Note: This post is a snippet of our Food Franchise Report 2018. To read the full report, click here.
McDonald’s has done one.
KFC has done one.
Dunkin’ Donuts has done one.
Domino’s has done one.
Pizza Hut and Subway are in the midst of doing one.
The thing? A brand refresh.
Brand refreshing is a preferred method within the food industry for recharging a company in the public eye—not to mention increase sales. A brand refresh takes the elements of a business that make up its identity—logo coloring, photography, typography, advertising, décor, etc.—and updates them slightly to adjust to consumers’ and society’s evolving tastes.
According to Foodable, a brand refresh is needed if one or a combination of the following three things are present:
- The core elements of a brand are outdated.
- Brand standards need to be fine-tuned.
- There’s a significant shift in target audience.
With a brand refresh changes are made gradually, allowing for already loyal customers to adjust while the company invites new customers and attempts to bring old customers back. In this way it differs from a rebrand, which changes fundamentals of the business such as the name, logo, or market positioning.
One of the most recent stories of a franchise showing sustained results after hitting the refresh button is Fazoli’s. After hitting a low point about a decade ago, the Italian food franchise undertook a brand refresh that has led to an increase of customers and multiplequarters of consecutive same-store sales increases.
As a part of the refresh, the franchise remodeled a number of its locations with a new, contemporary look and feel. The new look included—among other things—upgraded plates, communal tables and Wi-Fi bars. Fazoli’s also upgraded its menu with new dishes, as well as by using premium ingredients more often in them. The company also “elevated” its table service.
Now, Fazoli’s is back up to nearly 220 restaurants in 27 states. Over a decade ago, at its peak, the company had over 400 restaurants.
“We had some real liquidity concerns and were breaking covenants left and right—all of that was tough,” Carl Howard, Fazoli’s president and CEO, said of the worst years. “It took a couple years for it to really take off … but by 2012 we were really to the point where the turnaround was done and the brand was stable again.”
Howard also commented in a Franchise Times interview about the process, “These are the fun days. These are the days you celebrate, sit back, reflect and say it was really worth it.”