Carl’s Jr. is Leveraging Partnerships to Speed-Up Product Innovation

Restaurant customer acquisition cost continue to go up according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  One sure way to drive brand awareness, garner incremental customer is via new product introductions, sampling, relevant brand messaging. 

Today one of the best ways to speed-up new product introductions is partnering with a brand that has a build in base of loyal customers.  Carl’s is doing exactly that when they partnered with Kellogg’s to help reimage it breakfast line-up and create some new electricity for the Carl’s Jr. / Hardee’s brands.

Carl’s Jr. believes that this strategic partnership will provide new electricity driving incremental sales. What is your new electricity that is driving top line sales and bottom line profits? 

Are your customer counts growing?  So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s with the launch of Froot Loops Mini Donuts. In partnership with Kellogg’s Froot Loops Mini Donuts are adding a fresh spin on the iconic breakfast favorite by bringing a pop of color and a hint of '90s nostalgia to consumers nationwide all while extending, edifying ,and exploring new branded messaging.

Carl’s Jr. Froot Loops Mini Donuts taste just like the cereal consumers remember from childhood and are perfect for breakfast, snack time and beyond. This new branded craveable menu item comes in the five-iconic colors of your childhood: red, blue, green, purple, and yellow.

Jeff Jenkins, chief marketing officer for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s  stated “We’re continuing to look for ways to bring innovative, delicious items to our consumers,” .. “We know today’s consumers are craving nostalgia, and Froot Loops Mini Donuts feature flavors that will bring them back to their childhood, and introduce a little extra fun at snack time.”

The two global brands are also launching #NotMilk, a playful digital campaign with an unexpected twist on the iconic dairy ads, showcasing that milk is not required for these colorful snacks. Partnering with a number of celebrities including '90s heartthrob Mario Lopez, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are asking fans across the country to show their best #NotMilk mustache on Instagram and Twitter using the #NotMilk and #FrootLoopsMiniDonuts, for a chance to be featured on the brands’ social channels.

Froot Loops Mini Donuts are in stores now.  So, how are you creating a platform to drive down the cost of customer acquisition?  Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.