IHOP Was IHOb Only For a Week

Think about your favorite restaurant.

You go there for one thing - maybe their pizza, coffee, or ribs. But what if, one day, they suddenly claimed to be an expert at something completely different?

That’s exactly what IHOP did in 2018. For 60 years, they were the go-to spot for pancakes and no one thought of them for lunch or dinner.

So, they pulled a bold marketing and changed their name to IHOb.

Just one letter. And suddenly, everyone was talking. Twitter went crazy.

Fast-food giants like Wendy’s and Burger King mocked them. News outlets covered it like a breaking story. But while the world debated the name change, IHOP had one goal:

To get more people to try their burgers.

And guess what? It worked. Burger sales skyrocketed.

So, how did a simple name tease turn into one of the biggest marketing wins?

Let’s break it down.

Campaign Overview

• Campaign Name: IHOP to IHOb

• Campaign Dates: June 4, 2018 - July 9, 2018

• Industry: Casual Dining / Restaurant

• Target Audience: Existing IHOP customers (breakfast and pancake lovers), fast-food and casual dining customers interested in burgers, and social media users who engage with viral trends and brand conversations.

What was the campaign about?

IHOP is famous for pancakes. For 60 years, people thought of it as a breakfast place. But in 2018, IHOP wanted more people to eat at their restaurants for lunch and dinner.

They had burgers on the menu, but not many people ordered them.

So, they came up with a bold idea: they would pretend to change their name to IHOb, with a b instead of a p. On June 4, 2018, IHOP posted on social media that they were changing their name to IHOb. But they didn’t say what the b stood for.

This made people very curious. People on Twitter and Facebook started guessing:

• Breakfast? Since IHOP serves pancakes, this seemed possible.

• Bacon? Maybe they were adding more bacon dishes.

• Biscuits? Some thought it might be a Southern-style food change.

For a whole week, IHOP let the mystery grow. News channels talked about it.

Social media exploded with guesses and jokes.

But on June 11, IHOP finally made the announcement:

• The b stood for burgers.

• They were promoting their new Ultimate Steakburgers menu.

• They wanted customers to know they weren’t just a breakfast place.

Many people were surprised. Some laughed. Some got mad. Others thought it was a joke. Even big fast-food chains like Wendy’s and Burger King made fun of IHOb on Twitter.

However, IHOP didn’t actually change its name forever. The new name was just a marketing trick to get people talking about their burgers.

After a few weeks, IHOP switched back to its original name. But by then, the campaign had already worked. People were talking about IHOP’s burgers more than ever before.

Campaign Objectives

IHOP’s main goal was to get more people to eat at their restaurants for lunch and dinner, not just breakfast. Even though they had burgers on the menu, most customers didn’t think of IHOP as a place to get a burger.

The company wanted to change that. Here’s how:

1. Make people notice IHOP’s burgers

   Before the campaign, IHOP was mainly known for pancakes. The company wanted people to realize they also served burgers and took them seriously. They made customers curious and got them talking about burgers by teasing a name change.

2. Increase burger sales

   IHOP had burgers on the menu, but they weren’t selling well. They launched the Ultimate Steakburgers to improve quality and taste. The goal was to get more customers to try these burgers and boost sales.

3. Create a viral social media buzz

   IHOP knew that social media marketing could help them reach millions of people for free. By keeping the IHOb name a mystery, they encouraged Twitter users, influencers, and news outlets to talk about it. The more people debated the meaning of b, the more attention IHOP got.

4. Challenge fast-food giants

   McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s controlled the burger market. IHOP wanted to compete by making their burgers part of the conversation. Even when competitors mocked them, it helped IHOP stay in the spotlight.

With these goals in mind, IHOP turned a simple menu promotion into one of the biggest viral marketing moments of 2018.

Results

• The campaign generated over 1.2 million tweets in the first 10 days.

• It was covered by top publications like CNN, Forbes, and The New York Times, making approx $113 million in earned media value.

• IHOP reported a 4x increase in burger sales after the campaign.

• Even after reverting to IHOP, the campaign solidified the restaurant’s positioning beyond just pancakes.

Conclusion

IHOP’s IHOb campaign is the best example of brand awareness. With a name tease, they got the whole internet talking, drove more customers, and quadrupled burger sales.

So, how can you apply this to your own marketing?

• Create curiosity: Make people wonder what’s coming next.

• Leverage social media: Let people do the talking for you.

• Be bold: Safe marketing won’t break through the noise.

If a pancake brand can make the world debate burgers, imagine what a creative idea could do for your business. The question is what bold move will you make next?