Denny's Wins Coveted Overall Innovation Award for Marketing Leadership

By feeding disaster survivors with its unique Mobile Relief Diner, Denny’s claimed the Overall Award for Franchise Marketing Leadership in 2023 in Franchise Update Media’s Annual Franchise Innovation Awards contest. The award was announced at the annual Franchise Customer Experience Conference this summer.

There was a crowded field of entries but Denny’s took home the award this year for its Mobile Relief Diner, a 53-foot restaurant on wheels created exclusively to serve hot meals to people in need.

“’We love to feed people’ is our brand purpose,” said Paul Spencer, the Mobile Relief Diner program director. “It’s what drives us to do what we do each and every day. And the MRD is the personification of this purpose.”

The brand was recognized with two individual awards—Best PR Campaign and Cause Marketing Champion–both helping the restaurant chain ultimately get the nod as Overall Winner for Marketing Leadership.

The Denny’s Mobile Relief Diner was created to feed people in communities following natural disasters or other crises. The 53-foot semi-tractor trailer with full kitchen allows team members to quickly reach anywhere in the U.S. to feed those in need with warm meals. 

“We measure our success by the number of people we touch each year and by the responses we get from those we have helped,” Spencer said.  “While in Cape Coral, Florida, for Hurricane Ian, a woman who came every day with her children expressed her sadness that it was our last day since she would miss having a hot breakfast for her children each morning. That’s what true success looks like—making a difference in people’s lives.”

Since the vehicle was launched in 2017, the Mobile Relief Diner has traveled more than 51,000 miles and served almost 102,000 meals to those affected by natural disasters, including hurricanes Harvey, Ida, and Ian, the wildfire in Paradise City, California, tornadoes in Nashville, and flooding in Kentucky.