So, Gen Z and Millennials Relate Well to Popeyes

 

Popeyes Chicken, the classic fast-food chain that has been serving spicy, New Orleans style chicken since 1972, has recently experienced a surge of popularity among younger generations. Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® believes that customer focused relevant messaging including a Super Bowl ad will drive continued engagement.   

So, let’s look at some of the reasons why, a viral marketing campaign that sparked a social media frenzy over its new chicken sandwich.

The chicken sandwich, which was launched in August 2019, quickly sold out in two weeks, as customers lined up to try the crispy, juicy, and flavorful product. Popeyes cleverly ignited a Twitter war with its rival Chick-fil-A, which claimed to have the original and superior chicken sandwich. The online debate drew in millions of users, who posted memes, videos, and reviews of the sandwiches, creating a massive amount of free publicity for Popeyes.

According to Apex Marketing, the social media explosion generated approximately $65 million in equivalent ad revenue for Popeyes, based on the number of impressions and mentions it received across various platforms. Popeyes also gained more followers on Twitter in a single week than it had in two years, reaching a wider and younger audience.

The success of the chicken sandwich was not just a one-time phenomenon. Popeyes has continued to capitalize on its momentum by launching new products, such as the Cajun Flounder Sandwich and the Blackened Chicken Sandwich, that appeal to the taste preferences of Gen Z and Millennials. These generations are known for their love of spicy food, constant snacking, and adventurous eating habits. Popeyes has also leveraged its brand identity as a fun, authentic, and culturally diverse chain that resonates with the values and aspirations of these generations.

Popeyes has proven that viral marketing can be a powerful tool to attract and retain customers, especially in the highly competitive and saturated fast-food industry. By creating a buzz-worthy product, engaging with its fans and critics on social media, and staying true to its roots, Popeyes has established itself as a leader in the chicken sandwich category and a favorite among Gen Z and Millennials.

Yes, Popeyes has unveiled its first-ever Super Bowl commercial featuring actor, writer, and comedian Ken Jeong trying the famous brands’ new Wings for the first time.

This funny commercial is based on Jeong, who cryogenically froze himself 52 years ago waiting for the best-ever wing to be created. Jeong is unfrozen to discover Popeyes has permanently launched Wings in five delicious flavors – along with many other changes from 52 years ago, including drones, driverless cars, scooters, and new breeds of doodle dogs.

The advertisement was created by Popeyes in partnership with its creative agency, McKinney, and was directed by filmmaker and MTV Video Music and Grammy Award Winner Calmatic, who is well known for directing movies like House Party and White Men Can’t Jump. 

Sami Siddiqui, President of Popeyes North America, stated, “Football and Wings is the all-American pairing, so we couldn’t think of a better time to go all-in on launching our new wing line up than during the Super Bowl,” … “Ken Jeong is a comedic genius who really makes this commercial a lot of fun to watch.”

Popeyes new wings in five delicious flavors are available nationwide starting at $5.99 for 6-pieces: 

·         Ghost Pepper: The perfect balance of flavor and fire.  

·         Sweet ‘N Spicy: A sweet and spicy blend of chili, garlic and ginger.

·         Honey BBQ Wings: Tangy and sweet, like a good BBQ should be.   

·         Roasted Garlic Parmesan: The perfect blend of roasted garlic and parmesan cheese.   

·         Signature Hot: Nice and spicy with just a dash of southern sweetness

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

 

Amazon’s Food Data Points Point to Missteps

 

When you are one of the world’s largest retailers and own a chain of grocery stores the amount of ‘high-level’ data points on food, fresh foods, and food products should provide insights that would empower success. 

It’s at the intersection of Intelligent Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ) that interpreting that ‘high-level’ data seems to have taken some missteps according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® who stated, “legacy channel managers tend to see a channel with rose colored glasses half-full. They believe that the ‘grass is greener on the other side of the fence’ all the while not evolving with consumers thinking no matter how much data they have that they still know best.”

Johnson continued, that sounds simplistic while the customer is dynamic not static all food retailers must strive to evolve with consumers.  The fact is the grass may appear greener on the other side of the fence but as Johnson reminds us it is the pasture that pay’s the bills over time.  Don’t let the quantity of data become more valuable that quality of the data you review.

So, let’s look at what could be viewed by some as missteps. Over all food retailers are doing a pretty good job in the e-grocery space, according to the group that arguably matters the most: consumers. A new study from The Feedback Group found that traditional grocery stores rank highest for online food shopping satisfaction, topping e-comm giant Amazon and mass merchandiser sites.

According to that research, grocers came in with an overall satisfaction rating of 4.40/5.0. Amazon scored a 4.30 and mass merchandisers including Walmart and Target netted a 4.26 score.

Yes, there are maybe more missteps in reading data, it has been reported that a half dozen of the yet-to-open grocery stores are listed for sublease in the Twin Cities area, as well as a couple of locations in Detroit.  So, just who is doing the subleases? Several news reports that half a dozen of the yet-to-be-open grocery stores in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area are now available for sublease are being subleased by Amazon.  

However, representatives for both Amazon declined to comment or confirm the report.  According to Business Insider, analysts at Bernstein have put together a comeback strategy for Amazon in grocery and the main component is purchasing existing stores that are on the chopping block due to the proposed Kroger, Albertsons merger.

The grocers are expected to shed up to 500 stores, and many are in areas that could be favorable for Amazon. The price to acquire is another selling point. Bernstein analysts also are proposing that Amazon quickly rebrand stores or focus on stores in targeted regions. 

However, the waters continue to be rough. As noted earlier, Amazon has put a pause on constructing or opening brick-and-mortar grocery stores, and in Minneapolis the company announced it will be sub-leasing space that was originally marked as Amazon Fresh or Amazon Go stores. In addition, Whole Foods announced layoffs in April while Amazon restructures the organization.

You might have missed some of this, the news about the multiple subleases and the Whole Foods restructuring comes after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed that the company is still pursuing a grocery business but taking the time to hone the concept for the most effective model. "We have a set of experiments and concepts that we are working on across the dozens of stores and are pretty optimistic that some may work and hopeful that over the next year we find that,” he said during the company’s quarterly earnings call in early May.

Regular readers of this blog know that Amazon Go missed the mark with the Mill Valley, WA store. First the location is a secondary site at best. 

Once again, it is at the intersection Intellectual Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ) the data from Amazons IQ overwhelmed the customer focused touchpoints of EQ.  While the store is in up-scale Mill Valley a C-store customer is still a C-store customer.  Someone at Amazon Go does not understand the mind-set of that customer yet.

Amazon has the right products, wrong pricing, sizing, and placement within the store.  Lost in the shuffle of attempting to do too much is the fresh food, aka made to order meals and meal components. Great flavor, slow service, menu of yesterday’s entrée’s not todays. 

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® 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: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter