In today's business landscape, branding is everything. And while you might not think that a chicken sandwich can teach us much about branding, you'd be surprised. In fact, we can learn a few lessons from one of the most popular sandwiches in America. A simple chicken sandwich can be eye-opening if you think branding is just a consistent logo and a hollow mission statement.
Look at the picture above. I live 10 minutes from this intersection. Whenever I explain branding, I grab a sheet of paper and draw this intersection. I start with the roads and layout each fast-food restaurant, eight in total. I then ask, "which one of these sells chicken sandwiches?" The obvious answer is all of them. I then ask, "which one sells more than all the others?" Without hesitation, they all say the same restaurant name. Take a moment and ask yourself which of these restaurants sells the most. If you answered Chick-fil-A, you would be correct.
A simple search reveals your typical branded franchise's average yearly revenue sales:
Stand-a-lone Chick-fil-A $8.1 million (and they're closed 54 days a year)
McDonald's $3.48 million
Zaxby's $2.54 million
Traditional Burger King $1.4 million
Bojangles $1.97 million
Wendy's $1.9 million
Arby's $1.29 million
KFCs $1.2 million*
The next question I ask, 'is Chick-fil-A the cheapest?' No. So why is it that out of all these available restaurants within a 1/4 mile of each other, does one significantly sell the most chicken sandwiches even at a higher price point? The answer is the power of authentic branding. So let me break it down.
Each time a potential customer drives past this intersection hungry, they have the choice to take their hard-earned money and spend it at one restaurant to satisfy a want and need. The location is on an equal playing field, and it's not the product the customer chooses to buy; each sells chicken sandwiches. Instead, the choice is to whom does that customer want to buy that product from? Thus begins the decision-making process. The decision-making process is reasoning based on assumptions of values, preferences, and beliefs. Every time a customer makes their choice, it prompts action or no reaction at all, which can sometimes seem like the rational thing to do, but there are many other times when we decide without thinking because our emotions take over. In psychology terminology, this type of behavior has been referred to as "intuitive reasoning." Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman says in his book, How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, that 95 percent of our purchase decision-making takes place in the subconscious mind. In other words, only 5% of our decisions are analytical, and 95% are pure emotional decisions. If you're cursed with the hangry gene, you get emotional when you're hungry.
Brands evoke emotions, not analytics. That is what Chick-fil-A has figured out. Their mission statement (minus the religious part) states, "To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A." If you have been to Chick-fil-A, from the process to the team members, they embody this statement. CFA's HQ has a Food Innovation Center specifically designed to create and improve menu items. Across the street, Hatch is a warehouse where a team of designers envisions, prototype, and test every aspect of the customer experience. Utilizing mock restaurants, they focus on optimizing employee workflow. The successful initiatives are rolled out through their restaurants. They breathe their brand to life; from HQ, to whom they hire, and all the way through their customer service and charitable initiatives. It's not a red chicken logo or a pretty mission statement that makes Chick-fil-A successful. It's their entire experience. Whenever you talk about Chick-fil-A, most people get the warm and fuzzies, and rarely dread of interacting with them. This is why people spend their money with them time and time again. Even golden arches cannot compete.
Chick-fil-A has been successful primarily because they have created an emotional connection with its customers. They understand branding and how to create an experience for their customers that leaves them with a positive feeling about the company and its food. By developing an emotional response to their customers, Chick-fil-A has created a passionate following that keeps people coming back for more. So what can you learn from the success of Chick-fil-A about how to create a powerful brand? How can you connect with your customers on an emotional level?
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