IHOP's decision to change its name to IHOb has been brewing for more than a year, and it's an incredible strategic move
- IHOP changed its name to IHOb to promote its new burger line, the chain announced on Monday.
- The pancake chain began revamping its burgers more than a year ago, IHOP's president, Darren Rebelez, told Business Insider, as the chain has tried to boost sales outside of breakfast.
- "We had to make a bold move to get people to be willing to talk about us for something other than breakfast food," Rebelez said.
IHOP's decision to rebrand as IHOb baffled many pancake lovers.
But according to the chain's president, there was a very specific strategy behind the change. And, the burger-centric revamp began more than a year before the IHOb brand went viral over the last week.
Last Monday, IHOP - or the International House of Pancakes - announced it would be changing its name to "IHOb," flipping the "P" to a "b."
The decision immediately set off waves of speculation about what the "b" could stand for. The explosive response quickly exceeded even IHOP's own expectations for the campaign, IHOP president Darren Rebelez told Business Insider.
"By Tuesday it began to pick up steam," Rebelez told Business Insider. "By Wednesday, it absolutely got crazy. It happened pretty quick. And I think what happened was, a lot of people were just having fun trying to figure out what the B stood for."
Rebelez's two favorite guesses: bitcoin and Beyoncé.
On Monday, IHOP revealed what IHOb actually stood for: International House of Burgers.
The roots of IHOb stretch back more than a year
The plan to relaunch burgers at IHOP began to take form some time ago, Rebelez said. A little over a year ago, the chain began investigating what IHOP customers wanted the chain to offer on the menu outside of the usual breakfast options.
"Almost universally, they said burgers," Rebelez said. "So, that's when we put the team to work."
IHOP's culinary team was tasked with revamping its burger line, ultimately creating a seven-burger lineup that includes options like the Big Brunch Burger, the Cowboy BBQ Burger, and the double-decker Mega Monster Burger. For a limited time, the burgers are available at IHOP locations with unlimited fries and a drink starting at $6.99.
While IHOP has long sold burgers, executives realized that the chain needed to make a major push if it wanted to highlight a menu item other than pancakes. Currently, breakfast food makes up about 65% to 70% of IHOP's business.
"We had to make a bold move to get people to be willing to talk about us for something other than breakfast food," Rebelez said. "But, I have to say - it did exceed our expectations. And that's a great problem to have."
IHOb is just the beginning
Rebelez assured Business Insider that the IHOb rebrand isn't permanent, and that IHOP will be back to putting its pancakes front and center soon enough.
"They've always known us for breakfast, and that's never going to change," Rebelez said. "But, we wanted to give people a reason to love IHOP more often and throughout all parts of the day. And this is just the start."
Looking forward, Rebelez said it wants to be sure that IHOP has options for customers "morning, noon, and night."
While Rebelez declined to say whether IHOb would rename itself again to highlight a new menu item - IHOO for International House of Omelettes, perhaps? - the chain is doubling down on menu innovation. And, the chain isn't trying to ditch breakfast as it expands its lunch and dinner options.
"Burgers are really kind of unexpected for us, so we had to do something creative to get everyone's attention," Rebelez said. "But, the pancakes aren't going anywhere."
Everything you need to know about IHOb:
- IHOP has revealed why it changed its name to IHOb, and it represents a massive new strategy for the chain
- 'The pancakes aren't going anywhere': IHOP's president tells customers not to panic over the chain's IHOb rebrand
- IHOP has revealed the reason behind its big name change, and some people are disappointed
- Wendy's and other burger chains are slamming IHOP for its 'IHOb' rebrand