DARDEN RESTAURANTSCorporate Communications Audit and Budget

Taylor SimsADPR 5910

April 23, 2015Final Project Part I: Communications Audit

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Introduction

Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Darden owns popular restaurants such as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, The Capital Grille and Yard House. Until July 28, 2014, Darden also owned Red Lobster.

Darden has more than 1500 restaurant locations and more than 150,000 employees. The company was ranked number 319 on the Fortune 500 list with annual sales of approximately $6.3 billion. 

Darden’s core purpose is "to nourish and delight everyone we serve." Darden’s mission entails to be a company that matters across every one of its unique brands and in every role it performs. Darden is confident in its future, not only as an industry leader but also as a leader in business overall.

History

Origins

In 1938, at the age of 19, Bill Darden opened his first restaurant, The Green Frog, in Waycross, Georgia. Thirty years later in 1968, he opened first Red Lobster opened in Lakeland, Florida. The restaurant was immensely popular and within two years expanded into three restaurants. Despite its success, but the company lacked the funds to expand further so Darden sold the company to General Mills.

General Mills Ownership

General Mills upgraded the chain to a more casual dining/family fare oriented format, opened a new company headquarters in Orlando and retained Darden as company manager. In 1975, when Darden was promoted to the position of Vice President at General Mills, Joseph (Joe) R. Lee, the company's first restaurant manager, was made President of Red Lobster. Under General Mills, Red Lobster grew into a chain of almost 400 locations by 1985. The company underwent several restructurings and transformed itself from an inexpensive fast-food seller into a chain of casual dining seafood restaurants by 1988.

In 1982, Darden opened the first Olive Garden concept store in Orlando. The chain took off, and by 1989 General Mills had opened over 145 stores, making the chain the fastest-growing unit in the company's restaurant holdings. While Olive Garden did not meet critical success, it was popular, and its per-store sales soon grew to match those of Red Lobster. The company eventually became the largest chain of Italian-themed full-service restaurants in the U.S.

The Birth of Darden Restaurants

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In 1995, General Mills decided to spin off its restaurant chains to focus on consumer food products. The new company was named Darden Restaurants, after Red Lobster's founder, Bill Darden. In March 1996, Darden launched a test of Bahama Breeze Caribbean Grille concept featuring food and drinks with a Caribbean theme and in 2003, Seasons 52 was under development with the idea of "provide guests the opportunity to indulge while still eating well." In 2007, Darden acquired rival restaurant holder Rare Hospitality for $1.4 billion. With this acquisition, Darden gained Rare's two chains, The Capital Grille and LongHorn Steakhouse. As part of the Rare acquisition, Darden set up its Specialty Restaurant Group to include Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52. In July 2012, Darden acquired Yard House’s 39 locations for $585 million from TSG Consumer Partners. Yard House was set alongside the other upscale restaurants in Darden's Specialty Restaurant Group.

Sale of Red Lobster

On May 16, 2014, Darden announced it would be selling the Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain to Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion. Darden announced the completion of the sale of Red Lobster on July 28, 2014.

An Overview of the Industry

Industry Trends

Social Media Presence: Restaurant activity on social media is an increasing trend in the restaurant industry. Over 48% of Family dining restaurants and over 55 percent of casual dining restaurants are active on social media. The other percentages, not active on social media, say they plan to be more active on social media platforms in 2015. Social media efforts bring brand recognition and are an easy and effective way to promote a product.

Local Food Menu Options: In 2015, industry trends for table service restaurants are shifting in favor of the following:

Locally sourced meats and seafood Locally grown produce Environmental sustainability Natural ingredients/minimally processed foods.

85 percent of family dining restaurant operators say their customers are more interested in locally source items than in the past.

Healthy Menu Options: Consumers are taking notice of healthier menu items in restaurants than they did in previous years. 67 percent of adults order more healthful options at restaurants than two years go. With health conscious diners becoming a reoccurring trend, restaurants must adapt to provide healthy and lower calorie meal options than before.

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Competitive Analysis

Darden Restaurants is the #1 casual-dining operator, in terms of rvenue, with about 1,500 restaurants in the US and Canada. In addition to this, Darden ranked number 74 in Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work list. Darden’s top three competitors in the industry include the following:

Brinker International – Brinker is a multinational restaurant industry company that owns Chili's and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant chains. Brinker id ranked number 761 on Fortune’s 1000 list.

Dineequity – Dineequity is an American company that both franchises and operates IHOP (International House Of Pancakes) and Applebee's restaurants.

OSI Restaurant Partners – As of 2015, OSI owns and operates Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse.

Sustainability EffortsDarden is actively committed to sustainability. On it’s web page it reads, “We will strive to be more sustainable by creating value while balancing the well-being of our society, our environment, and our business, now and for generations.”

Darden has a three-part approach for sustainability, which includes: People – Darden believes people are its most valuable resource Planet – For Darden, Ensuring it conserves and preserves resources is critical for its

company and the greater global good. Green building principles, recycled materials, sustainably harvested wood, low flow valves and LED lighting are some of the innovative efforts Darden is pursuing to help the environment. These efforts are key to Darden’s strategy for achieving it’s "15x15 over Zero" goals of reducing energy and water use by 15% by 2015, and of one day sending zero waste to landfill.

Plate – Darden is continually working to better understand the energy, carbon and water footprint of the foods it serves.

Darden also prides itself on Seafood Stewarship. As a part of this, Darden has committed to pursue rebuilding troubled fisheries through three targeted Fishery Improvement Projects. This commitment is part of Darden's membership in the Clinton Global Initiative. Darden’s project was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative as an exemplary approach to addressing environmental challenges. The focus of the project is to support the rebuilding of commercial reef fish fisheries, primarily grouper and red snapper, using several tools including the development of data collection methods to enhance management, testing different gear types to reduce interactions with sea turtles, and building new markets for the fish as populations recover. In 2009, Darden helped launch the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with fisherman, processors, buyers, government agencies and other stakeholders to preserve and enhance a viable, strong and sustainable lobster industry. Darden regularly evaluates its purchasing practices to ensure they support and encourage sustainable fisheries

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In addition to this, over the past several years, Darden has invested in sustainability-related activities. It developed a sustainability strategy, established an Office of Sustainability and established internal Sustainability Leadership Council.

Search Optimization Analysis

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a technique used by companies to enhance their online visibility. SEO ensures that a company’s web page sits at the beginning of a list when someone types in its name or a keyword that relates into an online search engine, such as Google or Bing. A stronger SEO means more visits to the company’s page, better awareness of its products or services and an overall powerful online presence. To increase SEO, Darden Restaurants needs to examine what key words and phrases people use when searching for their business.

When searching for “Darden Restaurants ” on Google, the first page results include:

Ads: Red Lobster Seafood (www.redlobster.com) Restaurants 10k List Of All Darden Restaurants List of Darden Restaurants

Web pages: Darden Official Website Darden Restaurants Wikipedia Page DRI Summary: Yahoo Darden Restaurants (Orlando Sentinel) DRI Stock Price and News Marketwatch: Darden Restaurants Inc.

News For Darden Restaurants

Darden lists I-Drive Olive Garden for sale at hefty price (Orlando Sentinel) Who Subsidizes Restaurant Workers' Pitiful Wages? You Do (Mother

Jones) Final Glance: Restaurant Companies (CNBC)

Through the SEO analysis of Darden Restaurants, it can determined that Darden has a relatively strong online presence. Within the first page of Google results, all web pages are relative to Darden Restaurants although many of the web pages were from outside sources opposed to websites created internally through Darden. No social media sites appeared in the search which could be an issue in an age that corporate social media presence is an important aspect of a successful company. The major issue with the SEO is that the first ad that came up in search results was for Red Lobster Seafood which is no longer a part of Darden Restaurants. Darden Restaurants should aim to strengthen their online presence in the areas of social media sites and pushing their internal web pages higher in the search result list.

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Link to Google Search: https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=darden+restaurants

When searching for “Darden Restaurants ” on Bing, the first page results include:

Ads: Red Lobster Seafood (Redlobster.com)

Web pages: Darden Official Website Darden Restaurants Wikipedia Page Twitter: Darden Restaurants DRI Stock Quote (Marketwatch) Darden Restaurants: A Leader in the Full Service Industry (Official Website) Darden Restaurants: Careers at Our Restaurants (Official Website) Darden Gift Cards DRI Stock Quotes (CNBC) Darden Restaurants on Forbes Global 2000 List (Forbes) Yahoo Finance: DRI Darden Restaurant News (New York Times)

News For Darden Restaurants Post Darden, restaurants more receptive to activists (Nation’s Restaurant News) Darden Restaurants: BRIEF: Coupon: $5 lunch at Olive Garden (4 Traders) Post-Earnings Report - Darden Restaurants (Marketwatch)

Overall, Darden Restaurants have a stronger internal web page presence and stronger social media presence on the Bing SEO than the Google SEO. Again, Red Lobster appears as the primary ad that appears when searching Darden Restaurants, which is no longer a part of Darden. To the sides of the web pages that come up during the search, a gray box shows Darden’s twitter and their latest twitter post. Darden has a strong online presence on Bing’s search engine compared to Google’s. Bing, as a search engine, is less popular than Google and Darden should focus on strengthening Google presence compared to Bing.

Link To Bing Search:https://www.bing.com/search?q=darden+restaurants&qs=HS&pq=darde&sc=8-5&sp=1&cvid=f0f8b8954b484d1e817a5d0734e49a48&FORM=QBLH

Alexa Traffic Report

A search on www.alexa.com reveals the following about traffic on Darden Restaurant’s website.

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Traffic Ranks and Engagement

The first graph demonstrates a Darden’s website traffic over the last year compared to other sites. As of October 2014, traffic has been rising and appears it will continue to do so. The numbers to the right of the graph display Darden’s rankings on a national and international level. Its rankings have dropped on a global level. This indicates that Darden needs to change the way the company reaches costumers globally.

Bounce rate indicates the percent of your online visitors that “bounce back” or leave the site after they have visited it. The rate is relatively though and has improved over the past year. This means Darden has made its website more appealing to visitors over the past year. Daily page views an the daily time on site are also on the rise, which exhibits a positive change in traffic for the website.

Audience Demographics and Geography

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The above graphic contains the demographic information of the people who create the traffic on Darden’s website. These values are ranked against the general Internet population. These graphs reveal that a majority of the visitors on Darden’s website are female, have some college, and visit the site while they are at home. Information, like the type provided above, can be valuable to Darden because the company can tailor its website to the audiences that visit it most often.

The above graphic shows the geographic location of Darden website’s visitors. As demonstrated above, the majority of online traffic comes from the U.S. and Canada. The company could work on the website in global markets and make it easier to access for people in different parts of the world.

Search Engine Traffic

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The above graph offers information on how viewers reach Darden’s website by using external search engines. From the graph, it can be determined that users are relying less on search engines such as Google and Bing to get to the company’s website. The chart to the right of the graph displays the most recurring keywords visitors entered to access Darden’s site. Darden can use the keywords in their web pages making it easier for the public to find and access their site.

Upstream Sites

Finally. Alexa displays a chart, which exhibits the sites people visit before reaching darden.com called upstream sites. Google ranks number one among the upstream sites demonstrating that Darden would benefit from placing emphasis on this search engine. Next is Olive Garden, one of the companies that fall under Darden, followed by Red Lobster, which is no longer a part of the company. Facebook ranks high on the list also demonstrating that the placement of social media sites higher up on Google and search engine results is important. Facebook was not on the first page in the SEO for Google or Bing, which is an issue for the company and something it should aim to change.

Key Publics

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Stockholders

Darden is a publicly traded company that issues its stock through the New York Stock Exchange. Darden is ranked 319 as a Fortune 500 company. The company’s current price per share is listed at $65.30. Darden values its shareholders and hosts an annual shareholders meeting which includes shareholders in important company decisions. In addition to this, Darden provides resources to shareholders through its shareholders tool section on their website containing important information on the company and its stocks. Darden prides itself on making sure stockholders are informed in matters involving the company

Customers

Through its brands, like Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House., Darden serves more than 320 million meals to customers each year. Darden is committed to building and maintaining a strong, people-focused culture. Its focus is delivering genuine service to its customers through all of its brand restaurants. Darden offers extensive training and self-development programs to help its employees grow and succeed along with flexible work schedule options and industry-leading benefits.

Employees

For more than 150,000 employees, Darden offers not just jobs, but opportunities to build rewarding careers in a culture of respect. In its communities, just one of its restaurants can create 100-150 jobs. More than half of restaurant managers are promoted from hourly rank positions and 99 percent of restaurant General Managers are promoted from within. Darden careers provide an opportunity for growth and development. Darden believes it serves its employees best by helping them pursue their personal and professional dreams.

Suppliers

Suppliers for Darden Restaurants include suppliers of food or beverage products, capital equipment, furniture, small wares, uniforms, etc. Darden works diligently to provide opportunities for diverse suppliers to develop and grow their businesses. Darden also believes that by supporting the growth of these businesses, it is contributing to the economic vitality of the country.

Regulators

Darden has faced government regulation by the government on many occasions. One specific lawsuit case entailed a claim that Darden Restaurants and its related companies failed to pay proper wages and overtime pay to its tipped employees. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act under which Darden is held accountable requires this regulation.

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Along with all publicly traded companies, Darden is required by law and the Securities Exchange Commission to post its regulatory documents. The Federal Trade Commission also oversees Darden.

The Food and Drug Administration has regulation over Darden because of the food served at its restaurants. The FDA investigates any complaints or outbreak issues associated with foods served at Darden’s restaurants.

Key Messages

Stockholders

The following is an excerpt from Darden’s 2014 letter to investors:

“ The composition of your Board is something we take seriously; the experience and expertise of your directors have been, and will continue to be, drivers of the Company's success.  We also value our shareholders' views.  Thus, we have been speaking directly with many Darden shareholders to hear first-hand what they think about the future leadership of your company.

We understand that while many shareholders recognize Darden's record of long-term performance and value creation, they are also disappointed with the Company's recent performance.  In addition, we appreciate that while many of our shareholders believe in the importance of having a board and leadership team who have a deep understanding of the Company and its strategic shifts over time, they also believe that Darden would benefit from new perspectives.

Darden has also made changes to executive compensation and incentive programs to better align with Shareholder interests.  We are pleased that these changes have been well received by our shareholders and industry analysts”

Customers

The following is the commitment Darden pledges on its website:

“From its roots, Darden committed to delivering genuine service to others. Whether it’s making an extra effort for a guest, helping our employees develop career skills or improving the communities we serve, the Darden family lives a culture that rewards caring for people. That defines service to us.”

Darden aims to make customers and the community a priority of its business. With more than 1,500 restaurants, Darden strives to have an enduring and positive influence on the communities it serves.

Employees

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Darden aims to provide a supportive work environment for its employees through the following key focuses:

Training - Company values and behaviors are woven throughout the training to reinforce that how Darden treats its guests – and how it expect its employees to treat each other – is as important as the specifics of the job itself.

Compensation and Benefits - Darden offers competitive compensation, flexible work schedules and industry-leading benefits.

Listening to Employees – Darden strives to listen to it workers and what they have to say through regular management visits, surveys and open-door policies.

Thanking Employees – At Darden, it is critical that its employees are recognized for a job well done. Darden encourages praise and reinforcement that will lead to success

Suppliers

Darden has placed an emphasis on supplier diversity as a major part of its company mission. The following is from Darden’s Supplier Diversity web page:

“At Darden, we constantly look to enhance diversity among our suppliers. We firmly believe our supplier base should mirror our guest and employee populations. That is why we work diligently to provide opportunities for diverse suppliers to develop and grow their businesses. We also believe that by supporting the growth of these businesses, we are contributing to the economic vitality of the country. To this end, we strive to give businesses of diverse ownership an equal opportunity to compete with all other suppliers.

Our Supplier Diversity initiative, which focuses on women- and minority-owned businesses, is the major driver behind Darden’s efforts to bring about diversity awareness and opportunities within our supplier network.”

Regulators

“It is Darden’s policy is to operate within the letter and spirit of all applicable laws and regulations. Darden’s core purpose is to nourish and delight everyone we serve, as supported by our core values of integrity and fairness, respect and caring, diversity, always learning – always teaching, being “of service”, teamwork and excellence. “

This statement about business conduct can be found in Darden Restaurant’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics Policy Statement. The Policy Statement provides in-depth explanations of behavioral expectations for employees, managers and those in leadership positions. The document can be found under the investor relations page of Darden’s website and under the tab of Corporate Governance.

Communication Strategies

Darden’s Corporate Website: http://www.darden.com

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Home Page

The home page of Darden’s corporate website has a very clean look with a beige background with hints of burgundy red on the page. The logo is placed in the top center of the home page.

To the right of the Darden logo in small print our links to gift cards, locations and contact information. Underneath the logo is the menu tab par which includes the following tabs: Our Company, Our Brands, Our Commitment, Investors, Media and Careers.

The slideshow of photos under the menu show pictures of the brands that are underneath the Darden brand, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House. Underneath the slideshow is a description of what Darden is and the extent of its reach in the restaurant industry. To the left of the description are box links to the Darden Foundation and Darden Sustainability pages. Underneath the company’s description is a scroll down feed of Recent News about the company.

At the bottom of the home page, icon links for Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House when clicked will direct you to each restaurants individual web page.

Overall, the home page is clean and easy to navigate. The photos add to the attractiveness of the site and draw the reader in. These photos also help illustrate the restaurants under the Darden brand that customers might not be familiar with. The major issue with the home page is that it contains no links to blog or social media sights.

About Darden’s Company

Darden’s “Our Company” page includes a synopsis of the history of the company. The description is informative but concise enough to hold the reader’s attention.

From the company web page a sidebar show navigation to other tabs on the page. Sub-categories of the “Our Company” page include:

Executive Leadership – This tab includes Darden’s executive leadership along with their photos and biographies.

Board of Directors – This tab includes photos and short descriptions on the people that make up the board of directors

History – The history tab shows an interactive timeline with photos and historical landmarks in Darden’s history.

Doing Business with Darden – This tab relates to business inquiries concerning marketing, construction, facilities maintenance, IT services, business development, purchasing, real estate and market development, travel and events.

Contact Us – The contact us tab includes Darden’s mailing address, office locations, guest relation’s links for its restaurants, human resources, investor relations, media relations and sustainability inquiries.

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FAQ’s. – The FAQ page provides answers to frequently asked questions about Darden and its restaurants.

Media Resources

The homepage of the media tab is titled the Darden News Center. Darden’s News Center allows the reader to access the latest company news as well as media contacts, downloads and more. On the home page of the media tab latest news articles on Darden are listed. The sub-tabs for the media resources tab include:

Press Releases Media Contacts – Media contact information is listed for Darden Corporate, Olive

Garden, Longhorn, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s, and Yard House.

Leadership – The leadership tab includes a list of Darden’s executive directors along with their biography and photos.

Downloads – The download tab includes brand logos and brand photos for use for the media.

Darden’s media page is easy to navigate but there is no mention of social media websites or links to any of its Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Our Brands

The Our Brands page of Darden’s website features a description of the Darden brands and the mission of its restaurants. The sub-tabs for the Our Brands page include pages on each restaurant brand, a brief synopsis of their history and a link to their direct website where customers can learn more. The restaurant brands include: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House.

Our Commitments Darden’s extensive Our Commitments tab opens with a general Our Commitments homepage that gives an overview of its values. The following is an excerpt from the page:

“The key is an uncompromising focus on doing what is right – maintaining standards, nurturing sustainability, nourishing our rich diversity, preserving our culture, and, of course, helping others.”

In addition to the main commitments page the page has sub-tabs that include: Diversity and Inclusion – This page includes a description of Darden’s inclusion of

diversity as a business imperative and a history of its progress. The description includes a synopsis of Darden’s three diversity programs, which include Diversity Outreach, Supplier Diversity and Workforce Diversity. In addition to this, the page includes awards and recognition Darden has received for its diversity.

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Foundation and Community Affairs – This page includes Darden’s mission for outreach in the community and philanthropic efforts. The Darden Foundation works to bring this spirit of service to life through its philanthropic support of charitable organizations across the country in three priority areas: Recipe For success, Preservation and Good Neighbor. The page also includes a link to the Darden Foundation page.

Sustainability - The sustainability tab goes into a description of Darden’s sustainability efforts focused on preserving, conserving and enhancing ecosystems. The page includes a presentation on Darden’s continuing sustainability efforts.

Careers

Founder of Darden Restaurants, Bill Darden, said, “Our greatest competitive edge is the quality of our employees, evidenced by the excellent job they do everyday.” This is the opening quote that appears on Darden’s career page. The home page of Careers contains an overview of the mission of Darden in creating quality employees. The following make up the sub-tabs of the career page:

Our Culture – The Our Culture page includes statistics on retention rates, a list of values in employees and how Darden works to develop employees that will grow and succeed.

Our Stories – The Our Stories page includes career testimonials from employees in all ranks of the company and how working for Darden and its restaurants has been a catalyst for their success.

Restaurant Support Center Careers – This page includes careers available at corporate headquarters, amenities at corporate headquarters, and a link to learn more about working for Darden corporate opposed to one of its restaurants.

Careers at Our Restaurants – This page includes a synopsis of careers at Darden restaurants along with links to learn more about specific careers at each restaurant.

Darden University Relations – This page includes information on internship opportunities and manager in training positions for students.

The Career page is easy to access and informative for those looking to pursue careers with the company.

Investor Relations

The investor relations page contains extensive information and tools for investors. Although the information is extensive, many sub-tabs make it easier to navigate. The investor relations overview page includes Darden’s mission for shareholders as well as recent news releases and presentations. The pages located under investor relations include the following:

Press Releases – This page includes current and pass press releases. Events and Presentations – The events pages include webcasts, presentations and

scheduled meetings and events. Financial Information – This page includes financial information, ratios and statistics for

Darden restaurants. Stock Information – This page includes current stock information, historic stock lookup,

graphs and charts. Email Alerts – This page includes sign up for investors to sign up for Darden email alerts.

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Investor FAQ’s – FAQ’s include a series of questions frequently asked by stockholders. Safe Harbor Notice – This page includes possible company risk and uncertainties to keep

investors informed. Corporate Governance – Corporate Governance includes articles of incorporation such as

the bylaws, governance guidelines, charters, insider trading policies and other important corporate governance documents.

Investor Feedback/Comments – This page asks for investors to share their feedback and comments to Darden.

Shareholder Tools – The shareholder tools page includes investor briefcase, printed materials, email alerts, download library, company snapshot and RSS Feeds.

Annual Report

The Annual Reports page is located in various places around Darden’s website and is referenced to on the investor relations page. The Annual Reports page contains annual reports from 1999-2014. The annual reports are offered in both pdf and html forms. The html site is well organized and visually appealing. The site includes graphs, photos, as well as links to download the report in its entirety as a pdf. The html site does not contain the report in its entirety but includes summaries and categories of the following:

Our Business Shareholder Letter Financial Highlights Leadership Download Annual Report

The annual report page is visually appealing and easy to navigate but other than that it provides only short summaries of the extensive information covered in the annual report. Investors would need to download the report as a pdf to really understand the company’s annual report. The experience of the website does provide an easy and engaging platform for those looking for a short summary of financial highlights.

Social Media Efforts

In the area of social media, Darden does not seem to have adapted to the social media era as many of its competitors have. The corporation places very little emphasis on social media efforts and instead seems to focus on social media for each of its individual restaurants.

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Facebook: The biggest problem in Darden’s social media efforts is that the corporation does not have a verified Facebook account for just the Darden brand. On the other hand, Darden’s individual restaurant brands have popular official Facebook pages as well as pages for may of the restaurant’s individual locations. The Facebook pages for the restaurants are popular with Olive Garden having 6.1 million likes, Longhorn with 3.7 million, Bahama Breeze with 1.4 million, Yard House with 1.1 million, Capital Grille with 769 thousand, Seasons 52 with 610 thousand, and Eddie V’s with 137 thousand. Looking at Darden’s most popular restaurant, Olive Garden, and its social media each post receives a large amount of likes varying from 1,000 to 10,000 and often closer to 20,000.

Twitter: In contrast to Facebook, Darden has a Twitter account but this account isn’t necessarily very active or popular. The corporate Twitter page has only posted 1,729 times since 2011 and only has 5,637 followers. Each post receives only on average one retweet and one favorite. The posts primarily focus on the Darden restaurant brands and include quote tweets, retweets and pictures of the food served in this restaurant. In contrast, Darden’s restaurant brands have hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and have very active Twitter feeds.Darden Restaurants corporate twitter page could benefit from the use of more hashtags and receiving attention from its restaurants pages. Darden’s restaurants social media is active and successful but it should place more focus on its corporate social media efforts.

Instagram: Like Facebook, Darden corporate does not have an Instagram. Darden’s restaurants all have Instagrams. Other than Olive Garden with over 22 thousand followers, Darden’s restaurant Instagram accounts are not popular compared with other restaurants in the industry. Olive Garden’s

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Instagram posts on average receive around 800 likes. Darden should create an Instagram account for Darden as well as work to strengthen its restaurant pages by promoting its Instagram through its restaurant pages on Twitter and Facebook.

Summary:

In examining Darden’s social media presence, the only strong points of Darden’s social media efforts are its restaurant Facebook pages and its social media for Olive Garden on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The primary issue with Darden’s social media efforts is that they are inconsistent and lack any sense of cohesion. Each restaurant and Darden as a whole feel like different companies entirely opposed to being under one brand. Darden would benefit from a restructuring of its social media entirely as well as the importance of creating social media accounts for Darden itself. Through Darden’s verified organization pages it could work to promote its restaurants as well as create notability for Darden as a whole.

Corporate Culture

Organizational Structure

Darden’s CEO Eugene Lee leads an executive board of eight, three of whom are women. Lee also oversees a Board of Directors that has 14 members. The primary committees for the board consist of the following: Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee and Finance and Real Estate Committee. Each committee has a committee head as well as a Chairman of the Board, Jeffrey Smith.

Women Leaders

Darden employs women at all different levels of their company. Chief Development Officer, Laurie Burns, Chief human Resources Officer, Danielle Kirgan, and President of LongHorn Steakhouse, Valerie Insignares, serve as three of the eight spots on Darden’s executive board.

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Women also make up four of the 14 positions on the Board of Directors. Darden prides itself on the diversity it has within its company and currently 51 percent of its employees are females. Darden’s Women’s Network recognizes, encourages, strengthens and celebrates the unique perspectives, intelligence and leadership skills women bring to the workplace.

Diversity

Darden has made a firm commitment to diversity and inclusion at all levels of its company. Darden respects and cherishes the distinctions its employees bring, including diversity in race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age, disability, national origin, sexual orientation and religion. Darden believes embracing differences enables it to be stronger and consist of better teams. Approximately 46 percent of Darden’s employees are minorities. To ensure it accomplishes its goals for diversity and inclusion, Darden has set high standards. For example, all corporate officers are required to have at least one diversity objective as part of their Performance Management Process and all employees are evaluated on their “respect and value” for diversity as part of regular performance reviews. At the executive and management levels, Darden provides intense diversity learning experiences for all its leaders. Darden’s “Diversity Learning Experience” program offers a multi-layered curriculum that builds as individuals grow within the organization. The Diversity Learning Experience allows participants to explore pre-conceived assumptions and then learn how to engage in constructive discussions of differences. Including the Women’s network, Darden has four other diversity networks which include: the African-American Network, the Asian-American Network, the Hispanic Network, and the Pride Alliance Network. These networks aim to be inclusive and provide supportive environments for people of all cultures.

Philanthropic Efforts and Community Outreach

Darden Restaurants is consistently recognized for a culture that cares for people. Most of the philanthropic work Darden does is through The Darden Foundation. The Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation works to create philanthropic support for charitable organizations across the country as well as the volunteer involvement of Darden Restaurant’s employees.  With nearly 1,800

restaurants, Darden strives to have an enduring and positive influence on the communities it serves. Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation focuses its philanthropic efforts on the following program areas:

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Access to Postsecondary Education: Darden supports organizations that positively impact the educational prospects of underserved youth, ages 14 to 18, by providing them with access to the tools and information they need to pursue their dreams of higher education.

Preservation of Natural Resources: Darden supports organizations whose mission is to protect wildlife, restore and preserve ecosystems and teach environmental sustainability.

Good Neighbor Grants (Central Florida): Darden good neighbor grants support arts, educational and social services programs and organizations based in Central Florida.

One of Darden’s largest philanthropic efforts and community outreach efforts is the Darden Restaurant Community Grants Program. Darden's Restaurant Community Grants program is a local grants initiative that helps support nonprofit organizations in the hundreds of communities Darden and its restaurant brands serve. In partnership with the Darden Foundation, every restaurant in the Darden family, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s, Seasons 52, and Yard House, awards a $1,000 grant to a nonprofit organization in its local community. Since 2012, the Restaurant Community Grants program has provided over $5.8 million to exceptional nonprofit organizations across the United States and Canada and supported thousands of community projects.

Suggestions for Future Directions

Website Navigation

The website navigation is fairly clear on Darden’s website. The information is minimal on each page, which doesn’t require a lot of scrolling but does require a lot of searching through sub-tabs. The primary issue with the web page is that the design is a little monotonous and the beige and burgundy tones appear throughout every page. Each page looks similar and the only change is differences in photos. Compared to the Darden Foundation page, which contains graphics and interactive web pages, Darden’s web page feels static and non-engaging. Darden could spend time investing in more graphics, photos, and interactive fresh designs for its website.

Search Engine Optimization

Darden Restaurants is successful in that it has a strong internal web page presence on Google and Bing but its social media pages and restaurant brand pages do not appear high up on the lists. Darden needs to improve the rankings of its social media pages on search engines. Another issue Darden faces with the SEO is that the first major ad that comes ups up after searching “Darden Restaurants” is Red Lobster.

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Darden completed the sale of Red Lobster in summer of 2014 and it is no longer a Darden Brand Restaurant. The company should make sure its ads are relevant to its current brands.

Social Media

One of the biggest issues Darden has compared to its competitors is a low presence on social media and a lack of cohesiveness amongst its brands. The Darden Restaurant does not even have a verified Facebook account although its restaurants brands have popular Facebook pages. Darden has a twitter page but the account does not post often and does not receive many retweets or favorites. Darden also does not have a corporate Instagram account. To remedy the social media presence situation, Darden should focus on creating accounts for itself on Instagram and Facebook. These pages should focus on the brands Darden represents therefore drawing attention to the Darden name through the popularity of its restaurants. Darden’s restaurant brand accounts should promote the Darden pages by tagging Darden in all of their posts.

Bibliography

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/darden.comhttp://investor.darden.com/investors/investor-relations/default.aspxhttp://www.darden.com/careers/http://www.darden.com/diversity/supplier.asphttp://investor.darden.com/investors/news-releases/press-release-details/2014/Darden-Issues-Open-Letter-To-Shareholders/default.aspxhttp://www.darden.com/about/http://www.darden.com/restaurants/http://www.darden.com/commitment/http://www.darden.com/media/default.asphttp://investor.darden.com/investors/financial-information/Annual-Reports/default.aspxhttp://www.darden.com/diversity/workforce.asphttp://www.dardenfoundation.com/cms/http://www.dardenfoundation.com/cms/community-granthttp://www.darden.com/careers/stories.asphttp://www.darden.com/about/contact_us.asphttp://www.corporatereport.com/darden/2014/ar/http://www.darden.com/about/photo_history.asphttp://www.darden.com/about/executive_members.asphttp://www.darden.com/about/board_members.asp

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http://www.darden.com/about/doing_business.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darden_Restaurantshttp://www.answers.com/topic/darden-restaurants-inchttp://money.cnn.com/2014/05/16/investing/darden-red-lobster/

http://

www.darden.com/pdf/corporate/Code_of_Business_Conduct_and_Ethics.pdfhttp://fortune.com/fortune500/crown-holdings-inc-313/http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.DARDEN_RESTAURANTS_INC.b554d409812190cb.htmlhttp://www.darden.com/sustainability/default.aspx?lang=en&page=homehttp://www.darden.com/sustainability/default.aspx?lang=en&page=peoplehttp://www.darden.com/sustainability/default.aspx?lang=en&page=plate&section=seafood-stewardship

DARDEN RESTAURANTSFinal Project Part II: Corporate Communications Budget

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Taylor Sims ADPR 5910

April 23, 2015

Introduction

The following is a proposed budget spanning from May – July 2015 for a new event called the “Darden Dash 5k”. The 5k will be held on July 22, 2015, at Blue Jacket Park in Orlando, Florida. This family friendly event’s proceeds will go towards Darden’s partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association whose mission is to advance parks, recreation and environmental conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people.

“Darden Dash” Overview

Since 2012, Darden Foundation has provided $483,000 to support the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). Darden Foundation’s support has expanded NRPA’s Great American Trails and Grow Your Park programs. Great American Trails projects are restoring and sustaining trails and open spaces, making communities more livable and allowing families to come together in nature. Grow Your Park projects are creating and enlarging community gardens, providing healthy produce to food banks and other organizations serving those in need. The new event “Darden Dash 5k” will garner support for local NRPA programs and draw national attention to its cause.

During May, June, and July, Darden will use its social media platforms and website to promote the 5k run. These promotion posts will include links to registration information which can be found on Darden’s website and on its foundation website. In addition to promotion through social media, advertising tools such as fliers and brochures will be placed at Darden brand restaurants in Orlando and surrounding areas.

The event will take place on July 22, 2015, at Blue Jacket Park in Orlando, Florida. The event will start at 8 a.m. and will be kicked off by CEO, Eugene Lee Jr. Then runners of all ages will proceed to the starting line and the race will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end when the last runner crosses the finish line. There will be tents set up along the trails with volunteers who will offer refreshments. The race will be followed by a time for fellowship, music, and appetizers provided by Darden restaurants.

Personal Salary and Benefits

A team of four public relations professionals from Darden will make up the event planning team for the 5k. Two of these professionals will be senior public relations specialists in charge of leading the event. This professionals will be in charge of two other public relations professionals who are in entry-level public relations positions. The public relations specialists will delegate jobs and duties to the other two PR professionals who be primarily in charge of communicating with vendors, volunteers and following up on event details. According to salary.com, senior PR

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specialists in Orlando, Florida make an annual salary of $70,000. The other public relations positions will be entry level and earn $35,000. In addition to salary, team members will receive a benefits package adding up to 30 percent of their salaries.

Supplies and Expenses

Event Supplies

For the event, Darden will be purchasing 72 packs of water in bulk so that its runners will be able to take as many waters as they need. The price for these 2,520 waters will add up to $500. Appetizers, plates and utensils for after the event will be donated by Darden’s restaurants and be served under the main tent.

Five 20x20 tents will be placed along the trails to provide water and shade to runners. The cost for these five tents will be estimated at $1,200. Three 20x20 tents will cover the registration and food area and will cover if a chance of rain at an estimated cost of $720. One large banner, 5ft x15ft, with Darden’s logo and the logo for the National Recreation and Park Association will hang over the main tent. This banner will cost an estimated $150.

A DJ will play after the race for two hours when the food is served at an estimated cost of $400. Picnic areas and tables around the park will provide the seating for the event after the race and participants will be encouraged to bring picnic blankets if they wish to sit on the grass around the park.

Marketing and Venue Costs

Because the event is in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association, Blue Jacket Park venue will be at no cost and the city of Orlando will provide security for the event.

Although the event will be promoted heavily on social media, marketing materials for the event such as fliers and brochures must be included in the costs. The cost of printing 10,000 brochures to be placed at Darden restaurants and in the community will be an estimated $600 and the 5,000 12’x 18’ posters printed will run an estimated $651.In addition to these marketing materials, an ad for the event will run in the Orlando Sentinel 6 times, twice each month, before the event at the estimated cost of $750 for a two columned color ad.

The total budget for the event will be $73,293. To provide a more detailed outline of the budget, the following table illustrates a breakdown of individual expenses.

Items May June July TotalEvent TeamSenior PR

Specialist 1 5833 5833 5833 17499

Senior Pr Specialist 2 5833 5833 5833 17499

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PR Professional 1 2916 2916 2916 8748PR Professional 2 2916 2916 2916 8748

Total Salary 52494Event Team

BenefitsSenior PR

Specialist 1 1750 1750 1750 5249

Senior PR Specialist 2 1750 1750 1750 5249

PR professional 1 875 875 875 2625PR Professional 2 875 875 875 2625

Total Benefits 15748Event Supplies

Water 500Tents 2000

Banner 150DJ 400

Total Event Supplies 3050

Marketing/AdsBrochures 600

Posters 651Newspaper Ads 250 250 250 750

Total Marketing Costs 2,001

Total Event Budget $73,293

Budget Reduction

If management required a 20 percent budget cut, the amount reduced would be $14,658 making the new budget total 58,635. The easiest way to reduce budget costs is if management only hires one PR specialist opposed to two to be in charge of the other two PR professionals. With the reduction of one PR specialist the total salaries cost fall to $34,995 and total benefits cost fall to $10,499. Overall this changes the overall total budget to be $50,545, which is $8,090 under the managements set reduced budget.

Bibliography

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/nestle-pure-life-purified-bottled-water-1-2-liter-16-9-oz-72-case-pallet/prod3160428.ip?navAction=push

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http://www.cityoforlando.net/parks/blue-jacket-park/

http://www.dardenfoundation.com/cms/preservation

http://www.signartetc.com/vinyl-banners-

p/vinylbanner.htm?gclid=CjwKEAjwjd2pBRDB4o_ymcieoAQSJABm4egoO24eXfhzUVwiLuFBjAcUqGlhRX537TkogL3h-ZEPSxoCEynw_wcB

http://www.youreventdelivered.com/page/Tents

http://www.hotprintingusa.com/cheap-brochure-printing/

http://www.uprinting.com/bulk-poster-printing.html

http://advertising.orlandosentinel.com/drafts/1223942/2307310/configure