While many restaurants are working harder to drive traffic, not all growth efforts are delivering meaningful returns. The brands that are outperforming are focused on measurable, margin-aware growth strategies that direct demand where it matters most and prove their impact.

Why traditional growth tactics are under pressure

In addition to the classic challenges restaurants are familiar with, like rising customer acquisition costs and misalignment between capacity and demand, new growth challenges have come to the forefront in recent years: 

Guest behavior is more uncommitted: Even strong destination brands are competing for a larger share of dining occasions. Guests are more willing to explore alternatives based on timing, convenience, and perceived value — especially in new or under-penetrated markets.

In fact, the average U.S. consumer in 2025 transacted at four different restaurants each month — up 3% year over year.

Value matters more than ever: As consumers become more selective, brands must reinforce value without engaging in broad discounting that undermines long-term economics or brand positioning.

What’s working: Directing incremental demand with precision

The most effective growth strategies today share a common theme: they focus less on broad reach and more on directing incremental demand. That means: 

• Reaching new, infrequent, and lapsed diners near each location
• Influencing the next dining decision, not just building awareness
• Aligning traffic to specific locations and dayparts
• Measuring success based on incrementality and profit, not impressions

How Upside enables this approach

Upside is built to help restaurant brands implement these strategies without adding operational complexity.

Personalized, margin-bound offers: Upside delivers 1:1 cash-back offers that adapt based on guest behavior. New and lapsed diners receive stronger incentives to choose your restaurant, while frequent guests receive lower offers — preserving margin as behavior changes over time.

Pay only for incremental performance: Restaurants don’t pay for impressions, clicks, or promised exposure. Upside only earns when a verified, incremental transaction occurs — aligning investment directly with profitable outcomes.

Finance-grade measurement: Using test-vs-control analysis, Upside identifies which visits were truly incremental and which would have happened anyway. Performance is reported across metrics that matter to leadership, including incremental visits, frequency, spend, and ROI — all with statistical rigor.

No operational disruption: Upside works with existing systems. There’s no POS integration, no staff training, and no changes to how teams operate on the ground.

The benefit for Olive Garden

As Olive Garden focuses on disciplined expansion while protecting its everyday value promise and industry-leading margins, Upside can support by: 

• Driving incremental visits from new, infrequent, and lapsed diners
• Increasing visit frequency without over-incentivizing
• Validating ROI with finance-grade measurement

With a performance-based model and rigorous measurement, Upside gives Olive Garden a scalable way to accelerate growth without broad discounting, cannibalization, or added operational burden. Reach out to our team of restaurant experts to learn more.