Wendy's Breakfast More Talk than Chalk

Chalk one up for the home team is an old adage we have all heard.  Touting the success of a new limited time offer or menu item is not the same as touting the success of an entire daypart; according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Marketing messaging, total unit sales, and profitability have to go hand in hand. It is still an open question to some Franchisee’s if reentering the AM daypart for the third try will be sustainable over time. Not to worry, The Wendy’s Co., has not given up in a sign that expanding messaging is still needed, new meal deal promotion began recently with a bus-stop giveaway in Providence, R.I., that was aimed at building awareness according to the company.

The bus stop pop-up in Providence’s Kennedy Plaza is just part of the company’s $15 million effort this year to get Wendy’s consumer’s’ to think Wendy’s breakfast first. Since price matters for all dayparts, they added a new systemwide meal deal of two select breakfast sandwiches — a choice of Sausage, Egg and Swiss Croissant; Bacon, Egg and Swiss Croissant; or Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit — for $4 through early August.

Todd Penegor, Wendy’s CEO, in May’s first-quarter earnings call, said breakfast awareness was “a trial game.” This third trial of the AM daypart is costly for franchisee hard pressed to find enough workers as it is according to Johnson.

Not only do the Wendy’s franchissee have to battle Burger King, McDonalds, 7-Eleven, Wawa, they have to battle Dunkin Donuts in the Northeast for share of stomach.  The company said the July 14 pop-up giveaway was “part of a larger competitive breakfast takeover in the Providence market, dubbed #DitchTheDonut.” The promotion included bus-cling and billboard advertising and a sweepstakes at Instagram’s @DitchTheDonutSweeps through Aug. 13. The sweepstakes award of “breakfast for a year” will be in the form of $550 in Wendy's gift cards.

Battle for Share of Stomach

That battle for share of stomach will require both time and money according to Johnson. Penegor said on that call,  “What we need to do is continue to get folks to come in and try our food,”. “

Penegor, continued “We’ve got to continue to create awareness to bounce those folks back from lunch and dinner into breakfast, which then drives incrementality to our business, because it’s another visit, another frequency that gets picked up along the way,”

“Awareness leads to trial,” he said. “Trial leads to repeat trial, and the repeat leads to growth.”

At the intersection of franchisee profits and brand messaging the consumer will be both the judge and jury deciding if the third try at breakfast for Wendy’s will work or not?  What do you think?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869