DEVELOPING A BRAND POSITIONING AND MENU VISION

The CHALLENGE

A large quick service restaurant (QSR) approached us to conduct a “TURF” study on its menu. After some conversations, we learned what the client really wanted was a vision to guide its menu simplifications and new product development.

We sought to first better understand the client’s brand positioning, on which the optimal menu would be developed. But, we found out that the client did not have an updated brand positioning that their key stakeholders were aligned to.

The client engaged us to develop a brand positioning and menu vision/optimization.

The APPROACH

To develop a brand positioning and a 5-year menu vision, we executed a multistep process.

• A Landscape® assessment was conducted to gain a deep understanding of the company, category, trends, competition, and consumer. We interviewed key stakeholders, including franchisees, to learn from their experiences and get them engaged from the start.
• We developed several brand positioning territories with the key stakeholders and gained consumer inputs through an online bulletin board. We built a brand positioning statement with differentiated and compelling functional and emotional benefits.
• With the brand positioning aligned, we developed several menu innovation platforms and used them as the foundation to conduct a Greenhouse® ideation session among the key corporate and franchisee stakeholders to generate ideas on menu structures, items to add, and items to streamline.
• With the outputs of the ideation as key inputs, we conducted a menu choice optimization study to estimate the sales and traffic impact of menu changes. The results are used as guiding principles of the menu vision.

The OUTCOME

Our client created and launched a new advertising campaign based on the brand positioning, and consumers found it more relevant and brand-aligned. The client also used the menu vision to build a 5-year action plan for product development, evolution, and sun-setting. The stakeholders have been pleased to see a clear pathway for success, with promising early business results.