The daughter of Wendy chain's late founder Dave Thomas publicly slammed recent ads in The Wall Street Journal as a personal affront (Melinda Lou
Thomas -- better known as Wendy -- auditioned to appear in the new
campaign, but Wendy's spokesperson Bob Bertini said consumer response
to Ms. Thomas' screen test "was not positive.") Her sister, Pam Farber,
also denounced the direction, and according to the Journal, Mr. Thomas'
widow, Lorraine, has called for Chief Marketing Officer Ian Rowden's
ouster. (Despite numerous attempts, the family couldn't be reached for
comment.)
But since the family now owns about 15
restaurants (out of 6,000) and no longer holds a meaningful percentage
of the company, its opinion doesn't weigh heavily.
And as far as Wendy's is concerned, it's just too bad that the person who made the red braids synonymous with the brand finds its campaign offensive.
Here's why: The "That's Right" campaign has achieved better awareness, recall and purchase intent in eight weeks than the previous campaign -- "Do What Tastes Right" -- got in 18 months, the company said. Wendy's is riding 13 consecutive months of same-store sales growth, although in May, June and July increases were less than 1%. And the burger chain says more than three-quarters of consumers, 76%, now readily associate the ad, "Kicking Trees," with Wendy's.
A conflict between the tried-and-true (the folksy advertising that marked Dave's way) and harder-edged marketing that tickles today's fast-feeding YouTubers isn't unusual in the burger business.
Read more.
Comments