Magazine: Fliers today, iPhone tomorrow

iPhone and iPad applications are now used for brand building and advertising in the world of bars and restaurants. After the successes of Pizza Hut and Starbucks, a growing number of fast food chains are developing their own smartphone applications. They believe that this step not only strengthens their brand, but also keeps them in touch with their customers. Starbucks’ application was downloaded by more than 500,000 users; Pizza Hut’s ordering programme made USD 1 million for the company in just 3 months after its launch. Dunkin’ Donuts has an application called Dunkin’Run, which notifies members of a previously established group if someone is about to go to a Dunkin’ Donuts so they can opt-in for an order.

Applications by Chipotle and Burger King both set the goal of shortening queuing time – after placing an order users only have to drop in for the food. Taco Bell’s idea was to turn around the logic of choosing from the menu: users can type in the amount they wish to spend on food and their iPhone lists all the possible menu variations. There are applications available for iPad already, for instance ZAGAT TO GO for restaurant rating publishers Zagat.