Jake's Shake Brings All the Fans to the Yard

LAS VEGAS - For this year's NHL All-Star Skills, players got to pick their own individual songs for their respective competitions.
When the Penguins sent over Jake Guentzel's pick, the league emailed back to confirm that the winger really did want 'Milkshake' by Kelis. The communications department responded back: "Correct. The one that brings all the boys to the yard."

And hearing that song blast over the speakers at T-Mobile Arena on Friday as Guentzel lined up to participate in the Accuracy Shooting was a sign of just how popular his Jake's Shake at The Milkshake Factory has become.
"Just kind of came about with the milkshake back in Pittsburgh. Just thought it'd be funny to do," laughed Guentzel, who finished second in the event behind Carolina's Sebastian Aho. "I'm not sure if the guys caught on, but I think the fans did, so that's good."
The Jake's Shake really does bring all the fans to the yard in Pittsburgh, which is what the Penguins and The Milkshake Factory were hoping for when they first came up with the idea to put a shake customized by Guentzel on their menu - and make it half off the day after he scores a goal (which will apply to Saturday's All-Star Game).
Stopping by one of The Milkshake Factory's eight locations during a lunch break, on the way home from class or for a sweet treat after dinner is something Penguins fans have grown to really look forward to.
"It has become a part of the city, just like some of the other food items, like a Primanti Brothers sandwich," said Dana Edwards Manatos, Co-Founder & CEO of The Milkshake Factory.
Edwards Manatos and her team remember Guentzel coming into their Downtown location during his rookie season in 2016-17, so being a frequent customer made it easy to put this collaboration together.
"I used to go all the time, so it's pretty fun to see," Guentzel said.
They talked to Guentzel about what his favorite flavors were, and turned them into The Jake's Shake - which is a chocolate shake with hot fudge, crushed cookies and cream, and brownies topped with whipped cream and a chocolate #59.
"It turned out to be a really good shake," Edwards Manatos said. "It's something that he loves, something the city loves, and it has turned into our No. 1 best seller."
Between the quality of the shake, the rhyming of his name and the timing of the start of the trigger campaign - which was put in place for the 2018-19 season - everything came together.
Guentzel hadn't quite evolved into the All-Star he is today, but Edwards Manatos knew he had a lot of potential, which he lived up to. The first year of the campaign, the forward hit the 40-goal mark for the first time, which made the campaign pop.
"Jake has become such a big name in Pittsburgh," Edwards Manatos said. "Watching him play as a rookie up until now as one of the top scorers in the NHL, it's exciting to sit back and realize both what has happened to the collaboration and how much he has grown on the ice."
The Jake's Shake has become The Milkshake Factory's No. 1 item year-round, both in and out of hockey season, because it's the type of shake that everyone can get behind. However, when Guentzel does score and the shake becomes half off the next day, The Milkshake Factory does see more foot traffic. On average, the promotion has driven an almost 5x lift of Jake's Shakes for each Jake's Shake day.
"On those days, customers are really coming in just for the Jake's Shake, and we love that," Edwards Manatos said.
The fans are also the first to jump to social media just five minutes after a Guentzel goal to remind everyone to head to The Milkshake Factory to get their Jake's Shake half off the next day, which doesn't go unnoticed by No. 59 himself.
"It's pretty cool to get the tweets a lot of times right after," Guentzel said. "Just for fans to buy into that, just be around the city and to have a little buzz around that, is pretty cool."
Edwards Manatos also sees the excitement around the Jake's Shakes, as she runs The Milkshake Factory's social media accounts. At the beginning of the collaboration, she focused on positively reinforcing fans through interacting with them and liking their posts anytime Guentzel scored to further spread the word about the shake. Now, fans take it upon themselves to promote the Jake's Shake on their own.
"Seeing the support from the fans and the excitement around the campaign never gets old," Edwards Manatos said. "I love how it has become a part of the city, not just something we have out there."
Not a day goes by where Edwards Manatos doesn't take this collaboration for granted. When attending a game at PPG Paints Arena, she still gets excited when passing the line of fans waiting for a Jake's Shake at The Milkshake Factory stand on the concourse.
"We are fortunate to have Jake on our team," Edwards Manatos said. "The overall takeaway for me is how Jake has become a part of our team, and how the Penguins organization has become a part of the culture of The Milkshake Factory."
And Jake's Shakes aren't the only Penguins-related product that fans of the team can enjoy. The Milkshake Factory also features team-branded chocolate hockey pucks, chocolate pops and popcorn crunch.
"The Penguins Partnerships team strives to come up with memorable activations that energize and inspire our fans and drive value for our partnerships," said Amy Wesson, Penguins Director of Partnership Marketing. "The Jake's Shake campaign does just that. It's been so rewarding for our team to see this promotion go from an idea on a slide to something the city gets behind."