When Blake Johnson first started working at CEC Entertainment—the parent company of the iconic Chuck E. Cheese—he often heard the same thing.
“That’s still around?”
Johnson, the Sr. Director of Brand Strategy at CEC, himself had loved the brand as a kid. But as the world shifted into more digital-first experiences, awareness and engagement had changed. The CEC team knew they needed a refresh.
To transform their image and to cater to the modern family, Chuck E. Cheese turned to data.
“We’re leading with a data-first mentality and grounding all of our decision-making in that versus just taking an emotional or story-like approach,” Johnson said. “Better insights start with smarter data.”
At its core, Chuck E. Cheese is a restaurant and entertainment space designed for kids. Since it first opened in 1977, the brand’s marketing strategy was to tell a story: Chuck E. Cheese is the epicenter of fun.
As times changed—and as marketing spread across various channels—the Chuck E. Cheese team knew they needed to bring their restaurants into the 21st century. Part of their plan included appealing more to parents. They invested millions in renovating their dining rooms for a more modern feel, refreshed their branding and doubled down on ad campaigns.
The result?
“When we dug into the data, we learned really quickly that a remodel is nice-to-have, but it’s not a true driver,” Johnson said.
So what would appeal to families? Johnson and his team looked to their data to find out.
“We needed to understand what made our families tick: Do we have an affordability problem? A visit frequency problem? Where should we put the bulk of our efforts into?” he said. “Getting to know our core audience has had a transformational effect on the business.”
With Epsilon as a partner, CEC Entertainment deployed a data strategy to centralize and enhance all their data points, including transactional and site tag data. This built clearer profiles of who their adult guests were. Then, they qualified those data points with focus groups centered around their main customers: Kids.
They discovered that parents fell into two general audiences: Guests who valued affordability and guests who valued their kids’ experience. When they dug deeper, they realized the things that drove value for either group ranged from regional preferences to unique consumer nuances.
Take, for example, birthday parties—a Chuck E. Cheese staple. Using data, they analyzed what competitors their guests were choosing over them. One of the most surprising insights was that people would come to Chuck E. Cheese for the games but would eat somewhere cheaper, like a fast food restaurant.
“Our guests wanted the experience of coming to Chuck E. Cheese, but we were pricing our guests out,” he said.
In response, they created a birthday party package that included unlimited games, a live birthday show, upgraded prizes and more—all for $99.
“It makes Chuck E. Cheese not only top of mind, but affordable,” he said. “And it’s a good hook for us to get interest. We sell a lot of $99 birthday parties, and it’s the entry point for a lot of guests to book us again.”
To really understand the complexities of a consumer, brands need a customer-centric data strategy. Matt Stewart, Sr. Director of Strategic Consulting at Epsilon, said brands often have a lot of data at their fingertips, but don’t know how—or why—to engage with it.
“Being able to have that 100% fulfillment in knowing who your customer really is and being able to tell that whole story is so important because it touches every piece of the organization,” he said. “It guides how you’re connecting with your audience and determines what’s relevant to them. It’s allowing brands to be proactive versus reactive.”
For CEC Entertainment, this has manifested in a variety of ways, including in their loyalty program. Their points-based program relied on guest visits and participation to offer maximum value, but most guests only visited once or twice a year. Leaning on their data-driven insights, they saw a unique opportunity that broke the mold: The Chuck E. Cheese Fun Pass.
This subscription-based program allows unlimited visits, daily gameplay, exclusive discounts and surprise offers, blending standard points and discount-based rewards with affordable access. The tiered system starts at $8 a month.
In just one year, they gained 500,000 new members.
“Our Fun Pass program has been a hit,” Johnson said. “For us, even just one extra visit a year from families is transformational.”
At the end of the day, Johnson said the data makes Chuck E. Cheese more intentional.
Investing in a data strategy has complimented the classic emotional storytelling that Chuck E. Cheese is known for, and it’s allowed them to respond to customer needs and wants that to inform all facets of their business.
“It makes you think about what makes you unique, not just from a brand perspective but from an operational perspective as well,” Johnson said. “Your core products have to be highly attuned to your unique experiences and how those resonate with guests.”
Johnson said CEC Entertainment is excited for this new chapter. As they open up their doors to the next generation of kids, they feel empowered knowing their strategy centers around the people who mean the most: their guests.
“Our families are unique,” he said. “And that’s where everything starts—with them.”
