In November, Arby’s hosted its biannual Worldwide Franchise Convention in Music City: Nashville, Tennessee. From the pre-conference website and registration design to the on-site execution that transformed the Arby’s brand into a tangible, immersive experience, Team ME worked alongside Arby’s to deliver a showstopping event.
CLIENT OBJECTIVE
More than 1,200 franchisees, vendors, chefs and Arby’s employees from across the globe gathered for the three-day event. Our team designed a seamless and efficient check-in and registration process so attendees could flow through an action-packed agenda. Print-on-demand registration meant attendees would easily present their names or QR codes and print their badges within seconds.
Arby’s immersive showcase floor hosted the launch of new, innovative menu items. 
The event app, developed by Meeting Expectations, had a 90% adoption rate.
SOLUTION
Attendees ventured to the immersive showcase floor that consisted of 180 different companies requiring 19,000 square feet of booth space. Participating companies ranged from Arby’s food suppliers to its uniform providers – really, any company with a role in building an Arby’s restaurant. New this year, local Nashville artists performed on a live music stage, adding entertainment value to the showcase while creating a venue where sponsors could make announcements.
Five food distribution points were created to reflect the innovative new menu items the restaurant group introduced at the event. For example, one of the distribution points transported participants to a tropical paradise as they sampled a new sandwich on a Hawaiian roll. Ninety feet away, attendees encountered a quaint coffee shop promoting a delicious new baked good. The real showstopper was the launch of the Arbynator, a sandwich featuring everything that is Arby’s: roast beef, melted cheddar cheese and curly fries. These five themed stations sent participants on a delicious journey as they experienced the new menu additions.
Our marketing and creative team worked in tandem with the Arby’s brand team to integrate and reflect not only the Arby’s brand but also the look and feel of the host city, Nashville. Combining the two brand elements of Arby’s and Nashville created a unique feel, bringing the event to life while giving attendees clear navigation for smooth sailing through the venue.
RESULTS
This was the first year that the Arby’s Worldwide Franchise Convention went completely paperless. Meeting Expectations helped launch the mobile app at its last franchise event in 2016. That year, alongside a paper agenda, the mobile app had an adoption rate of 40% by attendees. This year, without a paper agenda, the adoption rate rose to 90% which translated to a total of 1,024 total downloads.
Not only did the app position the agenda at participants’ fingertips, but it reduced paper waste and created new pathways for sponsor engagement. Sponsors reported great results from the in-app marketing opportunities, from notification call-outs to exclusive sponsorships.
Together, Arby’s and Meeting Expectations rocked Nashville!
