DARDEN RESTAURANTS
Corporate Communications Audit and Budget
Taylor Sims
ADPR 5910
April 23, 2015
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Final Project Part I: Communications Audit
Introduction
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
Darden owns popular restaurants such as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze,
Seasons 52, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, The Capital Grille and Yard House. Until July 28, 2014,
Darden also owned Red Lobster.
Darden has more than 1500 restaurant locations and more than 150,000 employees. The
company was ranked number 319 on the Fortune 500 list with annual sales of approximately
$6.3 billion.
Darden’s core purpose is "to nourish and delight everyone we serve." Darden’s mission entails to
be a company that matters across every one of its unique brands and in every role it performs.
Darden is confident in its future, not only as an industry leader but also as a leader in business
overall.
History
Origins
In 1938, at the age of 19, Bill Darden opened his first restaurant, The Green Frog, in Waycross,
Georgia. Thirty years later in 1968, he opened first Red Lobster opened in Lakeland, Florida.
The restaurant was immensely popular and within two years expanded into three restaurants.
Despite its success, but the company lacked the funds to expand further so Darden sold the
company to General Mills.
General Mills Ownership
General Mills upgraded the chain to a more casual dining/family fare oriented format, opened a
new company headquarters in Orlando and retained Darden as company manager. In 1975, when
Darden was promoted to the position of Vice President at General Mills, Joseph (Joe) R. Lee, the
company's first restaurant manager, was made President of Red Lobster. Under General Mills,
Red Lobster grew into a chain of almost 400 locations by 1985. The company underwent several
restructurings and transformed itself from an inexpensive fast-food seller into a chain of casual
dining seafood restaurants by 1988.
In 1982, Darden opened the first Olive Garden concept store in Orlando. The chain took off, and
by 1989 General Mills had opened over 145 stores, making the chain the fastest-growing unit in
the company's restaurant holdings. While Olive Garden did not meet critical success, it was
popular, and its per-store sales soon grew to match those of Red Lobster. The company
eventually became the largest chain of Italian-themed full-service restaurants in the U.S.
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The Birth of Darden Restaurants
In 1995, General Mills decided to spin off its restaurant chains to focus on consumer food
products. The new company was named Darden Restaurants, after Red Lobster's founder, Bill
Darden. In March 1996, Darden launched a test of Bahama Breeze Caribbean Grille concept
featuring food and drinks with a Caribbean theme and in 2003, Seasons 52 was under
development with the idea of "provide guests the opportunity to indulge while still eating well."
In 2007, Darden acquired rival restaurant holder Rare Hospitality for $1.4 billion. With this
acquisition, Darden gained Rare's two chains, The Capital Grille and LongHorn Steakhouse. As
part of the Rare acquisition, Darden set up its Specialty Restaurant Group to include Capital
Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52. In July 2012, Darden acquired Yard House’s 39
locations for $585 million from TSG Consumer Partners. Yard House was set alongside the other
upscale restaurants in Darden's Specialty Restaurant Group.
Sale of Red Lobster
On May 16, 2014, Darden announced it would be selling the Red Lobster seafood restaurant
chain to Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion. Darden announced the completion of the sale of
Red Lobster on July 28, 2014.
An Overview of the Industry
Industry Trends
Social Media Presence: Restaurant activity on social media is an increasing trend in the
restaurant industry. Over 48% of Family dining restaurants and over 55 percent of casual dining
restaurants are active on social media. The other percentages, not active on social media, say
they plan to be more active on social media platforms in 2015. Social media efforts bring brand
recognition and are an easy and effective way to promote a product.
Local Food Menu Options: In 2015, industry trends for table service restaurants are shifting in
favor of the following:
 Locally sourced meats and seafood
 Locally grown produce
 Environmental sustainability
 Natural ingredients/minimally processed foods.
85 percent of family dining restaurant operators say their customers are more interested in locally
source items than in the past.
Healthy Menu Options: Consumers are taking notice of healthier menu items in restaurants than
they did in previous years. 67 percent of adults order more healthful options at restaurants than
two years go. With health conscious diners becoming a reoccurring trend, restaurants must adapt
to provide healthy and lower calorie meal options than before.
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Competitive Analysis
Darden Restaurants is the #1 casual-dining operator, in terms of rvenue, with about 1,500
restaurants in the US and Canada. In addition to this, Darden ranked number 74 in Fortune’s 100
Best Places to Work list. Darden’s top three competitors in the industry include the following:
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Brinker International – Brinker is a multinational restaurant industry company that owns
Chili's and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant chains. Brinker id ranked number 761 on
Fortune’s 1000 list.
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Dineequity – Dineequity is an American company that both franchises and operates
IHOP (International House Of Pancakes) and Applebee's restaurants.

OSI Restaurant Partners – As of 2015, OSI owns and operates Bonefish Grill,
Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse.
Sustainability Efforts
Darden is actively committed to sustainability. On it’s web page it reads, “We will strive to be
more sustainable by creating value while balancing the well-being of our society, our
environment, and our business, now and for generations.”
Darden has a three-part approach for sustainability, which includes:
 People – Darden believes people are its most valuable resource
 Planet – For Darden, Ensuring it conserves and preserves resources is critical for its
company and the greater global good. Green building principles, recycled materials,
sustainably harvested wood, low flow valves and LED lighting are some of the
innovative efforts Darden is pursuing to help the environment. These efforts are key to
Darden’s strategy for achieving it’s "15x15 over Zero" goals of reducing energy and
water use by 15% by 2015, and of one day sending zero waste to landfill.
 Plate – Darden is continually working to better understand the energy, carbon and water
footprint of the foods it serves.
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Darden also prides itself on Seafood Stewarship. As a part of this, Darden has committed to
pursue rebuilding troubled fisheries through three targeted Fishery Improvement Projects. This
commitment is part of Darden's membership in the Clinton Global Initiative. Darden’s project
was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative as an exemplary approach to addressing
environmental challenges. The focus of the project is to support the rebuilding of commercial
reef fish fisheries, primarily grouper and red snapper, using several tools including the
development of data collection methods to enhance management, testing different gear types to
reduce interactions with sea turtles, and building new markets for the fish as populations recover.
In 2009, Darden helped launch the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation, a nonprofit
organization that works with fisherman, processors, buyers, government agencies and other
stakeholders to preserve and enhance a viable, strong and sustainable lobster industry. Darden
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regularly evaluates its purchasing practices to ensure they support and encourage sustainable
fisheries
In addition to this, over the past several years, Darden has invested in sustainability-related
activities. It developed a sustainability strategy, established an Office of Sustainability and
established internal Sustainability Leadership Council.
Search Optimization Analysis
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a technique used by companies to enhance their online
visibility. SEO ensures that a company’s web page sits at the beginning of a list when someone
types in its name or a keyword that relates into an online search engine, such as Google or Bing.
A stronger SEO means more visits to the company’s page, better awareness of its products or
services and an overall powerful online presence. To increase SEO, Darden Restaurants needs to
examine what key words and phrases people use when searching for their business.
When searching for “Darden Restaurants ” on Google, the first page results include:
Ads:
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Red Lobster Seafood (www.redlobster.com)
Restaurants 10k
List Of All Darden Restaurants
List of Darden Restaurants
Web pages:
 Darden Official Website
 Darden Restaurants Wikipedia Page
 DRI Summary: Yahoo
 Darden Restaurants (Orlando Sentinel)
 DRI Stock Price and News
 Marketwatch: Darden Restaurants Inc.
News For Darden Restaurants
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Darden lists I-Drive Olive Garden for sale at hefty price (Orlando Sentinel)
Who Subsidizes Restaurant Workers' Pitiful Wages? You Do (Mother Jones)
Final Glance: Restaurant Companies (CNBC)
Through the SEO analysis of Darden Restaurants, it can determined that Darden has a relatively
strong online presence. Within the first page of Google results, all web pages are relative to
Darden Restaurants although many of the web pages were from outside sources opposed to
websites created internally through Darden. No social media sites appeared in the search which
could be an issue in an age that corporate social media presence is an important aspect of a
successful company. The major issue with the SEO is that the first ad that came up in search
results was for Red Lobster Seafood which is no longer a part of Darden Restaurants. Darden
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Restaurants should aim to strengthen their online presence in the areas of social media sites and
pushing their internal web pages higher in the search result list.
Link to Google Search: https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=darden+restaurants
When searching for “Darden Restaurants ” on Bing, the first page results include:
Ads:

Red Lobster Seafood (Redlobster.com)
Web pages:
 Darden Official Website
 Darden Restaurants Wikipedia Page
 Twitter: Darden Restaurants
 DRI Stock Quote (Marketwatch)
 Darden Restaurants: A Leader in the Full Service Industry (Official Website)
 Darden Restaurants: Careers at Our Restaurants (Official Website)
 Darden Gift Cards
 DRI Stock Quotes (CNBC)
 Darden Restaurants on Forbes Global 2000 List (Forbes)
 Yahoo Finance: DRI
 Darden Restaurant News (New York Times)
News For Darden Restaurants
 Post Darden, restaurants more receptive to activists (Nation’s Restaurant News)
 Darden Restaurants: BRIEF: Coupon: $5 lunch at Olive Garden (4 Traders)
 Post-Earnings Report - Darden Restaurants (Marketwatch)
Overall, Darden Restaurants have a stronger internal web page presence and stronger social
media presence on the Bing SEO than the Google SEO. Again, Red Lobster appears as the
primary ad that appears when searching Darden Restaurants, which is no longer a part of Darden.
To the sides of the web pages that come up during the search, a gray box shows Darden’s twitter
and their latest twitter post. Darden has a strong online presence on Bing’s search engine
compared to Google’s. Bing, as a search engine, is less popular than Google and Darden should
focus on strengthening Google presence compared to Bing.
Link To Bing Search:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=darden+restaurants&qs=HS&pq=darde&sc=85&sp=1&cvid=f0f8b8954b484d1e817a5d0734e49a48&FORM=QBLH
Alexa Traffic Report
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A search on www.alexa.com reveals the following about traffic on Darden Restaurant’s website.
Traffic Ranks and Engagement
The first graph demonstrates a Darden’s website traffic over the last year compared to other sites.
As of October 2014, traffic has been rising and appears it will continue to do so. The numbers to
the right of the graph display Darden’s rankings on a national and international level. Its rankings
have dropped on a global level. This indicates that Darden needs to change the way the company
reaches costumers globally.
Bounce rate indicates the percent of your online visitors that “bounce back” or leave the site after
they have visited it. The rate is relatively though and has improved over the past year. This
means Darden has made its website more appealing to visitors over the past year. Daily page
views an the daily time on site are also on the rise, which exhibits a positive change in traffic for
the website.
Audience Demographics and Geography
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The above graphic contains the demographic information of the people who create the traffic on
Darden’s website. These values are ranked against the general Internet population. These graphs
reveal that a majority of the visitors on Darden’s website are female, have some college, and visit
the site while they are at home. Information, like the type provided above, can be valuable to
Darden because the company can tailor its website to the audiences that visit it most often.
The above graphic shows the geographic location of Darden website’s visitors. As demonstrated
above, the majority of online traffic comes from the U.S. and Canada. The company could work
on the website in global markets and make it easier to access for people in different parts of the
world.
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Search Engine Traffic
The above graph offers information on how viewers reach Darden’s website by using external
search engines. From the graph, it can be determined that users are relying less on search engines
such as Google and Bing to get to the company’s website. The chart to the right of the graph
displays the most recurring keywords visitors entered to access Darden’s site. Darden can use the
keywords in their web pages making it easier for the public to find and access their site.
Upstream Sites
Finally. Alexa displays a chart, which exhibits the sites people visit before reaching darden.com
called upstream sites. Google
ranks number one among the
upstream sites demonstrating that
Darden would benefit from
placing emphasis on this search
engine. Next is Olive Garden,
one of the companies that fall
under Darden, followed by Red
Lobster, which is no longer a part
of the company. Facebook ranks
high on the list also
demonstrating that the placement
of social media sites higher up on
Google and search engine results
is important. Facebook was not
on the first page in the SEO for
Google or Bing, which is an issue for the company and something it should aim to change.
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Key Publics
Stockholders
Darden is a publicly traded company that issues its stock through the New York Stock Exchange.
Darden is ranked 319 as a Fortune 500 company. The company’s current price per share is listed
at $65.30. Darden values its shareholders and hosts an annual shareholders meeting which
includes shareholders in important company decisions. In addition to this, Darden provides
resources to shareholders through its shareholders tool section on their website containing
important information on the company and its stocks. Darden prides itself on making sure
stockholders are informed in matters involving the company
Customers
Through its brands, like Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The
Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House., Darden serves more than 320 million meals to
customers each year. Darden is committed to building and maintaining a strong, people-focused
culture. Its focus is delivering genuine service to its customers through all of its brand
restaurants. Darden offers extensive training and self-development programs to help its
employees grow and succeed along with flexible work schedule options and industry-leading
benefits.
Employees
For more than 150,000 employees, Darden offers not just jobs, but opportunities to build
rewarding careers in a culture of respect. In its communities, just one of its restaurants can create
100-150 jobs. More than half of restaurant managers are promoted from hourly rank positions
and 99 percent of restaurant General Managers are promoted from within. Darden careers
provide an opportunity for growth and development. Darden believes it serves its employees best
by helping them pursue their personal and professional dreams.
Suppliers
Suppliers for Darden Restaurants include suppliers of food or beverage products, capital
equipment, furniture, small wares, uniforms, etc. Darden works diligently to provide
opportunities for diverse suppliers to develop and grow their businesses. Darden also believes
that by supporting the growth of these businesses, it is contributing to the economic vitality of
the country.
Regulators
Darden has faced government regulation by the government on many occasions. One specific
lawsuit case entailed a claim that Darden Restaurants and its related companies failed to pay
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proper wages and overtime pay to its tipped employees. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act
under which Darden is held accountable requires this regulation.
Along with all publicly traded companies, Darden is required by law and the Securities
Exchange Commission to post its regulatory documents. The Federal Trade Commission also
oversees Darden.
The Food and Drug Administration has regulation over Darden because of the food served at its
restaurants. The FDA investigates any complaints or outbreak issues associated with foods
served at Darden’s restaurants.
Key Messages
Stockholders
The following is an excerpt from Darden’s 2014 letter to investors:
“ The composition of your Board is something we take seriously; the experience and expertise of
your directors have been, and will continue to be, drivers of the Company's success. We also
value our shareholders' views. Thus, we have been speaking directly with many Darden
shareholders to hear first-hand what they think about the future leadership of your company.
We understand that while many shareholders recognize Darden's record of long-term
performance and value creation, they are also disappointed with the Company's recent
performance. In addition, we appreciate that while many of our shareholders believe in the
importance of having a board and leadership team who have a deep understanding of the
Company and its strategic shifts over time, they also believe that Darden would benefit from new
perspectives.
Darden has also made changes to executive compensation and incentive programs to better align
with Shareholder interests. We are pleased that these changes have been well received by our
shareholders and industry analysts”
Customers
The following is the commitment Darden pledges on its website:
“From its roots, Darden committed to delivering genuine service to others. Whether it’s making
an extra effort for a guest, helping our employees develop career skills or improving the
communities we serve, the Darden family lives a culture that rewards caring for people. That
defines service to us.”
Darden aims to make customers and the community a priority of its business. With more than
1,500 restaurants, Darden strives to have an enduring and positive influence on the communities
it serves.
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Employees
Darden aims to provide a supportive work environment for its employees through the following
key focuses:
 Training - Company values and behaviors are woven throughout the training to reinforce
that how Darden treats its guests – and how it expect its employees to treat each other – is
as important as the specifics of the job itself.
 Compensation and Benefits - Darden offers competitive compensation, flexible work
schedules and industry-leading benefits.
 Listening to Employees – Darden strives to listen to it workers and what they have to say
through regular management visits, surveys and open-door policies.
 Thanking Employees – At Darden, it is critical that its employees are recognized for a job
well done. Darden encourages praise and reinforcement that will lead to success
Suppliers
Darden has placed an emphasis on supplier diversity as a major part of its company mission. The
following is from Darden’s Supplier Diversity web page:
“At Darden, we constantly look to enhance diversity among our suppliers. We firmly believe our
supplier base should mirror our guest and employee populations. That is why we work diligently
to provide opportunities for diverse suppliers to develop and grow their businesses. We also
believe that by supporting the growth of these businesses, we are contributing to the economic
vitality of the country. To this end, we strive to give businesses of diverse ownership an equal
opportunity to compete with all other suppliers.
Our Supplier Diversity initiative, which focuses on women- and minority-owned businesses, is
the major driver behind Darden’s efforts to bring about diversity awareness and opportunities
within our supplier network.”
Regulators
“It is Darden’s policy is to operate within the letter and spirit of all applicable laws and
regulations. Darden’s core purpose is to nourish and delight everyone we serve, as supported by
our core values of integrity and fairness, respect and caring, diversity, always learning – always
teaching, being “of service”, teamwork and excellence. “
This statement about business conduct can be found in Darden Restaurant’s Code of Business
Conduct and Ethics Policy Statement. The Policy Statement provides in-depth explanations of
behavioral expectations for employees, managers and those in leadership positions. The
document can be found under the investor relations page of Darden’s website and under the tab
of Corporate Governance.
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Communication Strategies
Darden’s Corporate Website: http://www.darden.com
Home Page
The home page of Darden’s corporate website has a very clean look with a beige background
with hints of burgundy red on the page. The logo is placed in the top center of the home page.
To the right of the Darden logo in small print our links to gift cards, locations and contact
information. Underneath the logo is the menu tab par which includes the following tabs: Our
Company, Our Brands, Our Commitment, Investors, Media and Careers.
The slideshow of photos under the menu show pictures of the brands that are underneath the
Darden brand, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital
Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House. Underneath the slideshow is a description of what Darden is
and the extent of its reach in the restaurant industry.
To the left of the description are box links to the Darden Foundation and Darden Sustainability
pages. Underneath the company’s description is a scroll down feed of Recent News about the
company.
At the bottom of the home page, icon links for Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama
Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House when clicked will direct you
to each restaurants individual web page.
Overall, the home page is clean and easy to navigate. The photos add to the attractiveness of the
site and draw the reader in. These photos also help illustrate the restaurants under the Darden
brand that customers might not be familiar with. The major issue with the home page is that it
contains no links to blog or social media sights.
About Darden’s Company
Darden’s “Our Company” page includes a synopsis of the history of the company. The
description is informative but concise enough to hold the reader’s attention.
From the company web page a sidebar show navigation to other tabs on the page. Sub-categories
of the “Our Company” page include:
 Executive Leadership – This tab includes Darden’s executive leadership along with their
photos and biographies.
 Board of Directors – This tab includes photos and short descriptions on the people that
make up the board of directors
 History – The history tab shows an interactive timeline with photos and historical
landmarks in Darden’s history.
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Doing Business with Darden – This tab relates to business inquiries concerning
marketing, construction, facilities maintenance, IT services, business development,
purchasing, real estate and market development, travel and events.
Contact Us – The contact us tab includes Darden’s mailing address, office locations,
guest relation’s links for its restaurants, human resources, investor relations, media
relations and sustainability inquiries.
FAQ’s. – The FAQ page provides answers to frequently asked questions about Darden
and its restaurants.
Media Resources
The homepage of the media tab is titled the Darden News Center. Darden’s News Center allows
the reader to access the latest company news as well as media contacts, downloads and more. On
the home page of the media tab latest news articles on Darden are listed. The sub-tabs for the
media resources tab include:
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Press Releases
Media Contacts – Media contact information is listed for Darden Corporate, Olive
Garden, Longhorn, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s, and Yard
House.
Leadership – The leadership tab includes a list of Darden’s executive directors along
with their biography and photos.
Downloads – The download tab includes brand logos and brand photos for use for the
media.
Darden’s media page is easy to navigate but there is no mention of social media websites or links
to any of its Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Our Brands
The Our Brands page of Darden’s website features a description of the Darden brands and the
mission of its restaurants. The sub-tabs for the Our Brands page include pages on each restaurant
brand, a brief synopsis of their history and a link to their direct website where customers can
learn more. The restaurant brands include: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama
Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Yard House.
Our Commitments
Darden’s extensive Our Commitments tab opens with a general Our Commitments homepage
that gives an overview of its values. The following is an excerpt from the page:
“The key is an uncompromising focus on doing what is right – maintaining standards, nurturing
sustainability, nourishing our rich diversity, preserving our culture, and, of course, helping
others.”
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In addition to the main commitments page the page has sub-tabs that include:
 Diversity and Inclusion – This page includes a description of Darden’s inclusion of
diversity as a business imperative and a history of its progress. The description includes a
synopsis of Darden’s three diversity programs, which include Diversity Outreach,
Supplier Diversity and Workforce Diversity. In addition to this, the page includes awards
and recognition Darden has received for its diversity.
 Foundation and Community Affairs – This page includes Darden’s mission for outreach
in the community and philanthropic efforts. The Darden Foundation works to bring this
spirit of service to life through its philanthropic support of charitable organizations across
the country in three priority areas: Recipe For success, Preservation and Good Neighbor.
The page also includes a link to the Darden Foundation page.
 Sustainability - The sustainability tab goes into a description of Darden’s sustainability
efforts focused on preserving, conserving and enhancing ecosystems. The page includes a
presentation on Darden’s continuing sustainability efforts.
Careers
Founder of Darden Restaurants, Bill Darden, said, “Our greatest competitive edge is the quality
of our employees, evidenced by the excellent job they do everyday.” This is the opening quote
that appears on Darden’s career page. The home page of Careers contains an overview of the
mission of Darden in creating quality employees. The following make up the sub-tabs of the
career page:
 Our Culture – The Our Culture page includes statistics on retention rates, a list of values
in employees and how Darden works to develop employees that will grow and succeed.
 Our Stories – The Our Stories page includes career testimonials from employees in all
ranks of the company and how working for Darden and its restaurants has been a catalyst
for their success.
 Restaurant Support Center Careers – This page includes careers available at corporate
headquarters, amenities at corporate headquarters, and a link to learn more about working
for Darden corporate opposed to one of its restaurants.
 Careers at Our Restaurants – This page includes a synopsis of careers at Darden
restaurants along with links to learn more about specific careers at each restaurant.
 Darden University Relations – This page includes information on internship opportunities
and manager in training positions for students.
The Career page is easy to access and informative for those looking to pursue careers with the
company.
Investor Relations
The investor relations page contains extensive information and tools for investors. Although the
information is extensive, many sub-tabs make it easier to navigate. The investor relations
overview page includes Darden’s mission for shareholders as well as recent news releases and
presentations. The pages located under investor relations include the following:
 Press Releases – This page includes current and pass press releases.
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Events and Presentations – The events pages include webcasts, presentations and
scheduled meetings and events.
Financial Information – This page includes financial information, ratios and statistics for
Darden restaurants.
Stock Information – This page includes current stock information, historic stock lookup,
graphs and charts.
Email Alerts – This page includes sign up for investors to sign up for Darden email alerts.
Investor FAQ’s – FAQ’s include a series of questions frequently asked by stockholders.
Safe Harbor Notice – This page includes possible company risk and uncertainties to keep
investors informed.
Corporate Governance – Corporate Governance includes articles of incorporation such as
the bylaws, governance guidelines, charters, insider trading policies and other important
corporate governance documents.
Investor Feedback/Comments – This page asks for investors to share their feedback and
comments to Darden.
Shareholder Tools – The shareholder tools page includes investor briefcase, printed
materials, email alerts, download library, company snapshot and RSS Feeds.
Annual Report
The Annual Reports page is located in various places around Darden’s website and is referenced
to on the investor relations page. The Annual Reports page contains annual reports from 19992014. The annual reports are offered in both pdf and html forms. The html site is well organized
and visually appealing. The site includes graphs, photos, as well as links to download the report
in its entirety as a pdf. The html site does not contain the report in its entirety but includes
summaries and categories of the following:
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Our Business
Shareholder Letter
Financial Highlights
Leadership
Download Annual Report
The annual report page is visually appealing and easy to navigate but other than that it provides
only short summaries of the extensive information covered in the annual report. Investors would
need to download the report as a pdf to really understand the company’s annual report. The
experience of the website does provide an easy and engaging platform for those looking for a
short summary of financial highlights.
Social Media Efforts
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In the area of social media, Darden does not seem to have adapted to the social media era as
many of its competitors have. The corporation places very little emphasis on social media efforts
and instead seems to focus on social media for each of its individual restaurants.
Facebook: The biggest problem in Darden’s social media efforts is that the corporation does
not have a verified Facebook account for just the Darden brand. On the other hand, Darden’s
individual restaurant brands have popular official Facebook pages as well as pages for may of
the restaurant’s
individual locations.
The Facebook pages for
the restaurants are
popular with Olive
Garden having 6.1
million likes, Longhorn
with 3.7 million,
Bahama Breeze with
1.4 million, Yard House
with 1.1 million,
Capital Grille with 769
thousand, Seasons 52
with 610 thousand, and
Eddie V’s with 137
thousand. Looking at
Darden’s most popular restaurant, Olive Garden, and its social media each post receives a large
amount of likes varying from 1,000 to 10,000 and often closer to 20,000.
Twitter: In contrast to Facebook,
Darden has a Twitter account but
this account isn’t necessarily very
active or popular. The corporate
Twitter page has only posted 1,729
times since 2011 and only has
5,637 followers. Each post receives
only on average one retweet and
one favorite. The posts primarily
focus on the Darden restaurant
brands and include quote tweets,
retweets and pictures of the food
served in this restaurant. In
contrast, Darden’s restaurant
brands have hundreds of thousands
of followers on Twitter and have
very active Twitter feeds.
Darden Restaurants corporate
twitter page could benefit from the
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use of more hashtags and receiving attention from its restaurants pages. Darden’s restaurants
social media is active and successful but it should place more focus on its corporate social media
efforts.
Instagram: Like Facebook, Darden corporate does not have an Instagram. Darden’s
restaurants all have Instagrams. Other than Olive Garden with over 22 thousand followers,
Darden’s restaurant Instagram accounts are not popular compared with other restaurants in the
industry. Olive Garden’s
Instagram posts on
average receive around
800 likes. Darden should
create an Instagram
account for Darden as
well as work to
strengthen its restaurant
pages by promoting its
Instagram through its
restaurant pages on
Twitter and Facebook.
Summary:
In examining Darden’s social media presence, the only strong points of Darden’s social media
efforts are its restaurant Facebook pages and its social media for Olive Garden on Instagram,
Twitter, and Facebook.
The primary issue with Darden’s social media efforts is that they are inconsistent and lack any
sense of cohesion. Each restaurant and Darden as a whole feel like different companies entirely
opposed to being under one brand. Darden would benefit from a restructuring of its social media
entirely as well as the importance of creating social media accounts for Darden itself. Through
Darden’s verified organization pages it could work to promote its restaurants as well as create
notability for Darden as a whole.
Corporate Culture
Organizational Structure
Darden’s CEO Eugene Lee leads an executive board of eight, three of whom are women. Lee
also oversees a Board of Directors that has 14 members. The primary committees for the board
consist of the following: Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and
Governance Committee and Finance and Real Estate Committee. Each committee has a
committee head as well as a Chairman of the Board, Jeffrey Smith.
19
Women Leaders
Darden employs women
at all different levels of
their company. Chief
Development Officer,
Laurie Burns, Chief
human Resources
Officer, Danielle Kirgan,
and President of
LongHorn Steakhouse,
Valerie Insignares, serve
as three of the eight spots
on Darden’s executive
board. Women also make
up four of the 14
positions on the Board of
Directors. Darden prides itself on the diversity it has within its company and currently 51 percent
of its employees are females. Darden’s Women’s Network recognizes, encourages, strengthens
and celebrates the unique perspectives, intelligence and leadership skills women bring to the
workplace.
Diversity
Darden has made a firm
commitment to diversity and
inclusion at all levels of its
company. Darden respects and
cherishes the distinctions its
employees bring, including
diversity in race, ethnicity,
culture, gender, age, disability,
national origin, sexual
orientation and religion.
Darden believes embracing
differences enables it to be
stronger and consist of better
teams. Approximately 46
percent of Darden’s employees
are minorities. To ensure it
accomplishes its goals for
diversity and inclusion, Darden has set high standards. For example, all corporate officers are
required to have at least one diversity objective as part of their Performance Management
Process and all employees are evaluated on their “respect and value” for diversity as part of
regular performance reviews. At the executive and management levels, Darden provides intense
20
diversity learning experiences for all its leaders. Darden’s “Diversity Learning Experience”
program offers a multi-layered curriculum that builds as individuals grow within the
organization. The Diversity Learning Experience allows participants to explore pre-conceived
assumptions and then learn how to engage in constructive discussions of differences. Including
the Women’s network, Darden has four other diversity networks which include: the AfricanAmerican Network, the Asian-American Network, the Hispanic Network, and the Pride Alliance
Network. These networks aim to be inclusive and provide supportive environments for people of
all cultures.
Philanthropic Efforts and Community Outreach
Darden Restaurants is consistently recognized for a culture that cares for people. Most of the
philanthropic work Darden does is through The Darden Foundation. The Darden Restaurants,
Inc. Foundation works to create philanthropic support for charitable organizations across the
country as well as the volunteer involvement of Darden Restaurant’s employees. With nearly
1,800 restaurants, Darden strives to have an enduring and positive influence on the communities
it serves. Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation focuses its philanthropic efforts on the following
program areas:



Access to Postsecondary Education: Darden supports organizations that positively
impact the educational prospects of underserved youth, ages 14 to 18, by providing them
with access to the tools and information they need to pursue their dreams of higher
education.
Preservation of Natural Resources: Darden supports organizations whose mission is to
protect wildlife, restore and preserve ecosystems and teach environmental sustainability.
Good Neighbor Grants (Central Florida): Darden good neighbor grants support arts,
educational and social services programs and organizations based in Central Florida.
One of Darden’s largest philanthropic efforts and
community outreach efforts is the Darden Restaurant
Community Grants Program. Darden's Restaurant
Community Grants program is a local grants initiative
that helps support nonprofit organizations in the hundreds
of communities Darden and its restaurant brands serve. In
partnership with the Darden Foundation, every restaurant
in the Darden family, Olive Garden, LongHorn
Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Eddie
V’s, Seasons 52, and Yard House, awards a $1,000 grant
to a nonprofit organization in its local community. Since
2012, the Restaurant Community Grants program has
provided over $5.8 million to exceptional nonprofit
organizations across the United States and Canada and
supported thousands of community projects.
21
Suggestions for Future Directions
Website Navigation
The website navigation is fairly clear on Darden’s website. The information is minimal on each
page, which doesn’t require a lot of scrolling but does require a lot of searching through sub-tabs.
The primary issue with the web page is that the design is a little monotonous and the beige and
burgundy tones appear throughout every page. Each page looks similar and the only change is
differences in photos. Compared to the Darden Foundation page, which contains graphics and
interactive web pages, Darden’s web page feels static and non-engaging. Darden could spend
time investing in more graphics, photos, and interactive fresh designs for its website.
Search Engine Optimization
Darden Restaurants is successful in that it has a strong internal web page presence on Google and
Bing but its social media pages and restaurant brand pages do not appear high up on the lists.
Darden needs to improve the rankings of its social media pages on search engines. Another issue
Darden faces with the SEO is that the first major ad that comes ups up after searching “Darden
Restaurants” is Red Lobster. Darden completed the sale of Red Lobster in summer of 2014 and it
is no longer a Darden Brand Restaurant. The company should make sure its ads are relevant to its
current brands.
Social Media
One of the biggest issues Darden has compared to its competitors is a low presence on social
media and a lack of cohesiveness amongst its brands. The Darden Restaurant does not even have
a verified Facebook account although its restaurants brands have popular Facebook pages.
Darden has a twitter page but the account does not post often and does not receive many retweets
or favorites. Darden also does not have a corporate Instagram account. To remedy the social
media presence situation, Darden should focus on creating accounts for itself on Instagram and
Facebook. These pages should focus on the brands Darden represents therefore drawing
attention to the Darden name through the popularity of its restaurants. Darden’s restaurant brand
accounts should promote the Darden pages by tagging Darden in all of their posts.
Bibliography
22
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/darden.com
http://investor.darden.com/investors/investor-relations/default.aspx
http://www.darden.com/careers/
http://www.darden.com/diversity/supplier.asp
http://investor.darden.com/investors/news-releases/press-release-details/2014/Darden-IssuesOpen-Letter-To-Shareholders/default.aspx
http://www.darden.com/about/
http://www.darden.com/restaurants/
http://www.darden.com/commitment/
http://www.darden.com/media/default.asp
http://investor.darden.com/investors/financial-information/Annual-Reports/default.aspx
http://www.darden.com/diversity/workforce.asp
http://www.dardenfoundation.com/cms/
http://www.dardenfoundation.com/cms/community-grant
http://www.darden.com/careers/stories.asp
http://www.darden.com/about/contact_us.asp
http://www.corporatereport.com/darden/2014/ar/
http://www.darden.com/about/photo_history.asp
http://www.darden.com/about/executive_members.asp
http://www.darden.com/about/board_members.asp
http://www.darden.com/about/doing_business.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darden_Restaurants
http://www.answers.com/topic/darden-restaurants-inc
http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/16/investing/darden-red-lobster/
http://www.darden.com/pdf/corporate/Code_of_Business_Conduct_and_Ethics.pdf
http://fortune.com/fortune500/crown-holdings-inc-313/
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/companyprofile.DARDEN_RESTAURANTS_INC.b554d409812190cb.html
http://www.darden.com/sustainability/default.aspx?lang=en&page=home
http://www.darden.com/sustainability/default.aspx?lang=en&page=people
http://www.darden.com/sustainability/default.aspx?lang=en&page=plate&section=seafoodstewardship
23
DARDEN RESTAURANTS
Final Project Part II: Corporate Communications Budget
Taylor Sims
ADPR 5910
April 23, 2015
Introduction
The following is a proposed budget spanning from May – July 2015 for a new event called the
“Darden Dash 5k”. The 5k will be held on July 22, 2015, at Blue Jacket Park in Orlando, Florida.
This family friendly event’s proceeds will go towards Darden’s partnership with the National
Recreation and Park Association whose mission is to advance parks, recreation and
environmental conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people.
“Darden Dash” Overview
Since 2012, Darden Foundation has provided $483,000 to support the National Recreation and
Park Association (NRPA). Darden Foundation’s support has expanded NRPA’s Great American
Trails and Grow Your Park programs. Great American Trails projects are restoring and
sustaining trails and open spaces, making communities more livable and allowing families to
come together in nature. Grow Your Park projects are creating and enlarging community
gardens, providing healthy produce to food banks and other organizations serving those in need.
The new event “Darden Dash 5k” will garner support for local NRPA programs and draw
national attention to its cause.
During May, June, and July, Darden will use its social media platforms and website to promote
the 5k run. These promotion posts will include links to registration information which can be
found on Darden’s website and on its foundation website. In addition to promotion through
social media, advertising tools such as fliers and brochures will be placed at Darden brand
restaurants in Orlando and surrounding areas.
The event will take place on July 22, 2015, at Blue Jacket Park in Orlando, Florida. The event
will start at 8 a.m. and will be kicked off by CEO, Eugene Lee Jr. Then runners of all ages will
24
proceed to the starting line and the race will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end when the last runner
crosses the finish line. There will be tents set up along the trails with volunteers who will offer
refreshments. The race will be followed by a time for fellowship, music, and appetizers provided
by Darden restaurants.
Personal Salary and Benefits
A team of four public relations professionals from Darden will make up the event planning team
for the 5k. Two of these professionals will be senior public relations specialists in charge of
leading the event. This professionals will be in charge of two other public relations professionals
who are in entry-level public relations positions. The public relations specialists will delegate
jobs and duties to the other two PR professionals who be primarily in charge of communicating
with vendors, volunteers and following up on event details. According to salary.com, senior PR
specialists in Orlando, Florida make an annual salary of $70,000. The other public relations
positions will be entry level and earn $35,000. In addition to salary, team members will receive
a benefits package adding up to 30 percent of their salaries.
Supplies and Expenses
Event Supplies
For the event, Darden will be purchasing 72 packs of water in bulk so that its runners will be able
to take as many waters as they need. The price for these 2,520 waters will add up to $500.
Appetizers, plates and utensils for after the event will be donated by Darden’s restaurants and be
served under the main tent.
Five 20x20 tents will be placed along the trails to provide water and shade to runners. The cost
for these five tents will be estimated at $1,200. Three 20x20 tents will cover the registration and
food area and will cover if a chance of rain at an estimated cost of $720. One large banner, 5ft
x15ft, with Darden’s logo and the logo for the National Recreation and Park Association will
hang over the main tent. This banner will cost an estimated $150.
A DJ will play after the race for two hours when the food is served at an estimated cost of $400.
Picnic areas and tables around the park will provide the seating for the event after the race and
participants will be encouraged to bring picnic blankets if they wish to sit on the grass around the
park.
Marketing and Venue Costs
Because the event is in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association, Blue
Jacket Park venue will be at no cost and the city of Orlando will provide security for the event.
Although the event will be promoted heavily on social media, marketing materials for the event
such as fliers and brochures must be included in the costs. The cost of printing 10,000 brochures
to be placed at Darden restaurants and in the community will be an estimated $600 and the 5,000
25
12’x 18’ posters printed will run an estimated $651.In addition to these marketing materials, an
ad for the event will run in the Orlando Sentinel 6 times, twice each month, before the event at
the estimated cost of $750 for a two columned color ad.
The total budget for the event will be $73,293. To provide a more detailed outline of the budget,
the following table illustrates a breakdown of individual expenses.
Items
Event Team
Senior PR
Specialist 1
Senior Pr
Specialist 2
PR Professional 1
PR Professional 2
Total Salary
Event Team
Benefits
Senior PR
Specialist 1
Senior PR
Specialist 2
PR professional 1
PR Professional 2
Total Benefits
Event Supplies
Water
Tents
Banner
DJ
Total Event
Supplies
Marketing/Ads
Brochures
Posters
Newspaper Ads
Total Marketing
Costs
Total Event
Budget
May
June
July
Total
5833
5833
5833
17499
5833
5833
5833
17499
2916
2916
2916
2916
2916
2916
8748
8748
52494
1750
1750
1750
5249
1750
1750
1750
5249
875
875
875
875
875
875
2625
2625
15748
500
2000
150
400
3050
600
651
250
Budget Reduction
250
250
750
2,001
$73,293
26
If management required a 20 percent budget cut, the amount reduced would be $14,658 making
the new budget total 58,635. The easiest way to reduce budget costs is if management only hires
one PR specialist opposed to two to be in charge of the other two PR professionals. With the
reduction of one PR specialist the total salaries cost fall to $34,995 and total benefits cost fall to
$10,499. Overall this changes the overall total budget to be $50,545, which is $8,090 under the
managements set reduced budget.
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