The Luxury of Time: The Making of Four Customized Awards for Applebee's

We were contacted by an executive assistant of Applebee's Services, Inc. in Kansas City, MO to create four distinct awards for Applebee’s Honors program. After several meetings via email and phone conferences where we discussed the purpose of each award, MK Shannon suggested awards that were available in her present collection that could be customized to fit the needs expressed by Applebee’s.

A model of a stylized apple was created by MK Shannon to replace a globe held by two figures in an existing MK Shannon award. The Applebee’s logo was mounted on the Apple. This customization option vs. designing a commissioned award saved Applebee’s the cost of designing, modeling, and molding a new award. It still provided them with an award that is unique to Applebee’s and is used as their Operator of the Year award. All four of the awards were created by using an existing award and customizing it for Applebee's Honors program. The Heart of Applebee's uses an award which was customized by using a heart shaped piece with Applebee's logo held in the circled arms of a person. The Neighbor of the Year is an award holding a house. And the Franchisee of the Year award uses a globe with Applebee's logo.

Applebee's Operator of the Year Award

“We started in late July and completed the awards in late October, “ says MK. “Because of our early involvement with Applebee's, we had the ideal situation— 3 months to complete a project of this nature. This is as good as it gets to have this kind of client and this kind of relationship. We're establishing a strong precedent for years to come.”

Heart of Applebee's Award

Applebee's Neighbor of the Year Award

Applebee's Franchisee of the Year Award

“One of the most important aspects of this project,” says MK, “is that the client allowed ample time for discussion and development of the awards. We normally require at least two weeks development time and then four additional weeks for casting, finishing, and shipping the awards. Because Applebee’s “planned ahead” there was adequate time for development and all parties were satisfied with the results that ensued.

Once a year Applebee’s honors the following with the presentation of awards nationally and internationally:

Heart of Applebee’s Award
The Heart of Applebee’s award (approximately 15” tall) recognizes the Applebee’s Franchise organization that has shown the greatest commitment to an individual cause or organization.

Neighbor of the Year Award
This award (approximately 15” tall) recognizes the Applebee’s Franchise that has demonstrated the greatest commitment to serving its neighbors and neighborhood through a variety of methods and causes throughout the past year.

Operator of the Year Award
Each year Applebee’s Services, Inc. awards a senior operator within a franchise organization the honor of Operator of the Year. This award is approximately 13” tall.

Franchisee of the Year Award
Each year Applebee’s Services, Inc. awards a franchisee with its highest honor by naming them the Abe Gustin Franchisee of the Year. This honor is awarded to a principal shareholder that has made great contributions to the Applebee’s system. The award is approximately 13” tall.

The relationship developed throughout the creation of the awards and was a very positive experience judging from some of the comments sent to me by Applebee’s:

“I think you’ve gone above and beyond.”

“The awards were stunning and arrived in beautiful shape. Everyone was thrilled with them, especially the recipients. Our international franchisee from Qatar who received two of them (Foodvest Company) barely wanted to let go of them so we could ship them to him.”