QSR June 2023

BRAND RENEWAL

KRYSTAL REFUSES TO ACT ITS A�E. The 91-year-old Atlanta-based chain is learning a lot from partners—Datassential, Brandwatch, and Sparkfly, to name a few—to see how customers are reacting to its messages. Krystal is determined to understand who its authentic audience is and where it needs to double down. The brand has about 300 stores nationwide, but most are in the Southeast. The legacy company has dreams beyond its current geog raphies and product lineups. It wants to be a more mainstream quick-service restaurant. “If somebody comes to us, where else did they go? What is our true competitor?” says CMO Casey Terrell. “Because it’s White Castle, but not really because there aren’t really White Castles in the South outside of Orlando and some other places. So where do they truly go? So it’s the big guys—McDon ald’s Burger King, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A. And we’re the original late-night spot that some other brands have filled in. So we’re just trying to reclaim a lot of our lost ground.” “I think that we did a really good job this last year of putting a flag down that we were here,” he adds. “We’re still alive. We’re 91 years old, but we’re innovating and getting better.” In January 2022, Krystal made waves by announc ing rap star 2 Chainz as its head of creative marketing. The music icon is tasked with creating multiple platforms and partnerships covering menus and mer chandising. The biggest splash came a few months later with the company’s new “Side Chik” chicken sandwich, a term popularized by millennials and Gen Z. The campaign, created with marketing agency Chemistry and internet personality Brit tany Renner, was executed across television, social, out-of-home, and more. Around the same time, the concept showcased actor and singer Ray J in com mercials to remind customers of late-night offerings. Krystal began 2023 by releasing new com mercials for its Sunriser Breakfast Sandwich with the help of Les Garland, cofounder of MTV and VH1, and Libbie Higgins, an online influencer. More recently, in honor of the NCAA Tourna ment, the slider chain released a TikTok-based Side Chik bracket. Krystal pitted its Side Chik lineup—

Spicy Chik, Donut-Glazed Sweet Chik Biscuit, Donut-Glazed Spicy Chik Biscuit, and the Clas sic Chik—against each other and let fans vote for their favorite. The brand also asked guests—via Twitter, Ins tagram, and TikTok—to develop its latest tagline. The winner was “Now you Know.” Terrell says social media is supposed to be about conversation. He sees brands always claiming they want engage ment online, but it’s the same research, focus groups, and tests. This time around, Krystal wanted to ask followers in real-time. “Let’s try to break the mold a little bit here,” Ter rell says. “I don’t need to go to a research agency that’s going to give me an N of 1,500 and tell me sta tistical significance. I just want to get a check from my fans about what they like. And so we’ll continue to do more stuff like that because I thought the cool thing to look at for the fan was, ‘Oh, they actually did something based on what we said instead of like, ‘Oh yeah, we get a temperature check.’” Terrell says the intention is to target younger, college-aged customers engaged in the urban hip hop community. But the executive also recognizes there are several Krystal stores in rural areas that it doesn’t want to upset or alienate. He refers to the group as the company’s “pastoral pride.” “How do we parse those two messages to make sure it’s one brand? Terrell asks rhetorically. “We’ll still use our partners. We’ll do a lot. I think we’ll add to the base. I think that there’s some stuff on the country side that we’ll do. Some other artists that we like. But the most important thing for us is the experience.” These efforts were about “let’s just get some excitement and take a risk,” Terrell says. Mov ing forward, Krystal doesn’t plan to be shock and awe constantly. The brand doesn’t want customers continually thinking, “Where are they going to go now?” However, Krystal won’t go stale either. The company wants to be more connected on social media and immersed in the zeitgeist. Terrell used the comparison of Wendy’s, which operates more like a friend you follow—full of memes, funny responses, and videos.

AFTER DECADES OF OPERATIONS, THE LE�ACY RESTAURANT IS FINDIN� A NEW VOICE. / BY BEN COLEY

KRYSTAL

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