Latest news with #Marchick
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Applebee's designed its customer insights program
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. Customer experience initiatives need regular nurturing, and their growth depends on conversations with all the relevant stakeholders. This has been the most important lesson Jill Marchick, VP of consumer insights and business analytics at Applebee's, has discovered over the course of her career, she said during a presentation last month at the Qualtrics X4 conference in Salt Lake City. 'You can't just launch a program and say, 'I'm done. OK, onto the next thing,'' Marchick said. 'You have to refresh this. You need to keep people engaged throughout the whole organization. It's a big investment, and you've got to make sure people are using it.' The combination of conversations with stakeholders and constant refinement sits at the heart of Applebee's customer listening strategy. The strategy uses feedback from franchisees and managers, and the company constantly refines its efforts based on feedback from customers and associates. 'We all get reams of data, but how do you take that data and make it actionable for the bottom-line team members, those servers that are working in our restaurants, all the way up to the franchise organizations and corporate as well?' Marchick said. Nearly all Applebee's restaurants are franchised, which makes the company's franchisees extremely important stakeholders. 'I always say feedback is a gift, and they've been giving a lot of gifts,' Marchick said. 'So I developed some thick skin, but we know it is all very helpful, and we try to take it and learn it as much as we can.' Applebee's created a cross-functional committee that includes its insights and analytics team and operations team, as well as some of its biggest franchisees, according to Marchick. This combination ensures all relevant parties have a say in the ongoing process. Loss of knowledge from turnover was also a consideration — the Applebee's learning and development team was engaged at every step of the process to ensure that new people could access and understand the restaurant chain's data with a reasonable amount of training. Applebee's cast a wide net while designing its current customer feedback questionnaire, according to Marchick. While the company implemented some general best practices for questionnaire development, it wanted to ensure corporate and franchisees were each getting feedback that was relevant to their needs. 'I wanted their buy-in as well to make sure they're utilizing the data because you can write a great questionnaire, but if they're not finding the questions helpful, then what's the point of doing it?' Marchick said. Disseminating the data is every bit as important as collecting it. Managers and associates play an important role in Applebee's dashboard development process — they're the ones using the information to shape restaurant-level operations. The dashboards contain information from the questionnaires, as well as Google reviews, customer service calls and other sources, according to Marchick. Applebee's plans on adding DoorDash in the future as part of its constant refinement strategy. 'We're making modifications to our dashboard all of the time, and making sure that it's as visible as possible,' Marchick said. The company also took steps to ensure franchisees could dig into relevant comparisons, all based on a single source of the truth, according to Marchick. For example, a restaurant franchisee in Alhambra, California, can see the numbers for their own restaurant, then compare the data to all Applebee's locations in Southern California, their franchise group overall, or Applebee's as a whole. Applebee's divides data from in-restaurant and delivery orders into their own individual categories, according to Marchick. Each option is used by a very different set of customers, so being able to look at the victories and pain points from each dining experience is very important. Applebee's has spent time looking into the best ways to collect feedback from customers and employees. Financial incentives are a powerful tool for encouraging survey completion while improving the bottom line, according to Marchick. The company tested four different options, and landed on a $10 off a purchase of $40 or more coupon as the most effective approach. 'The beauty of it is you take the survey, we email you the $10 off $40 offer, but you only have 30 days to use it,' Marchick said. 'Not that many use it, but for the ones [who] do, it's an extra visit, which is a win-win for us. And guess what? The average check is even higher.' Convenience is also a factor. Customers can complete the questionnaire right at their tables using the built-in tablets that let customers pay for their meals. One benefit of Applebee's information collection capabilities is its ability to close the loop with dissatisfied customers quickly and on their terms. If a customer rates any measurement on a survey, including overall satisfaction, with a one, two or three, the restaurant in question has 72 hours to handle the issue, according to Marchick. The customer chooses whether they want to be contacted, as well as how, and from there any problems can be pinpointed and resolved. 'It's so important to close that loop, to make sure we solve every issue because it's very difficult right now in the restaurant industry,' Marchick said. 'Some of it's on us, some of it's on the guests, but it's important that we solve these problems as quickly as possible.
Axios
03-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: American University launches AI institute
American University's business school is launching an Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence in an effort to weave AI into every aspect of the school, the university first shared with Axios. The big picture: Some colleges and many high schools still ban ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, while others are going all in. Zoom out: AI has long been a staple of STEM, especially in computer science. Now more business schools are also recognizing a need to teach generative AI. "Every student needs to be fluent in AI applications in order to be successful," David Marchick, the dean of American University's Kogod School of Business, told Axios. Between the lines: Marchick says American's undergrad and grad business students will go on to use AI to do consumer research, design marketing campaigns, read balance sheets, write financial statements, underwrite investments and analyze financial risk factors. "It's not like we're trying to be a Stanford or Caltech in terms of producing programmers. We're producing business people," Marchick says. "When 18-year-olds show up here as first-years, we ask them, 'How many of your high school teachers told you not to use AI?' And most of them raise their hand. We say, 'Here, you're using AI, starting today.'" The Institute has 15 faculty members across the university and plans to hire more, Marchick says. Zoom in: The new institute is only one piece of American's efforts to become a leader in AI education. Last month American partnered with AI startup Perplexity to give every student in the business school free access to Perplexity Enterprise Pro. Kogod is also piloting a new Perplexity product designed specifically for education. Yes, but: Using AI for entry-level tasks could prevent students from building confidence and hands-on experience. A 2024 study from Deloitte found that early-career workers were concerned about the lack of on-the-job training due to the increase in AI use for foundational tasks like preparing reports, analyzing simple data sets and taking notes in meetings. The bottom line: Business students must master AI, Marchick insists. The invention of the calculator didn't stop us from understanding math, Marchick says. And he doesn't think people should be using paper ledgers instead of Excel.
Euronews
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Disney is cleared of copyright infringement over hit film 'Moana'
After a two-week trial in federal court in Los Angeles, the eight-member jury found unanimously that Disney did not steal the concept for 2016's 'Moana' from a 2011 screenplay. ADVERTISEMENT A jury on Monday quickly and completely rejected a man's claim that Disney's Moana was stolen from his story of a young surfer in Hawaii. The Los Angeles federal jury deliberated for only about 2 ½ hours before siding with Disney in the copyright trial, clearing the company of an infringement suit brought by screenwriter Buck Woodall. Woodall filed suit in 2020 alleging that Moana was based on his work entitled "Bucky the Wave Warrior.' The eight-member jury found unanimously that Disney did not have access to the 2011 screenplay or earlier treatments. A Disney spokesperson said: 'We are incredibly proud of the collective work that went into the making of 'Moana' and are pleased that the jury found it had nothing to do with Plaintiff's works.' 'Obviously we're disappointed,' Woodall's attorney Gustavo Lage said outside court. 'We're going to review our options and think about the best path forward.' In closing arguments earlier Monday, Woodall's attorney said that a long chain of circumstantial evidence showed the two works were inseparable. 'There was no 'Moana' without 'Bucky,'' Lage said. Moana Disney Woodall's suit alleged that Disney stole many elements of his animated film project - a 'fraudulent enterprise that encompassed the theft, misappropriation and extensive exploitation of Woodall's copyrighted materials' on part of former Mandeville Films development director Jenny Marchick. Woodall alleges he produced a screenplay and trailer for Bucky, which features a main character who encounters a tattooed demigod with a giant hook and a giant creature that's concealed within a mountain, and began sharing details of said project with Marchick in 2003. Marchick, who is now DreamWorks Animation's head of development for features, asked for materials like production plans, character designs and storyboards, and reassured Woodall she could get the film greenlit. Woodall accused Marchick of using legal loopholes to pass on his materials to Disney and claims he received copyright protection for his Bucky materials in 2004 - a copyright that was updated in 2014. Moana Disney Defense lawyer Moez Kaba said that the evidence showed overwhelmingly that Moana was clearly the creation and 'crowning achievement' of the 40-year career of John Musker and Ron Clements, the writers and directors behind 1989's The Little Mermaid, 1992's Aladdin, 1997's Hercules and 2009's The Princess and the Frog. 'They had no idea about Bucky,' Kaba said in his closing statement. 'They had never seen it, never heard of it.' The first Moana film was released in 2016 and was an instant hit. Last December, we reported that eight years after its release, the movie became the most-streamed movie of the past five years. Indeed, Moana has been viewed for a total of more than 1 billion hours - which amounts to one person sitting through the movie 775 million times. Or, as The Wall Street Journal put it, 'watching Moana for 150,000 years straight".
Euronews
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
‘Moana' copyright ruling: Was the modern Disney classic a rip-off?
After a two-week trial in federal court in Los Angeles, the eight-member jury found unanimously that Disney did not steal the concept for 2016's 'Moana' from a 2011 screenplay. ADVERTISEMENT A jury on Monday quickly and completely rejected a man's claim that Disney's Moana was stolen from his story of a young surfer in Hawaii. The Los Angeles federal jury deliberated for only about 2 ½ hours before siding with Disney in the copyright trial, clearing the company of an infringement suit brought by screenwriter Buck Woodall. Woodall filed suit in 2020 alleging that Moana was based on his work entitled "Bucky the Wave Warrior.' The eight-member jury found unanimously that Disney did not have access to the 2011 screenplay or earlier treatments. A Disney spokesperson said: 'We are incredibly proud of the collective work that went into the making of 'Moana' and are pleased that the jury found it had nothing to do with Plaintiff's works.' 'Obviously we're disappointed,' Woodall's attorney Gustavo Lage said outside court. 'We're going to review our options and think about the best path forward.' In closing arguments earlier Monday, Woodall's attorney said that a long chain of circumstantial evidence showed the two works were inseparable. 'There was no 'Moana' without 'Bucky,'' Lage said. Woodall's suit alleged that Disney stole many elements of his animated film project - a 'fraudulent enterprise that encompassed the theft, misappropriation and extensive exploitation of Woodall's copyrighted materials' on part of former Mandeville Films development director Jenny Marchick. Woodall alleges he produced a screenplay and trailer for Bucky , which features a main character who encounters a tattooed demigod with a giant hook and a giant creature that's concealed within a mountain, and began sharing details of said project with Marchick in 2003. Marchick, who is now DreamWorks Animation's head of development for features, asked for materials like production plans, character designs and storyboards, and reassured Woodall she could get the film greenlit. Woodall accused Marchick of using legal loopholes to pass on his materials to Disney and claims he received copyright protection for his Bucky materials in 2004 - a copyright that was updated in 2014. Defense lawyer Moez Kaba said that the evidence showed overwhelmingly that Moana was clearly the creation and 'crowning achievement' of the 40-year career of John Musker and Ron Clements, the writers and directors behind 1989's The Little Mermaid , 1992's Aladdin , 1997's Hercules and 2009's The Princess and the Frog . 'They had no idea about Bucky,' Kaba said in his closing statement. 'They had never seen it, never heard of it.' The first Moana film was released in 2016 and was an instant hit. Last December, we reported that eight years after its release, the movie became the most-streamed movie of the past five years. Indeed, Moana has been viewed for a total of more than 1 billion hours - which amounts to one person sitting through the movie 775 million times. Or, as The Wall Street Journal put it, 'watching Moana for 150,000 years straight".
The Independent
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Disney wins $100m copyright trial against animator over Moana plagiarism claims
A California jury found that Disney 's Moana did not steal its idea from animator Buck Woodall's decades-old screenplay about a young Hawaiian surfer. After deliberating for over two hours on Monday, the jury ruled that no Disney employee had access to Woodall's storyboards or script for an animated film titled Bucky, which he claimed to have shared with an executive in the early 2000s. 'We are obviously disappointed. We are going to review our options and think about the best path forward,' Woodall's attorney Gustavo Lage said. A Disney spokesperson said they were 'incredibly proud of the collective work that went into the making of Moana' and 'pleased that the jury found it had nothing to do with plaintiff's works'. Woodall filed a suit in 2020 claiming Disney lifted many elements of a screenplay he had written for Bucky and alleging a 'fraudulent enterprise that encompassed the theft, misappropriation and extensive exploitation' of his copyrighted materials by former Mandeville Films development director Jenny Marchick. Marchick's stepsister is Woodall's sister-in-law. Woodall's suit said he gave Marchick a screenplay and trailer for Bucky in 2003 as well as 'extremely large quantities of intellectual property and trade secrets' after the director had convinced him she would get the film greenlit. Marchick testified at the trial that she did meet Woodall as a favour to her sister, but she was '100 per cent confident' she never passed on any of his Bucky content to any employee at Disney, according to a report by Courthouse News Service. She did speak to the studio about Woodall's script but was informed that they didn't accept outside pitches. She stated that she then helped Woodall meet an unidentified assistant at Disney TV animation who wasn't interested. Marchick said that she lost touch with Woodall after this point until he reached out in 2011 with a full-length screenplay for Bucky, which she was no longer interested in, believing it was 'simplistic and juvenile'. Moez Kaba, the defence lawyer, pointed out that Marchick, now head of development at DreamWorks Animation, worked for competitors Sony and Fox for a majority of the duration that Woodall had sent her materials for Bucky. In closing arguments, Lage told the jury that there was plenty of circumstantial evidence that showed the influence Bucky had on Moana. 'How many coincidences are too many? When does a coincidence stop being a coincidence? There was no Moana without Bucky,' he said. Kaba countered that Moana was the 'crowning achievement' of John Musker and Ron Clements, who had also written and directed Disney hits like The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). 'They had no idea about Bucky,' Kaba said. 'They had never seen it, never heard of it.' Musker, in his testimony, denied all accusations he and Clements had indulged in plagiarism. He pointed out that the narrative of Moana was inspired by elements from their previous Disney projects like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules, which featured a teenaged hero overcoming obstacles and uncovering profound truths about themselves in the process. The jury was shown scenes from those films to support the Disney claim. Kaba cited reams of emails and documents tracking Moana 's development and showing that Musker and Clements took inspiration from the paintings of Paul Gaugin and the writings of Herman Melville, while Woodall or Bucky were not mentioned anywhere. 'You can see every single fingerprint,' he said. 'You can see the entire genetic makeup of Moana.' Moana, released in 2016, tells the story of an adventurous teenager named Moana, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, who sets sail on a dangerous mission to save her people. Along the journey, she meets Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, who becomes her guide. The film was a word-of-mouth success, grossing more than £535m globally and streaming for over a billion hours on Disney+. Moana 2, which released in November 2024 and received an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature, sees the Polynesian teenager reunite with Maui for another ocean adventure after she gets an unexpected call from her wave finding ancestors. The sequel made $1.05bn worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2024. The jury's decision revolved primarily around the finding that Disney never saw Woodall's work, which meant they did not have to consider the alleged similarities between Bucky and Moana. Woodall, who lives in Mexico, first sued Disney for at least $100m in damages in 2020, but a California court ruled in November that his filing had come too late and dismissed it. Woodall was still able to bring his suit to trial against Disney's home video subsidiary Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which released the film on DVD in 2017. The release of Moana 2 allowed the animator to sue the production giant anew on the same basis in January, seeking at least $10bn in damages. Though the suit is still active, judge Consuelo B Marshall, who is also overseeing the sequel lawsuit, said she agreed with the jury's decision, a comment that does not look positive for the outcome in favour of Woodall.
