Popular Restaurant Concept Offers Innovative Online Visit for Guests
Looking for a Taste of the Country Lifestyle
LEBANON, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store provides a friendly home-away-from-home
in its old country store and restaurant, and now the popular family
dining concept is serving up a virtual tour of its old country store,
which is filled with nostalgic gifts and self indulgences, and of the
restaurant, in which over two million guests a year enjoy good country
cookin'. And this tour is available simply by logging onto Cracker
Barrel's newly redesigned website at crackerbarrel.com.
"As Cracker Barrel was updating its website to make browsing more fun
for our guests, we decided to add a few features that would provide
users with an online experience that's as close to an actual in-store
experience as possible," said Chris Ciavarra, Senior Vice President of
Marketing. "Guests consider our experience to be pretty unique. Our
country store and restaurant have long been a home-away-from-home for
many of our guests as we try to provide them with a delicious meal and
genuine hospitality. This online tour offers users an opportunity to
experience Cracker Barrel virtually, until their next opportunity to
come see us in person."
The online tour was created by the digital connection marketing company
Band Digital using "360 Interactive Video," an innovative technology
that captures a full circle of entertainment-quality content - 360
degrees - and allows users to interact with it by clicking, dragging and
exploring the scene. In this way, users control what parts of the store
or restaurant they want to discover, as if they were actually in the
store. To enhance the experience, Band Digital integrated "hot spotting"
- a flash overlay that uses motion-tracking to create clickable
elements. This allows users to drag the video and move around, and to
click on things of interest for more information. So, for example, in
the Cracker Barrel virtual tour users can click on objects such as a
rocking chair on the front porch to learn more about this long-time
symbol of the Cracker Barrel brand.
"360 interactive immerses you in a video," said Chip Weinstein,
president of Band Digital. "For Cracker Barrel, this means that the
store, the restaurant, the people and the atmosphere can be truly
experienced by a user. The story they tell in their 360 video takes you
there in a way no static digital experience can." Josh Beane, Band
Digital's director of transmedia, added, "It's ‘cutting edge technology
meets storytelling.' The technology lets a good story take on life - to
give you as close an experience as possible without actually being
there." Band Digital secured a partnership with Social Animal, an
entertainment technology lab and production studio that creates
interactive video with its patented SA9 360 camera system and its SA360
video player, to provide this offering.
About Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store provides a friendly home-away-from-home
in its old country stores and restaurants. Guests are cared for like
family while relaxing and enjoying real home-style food and shopping
that's surprisingly unique, genuinely fun and reminiscent of America's
country heritage…all at a fair price. The restaurant serves up
delicious, home-style country food such as meatloaf and homemade chicken
n' dumplins as well as its made from scratch biscuits using an old
family recipe. The authentic old country retail store is fun to shop and
offers unique gifts and self-indulgences.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRL) was established in
1969 in Lebanon, Tenn. and operates 602 company-owned locations in 42
states. Every Cracker Barrel unit is open seven days a week with hours
Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. — 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 6
a.m. - 11 p.m. For more information, visit crackerbarrel.com.
About Band Digital, Inc.
Band Digital is an independent, industry-leading Digital Connection
Agency, focused on crafting interactions that inject meaning, interest
and emotion into an audience's experience with a brand. Alongside a
complete portfolio of digital marketing services, Band Digital draws
upon unique audience insights to develop actionable, engagement-driven
marketing. Over the years, the agency has helped companies like
Harley-Davidson, AT&T, Meijer, and Lucas Arts create deeper connections
with their audience. Headquartered in Chicago, the agency has offices in
Atlanta, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Learn more at www.BandDigital.com.
About SOCIAL ANIMAL
Founded in 2008, Social Animal is the creator of High Definition (HD)
interactive 360-degree videos for commercial and creative applications.
The company builds next-generation interactive technology that leverages
the social power of the web to create more personalized and engaging
brand experiences. 360-degree video is Social Animal's first release, a
format that increases involvement, interaction, intimacy and
influence--all hallmarks of audience engagement. For further
information, visit www.socialanimal.tv.
CBRL-G
For Cracker Barrel
Julie Davis, 615-443-9266
jdavis@crackerbarrel.com
or
For
Social Animal
Erik Bright, 310-857-2020
eb@prodigypublicrelations.com
or
For
Band Digital
Stephanie Critchfield, 770-310-9674
scritchfield@banddigital.com
Source: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media
