates & news, upcoming company events, new products and new promotions.
A lot of work goes into training a new employee. Whenever a new employee is hired they are
given a package containing many documents. These documents include

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Orientation Checklist
Triple O’s Employee Handbook
Triple O’s Policy Guide


Training Plans
Service Quiz
Surveys
As company policy there is staff surveys completed 1-2 times a year. The information in the staff
surveys is sent to head office to see how the individual franchises are doing. They are staff
survey is done at least once or twice a year for corporate home office. They are used to help
build and manage the business.
Recommendations for the Future
Short Term
The short-term recommendation for Triple O’s would be to provide more immediate information
to their employees, as well as increase the diffusion of the Halo Effect amongst their targeted
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audience with more consistent advertising. Ways in which Triple O’s could accomplish these
ideas would be to:

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Email new schedules to employees so that they have access to it immediately.
Allow employees to opt-in (via Email) for the latest news and updates regarding
promotions and internal communications that apply to them from Head Office.
Run more commercials focused on the Triple O’s brand to bring attention to their social
media, community events, and On-The-Go Truck. This may provide more education to
consumers regarding Triple O’s and will aim at avoiding the Halo Effect it currently has
with White Spot.
Place these advertisements and commercials where the targeted audience will see them.
For example: main bus stops in Vancouver, free newspapers (24 Hour and Metro), Team
1040 Radio, and sports news coverage channels.
These short term goals and recommendations are centered on the idea of getting information to
employees quicker, as to provide them with the necessary tools instantaneously. As well, running
more consistent commercials and ads where the target audience will see them allows these
consumers more familiarity with the Triple O’s brand and aid in the differentiation from White
Spot.
Long Term
With consideration to time and strategy, the long-term goals are geared towards internal
communications with employees of the corporate locations and implementation of a consumer
rewards program and mobile device app. Focusing on internal communications, our
recommendation is to create an Employees-Only Portal on the store computer:



This will be a place where employees can access all up-to-date information on
promotions and communications from Head Office.
A ‘Positives Mentions Board’ (similar to a blog) will be set up to connect with other
employees from other stores, share their favorite menu items, and even build a profile
with their picture, basic information, which store they work at, etc.).
Access to the monthly newsletter will be available.
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Triple O’s Communication Audit

Employee contests and challenges: prizes of two tickets to a Giants game and dinner at
either White Spot or Triple O’s in the arena. As well, contests amongst stores to see who
can sell the most of the promotional burger and ability to view each store’s progress.
Although Triple O’s already sends out promotional coupons and discounts, it may be worth
considering a loyalty program as well:
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
The Triple O’s Green Card: a card for loyal consumers, or to entice Guests to return for
the rewards.
“The Sauciest, Juiciest, Tastiest, Bestest Rewards Around” – in line with Triple O’s
slogan
Consumers can rack up points every time they make a purchase at Triple O’s locations,
and earn free rewards or discounts towards their next visit.
Catching up with technology and those consumers seeking the latest and greatest, Triple O’s may
want to look into developing a mobile device application:




Mobile version of the website in the form of a phone ‘app’.
Provides consumers with the closest Triple O’s location, latest news, promotions, and
community involvement.
Access to Facebook and Twitter Feed, as well as a tracking system for the On-The-Go
Truck when it is out and about.
Consumers can also put their loyalty card on there so that it is with them wherever they
go and they are able to view the status, points and rewards.
Triple O’s has always kept their focus on consumers and how to better their experience. These
recommendations and suggestions are only to increase that ability and to help pave the way for
Triple O’s to clearly standing out from the competition with being up-to-date on technology as
well as employee and consumer consideration.
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Works Cited
About Us. (2013.). Kidsport. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from
www.kidsportcanada.ca/index.php?page=mission
Bourn, J. (2011, February 5). Meaning of The Color Yellow. Bourn Creative. Retrieved April 7,
2013, from http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-yellow
Elvis loved it and so do we: Peanut Butter & Bacon at Triple O’s. (2012, September 10). Vancity
Buzz. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from www.vancitybuzz.com/2012/09/elvis-loved-it-and-so-do-wepeanut-butter-bacon-at-triple-os/
Kase, L. (2010, September 20). Color Psychology: Nuances of Color to Consider for Smart Color
Marketing. Marketing Psychology. Retrieved April 2, 2013, from
http://www.psychologyofmarketing.com/categories/color-marketing-psychology/
Kidsport And Triple-O's Partnership. (2012). Triple-O's. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from
https://www.tripleos.com/blog/kidsport-and-triple-os-partnership
Korstrom, G. (2012, July 31). White Spot expands into China. Business in Vancouver. Retrieved
April 7, 2013, from http://www.biv.com/article/20120731/BIV0106/307319869/-1/BIV/white-spotexpands-into-china
Main Page. (2012.). Triple-O's. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from https://www.tripleos.com/
Our History. (2102). White Spot. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from https://www.whitespot.ca/our-history
Triple O's Launches Canada's First Mobile Restaurant and Test Kitchen by a Quick Service Chain.
(2011, August 4). Marketwire. Retrieved April 5, 2013, from http://www.marketwire.com/pressrelease/triple-os-launches-canadas-first-mobile-restaurant-test-kitchen-quick-service-chain1546172.htm
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Appendices
Appendix A: Peanut Butter Bacon Jalapeño Burger, Try It! We Dare You
Appendix B: Triple O’s On-The-Go Truck
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Appendix C: Retro Look
Appendix D: Twitter Campaign
Twitter Campaign:
In addition to the in-store promotion, customers can help raise money for KidSport by visiting Triple O’s on Twitter
athttp://twitter.com/TripleOs from June 20th - July 3rd. For every re-tweet of the promotional details, Triple O’s will
donate an extra $1 to KidSport. Help us raise an extra $5,000 for this outstanding cause!
Tweet this:
Help #TripleOs get kids off the sidelines & into the game. RT & follow & we will donate $1 to @kidsport
In 2010 thanks to you, we raised $25,000. For 2011, with your help, we plan to beat last year's funds raised!
For more information on Kidsport, go to kidsportcanada.ca.
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Appendix E: How Did We Do Today?
Appendix F: Triple O’s Logo and Communication Materials
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Appendix G: Ingredients
Appendix H: Features Point of Sale (POS) and Till Topers
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Appendix I: White Spot Head Office