Not to beat this Cracker Barrel fiasco into the ground anymore, but there is a problem when brand marketers use age as a definer of relevant values.
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When you read the CEO statement on why the decision was made to lose the Old Timer, you know the decision was part brand mismanagement and part poor advice. Saying that the Old Timer had to go because of billboards is right up there with “The dog ate my homework.”
Of course, billboards are important. But, people driving at 70 mph are watching the road. Peripheral vision takes in the billboards. Drivers see what they know. When in the late 1970s, a Senate sub-committee looked into the size of cigarette warning boxes on billboards, research showed that font size of the warning-box language was irrelevant. Drivers saw the white box and immediately recognized that this was a health warning; they did not need to know the exact words. The Old Timer probably was – is – more recognizable of Cracker Barrel than anything the consultants could create.
I say this with all due respect, but research is only as good as the researcher. Misunderstanding research results or asking questions the wrong way can lead a brand in the wrong direction. Common sense and informed judgment should play a role.
Case in point.
In 2010, fifteen years ago, KFC celebrated its 70th anniversary. I worked with the local ad agencies on what 70 years meant for the KFC brand: how should the anniversary be treated in communications – or should the anniversary be referenced in communications – and the role of the old guy, The Colonel.
The Colonel is an “old timer.” The Colonel represents traditional values, as does KFC. (The title Colonel is merely titular, not a military function. Being awarded a Kentucky Colonelcy is an award for outstanding achievement.)
Today, at 85 years of KFC, The Colonel is still being used. You see The Colonel’s face on logos, billboards, apps and, well, all communications.
The Colonel started his fried chicken business during the depression years. In 1930, he ran a Shell gas station and sold his chicken there using his original recipe and a pressure fryer. The chicken business took off. Harlan Sanders, The Colonel, was 73 years old when he sold Kentucky Fried Chicken to a group of investors.
The local ad agency for the West ran a research test in Utah, the state where the first KFC franchise opened in 1952. The Utah research confirmed the following:
- KFC did not need to be modernized. KFC needed to let customers know and/or remember how KFC fits into their modern lives.
- KFC is a stronghold of traditional values, consistency over time, and delicious food made with care, which is totally appropriate for people living in a fast-paced world, living the fast life… or even living a slow life.
- KFC fits into modern life by serving as a stronghold of values and good, home-style deliciousness.
- There is a “cool” quality to being a vintage brand. Everyone, regardless of age, needs touchstones. Be cool without making waves; be appropriate without shooting “COOL!”
- Nostalgic may be too soothing. But being vintage is hip.
- The 70th anniversary of KFC was not perceived as an “age” message. “Seventy years” communicated something extremely positive to customers: 70 years conveyed credibility, heritage, quality, and trust. Seventy years communicated this food was made the old-fashioned way, which was seen as the better way.
- Customers said that being around for 70 years with the same original recipe indicated that KFC must be doing something right; that KFC can be trusted; that KFC is a genuine and authentic brand. KFC’s food is made with care and not “slapped around” as in other restaurants.
- Seventy years meant: “good family food,” “good memories,” “good for the long haul,” “still good today as it was 70 years ago,” “good home cooking,” “reminded me of the good things,” “still the same recipe,” “can be trusted for a real bargain and good food.”
- The KFC customer has traditional values in a modern world and enjoys eating with family and friends. KFC customers have old-style values that help them navigate in today’s modern world. KFC customers appreciate food made the old-fashioned way. KFC “owns” group meals with family and friends.
- Do not misinterpret “home style.” Home style does not necessarily mean homey or hokey. Modernization and home-style are not antonyms. It is not terrible to be home-cooked food.
- The Colonel had a powerful idea: he promised to provide a quality, convenient, affordable family meal. The Colonel called this meal “Sunday Dinner, Seven Days a Week.” In hindsight, The Colonel invented “home meal replacement.”
- The Colonel’s passion was to make the best-tasting chicken meal in the world based on fresh chicken prepared by a real cook in the KFC kitchen using his secret recipe.
- The original recipe, the bucket and the traditional values represented by The Colonel himself are valuable brand icons.
- KFC is comfortably satisfying.
- The Colonel did not need to be modernized.
On its website, in 2010, Time magazine observed that “KFC has wanted to shift its identity to something more in keeping with the times… however, its inability to do so is, in fact, the best thing about it.”
People are so familiar with The Colonel as the logo for KFC, that all they need to see on a billboard is The Colonel’s face – his old face, with a white goatee and mustache, eye glasses and a black string bow tie with that white suit – and drivers know this is my exit for a homestyle chicken meal. Like the Nike Swoosh, The Golden Arches, Apple’s apple, Google’s G, Shell’s seashell or Target’s target, The Colonel says everything without a word. Cracker Barrel can make this happen with proper brand management. Why Cracker Barrel did not do this with the Old Timer is a mystery of management.
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The Colonel looks older than the Old Timer, but this is irrelevant. What The Colonel stands for is as modern as it gets. The Colonel’s values embedded into KFC are quality, tradition and hospitality. The research showed that for KFC being 70 years old was perceived a good thing. Having a 70-year-old provenance in a world where 20 seconds is considered an eternity is a good thing.
Having traditional values in a modern world has no age. Age is a descriptor, not a definer.
In Asian countries, The Colonel is seen as someone to be venerated due to his age. KFC made the old guy a hero, a touchstone. The Colonel is now a symbol of food made in past ways but not of the past. KFC did not succumb to the idea that being old-fashioned is bad for business. Being old-fashioned is bad for business only if a brand thinks old-fashioned is bad for business. It is possible to hold traditional values in a modern world. Very few brands can manage this paradox. It is a shame that Cracker Barrel, along with its consultants, could not see the benefits of old is new.
Reinforce the core. Attract new customers, but not at the expense of your core customers. Your core customers appreciate your strengths. These strengths are what keep customers coming back to the brand. When a brand has core strengths, it should continue to remind customers about these core strengths. Do not replace those core strengths. Make those core strengths relevant. Cracker Barrel decided not to show how well-suited and appropriate Cracker Barrel is for modern people in a modern world. Instead, the focus was to juice the youth.
Looking back at this remarkable 2010 KFC research and attempting to understand what happened at Cracker Barrel is a reminder of how not understanding core customers and the love they have for a brand can lead to egregious brand mismanagement.
When reviewing the customer statements about KFC, these statements could be said about Cracker Barrel. It is possible to retain traditional values, home-style cooking and the age-less aging of personal perceptions in modern world. Just like KFC customers indicated, there is pride in having old-style values that help me live in a modern world. There is nothing “old-fashioned” about appreciating food that is made the old-fashioned way. There is nothing wrong with being authentic, genuine, pleasing, wholesome, and safely surprising. Familiar, home-style meals allow me to connect and bond with people I care about.
Mr. Clean, the Quaker Oats Quaker, Wendy’s, Chef Boyardee, the Brawny Man… all old friends. But, nothing “old” about these friends.
It is maddening that Cracker Barrel pursued the bewitching fountain of youth rather than drink from their brand’s well of wisdom.
Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Joan Kiddon, Partner, The Blake Project, Author of The Paradox Planet: Creating Brand Experiences For The Age Of I
At The Blake Project, we help clients worldwide, in all stages of development, define and articulate what makes them competitive and valuable at pivotal moments of change. Please email us to learn how we can help you compete differently.
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