Marketing to small fries isn't child's play

Marketing to small fries isn't child's play
Tags: Operations Management, Packaging Trends
April 18, 2007 - Julie Sturgeon

According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurant-industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $537 billion in 2007, with children and teens playing a big role in that 5 percent increase from 2006 sales figures.

"Households with children feel a need to reduce stress much more than households without kids," said Hudson Riehle, the NRA's senior vice president of research.

The stakes aren't lost on Jeff Cannon, president of The Cannon Group, an integrated marketing and public relations firm that helped launch Energy Kitchen in New York. "The interesting thing about young children today versus five or 10 years ago is that they have a lot more input into what they're eating than they did before," he said. "They also have some discretionary income that allows them to actually start making those decisions."

Toy incentives and french fry temptations have worked like a charm for QSRs, with the fast-casual culture, in many instances, looking to that segment for effective children's-marketing guidance.

But critics abound and there seems to be an international assualt on how much or how little, QSR advertising is impacting youth.

The food

In 2005, officials at the Center for Science in the Public Interest admitted that pressuring government to legislate how companies market food to children isn't likely to go anywhere.

Instead, it set its sights on urging private industry to voluntarily heed its Guidelines for Responsible Food Marketing to Children, addressing not only how food is marketed to those under 18, but which foods should be trotted before their hungry eyes. Soda; foods high in saturated or trans fat, added sugars or salt; and large portions made their banned list.

"CSPI's guidelines do not call on companies to stop marketing food to children," said Margo G. Wootan, D.Sc., director of nutrition policy at the organization. "However, adhering to the guidelines would require most food manufacturers, restaurants, television stations, magazines, movie studios and advertising agencies to change their current practices — especially the products that they promote or advertise."

That goes for sponsoring educational incentive programs, too.

Frankly, the group's spiel draws a collective yawn from some restrauteurs. Fred Brewer, who is in charge of advertising and marketing for Chicago-based Pockets, says the very nature of the food Pockets sells as its niche precludes ceiling danglers of brownie bites. "We always try to put a healthy approach to it because that's our image," he said.

The catered lunch programs he markets to local schools replace cookies with carrot sticks or applesauce. The chicken nuggets prominently displayed on the kid's menu board are the same 97 percent fat-free product he sells to the adults. And his Dino pizza slices? They're made from whole wheat grain, same as the grown-up menu — the difference is he shapes the children's slices to resemble dinosaurs.

"We're getting a good response," Brewer said. "We definitely have more families coming into the restaurants, and kid's meals are an item on our menu that has grown."

Moe's Southwest Grill, which already considers its kid-sized burritos, quesadillas and tacos healthier than the average restaurant, is discussing adding juice and milk products to the packages this year.

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"I think across the market, the need for higher nutritional standards is going to be important," Cannon said. "Communication about food quality is going to be important because kids are taking greater responsibility and greater interest in how they look and feel.

"Before, price point played a bigger component in the success mix. I think quality and presentation is starting to play a larger role now."

The QSR advantage

Still, when it comes to grabbing instant attention, it's tough to beat an old-fashioned bribe.

While some some fast-casuals have begun exploring how to offer the ubiquitous toy without selling their souls, Cannon isn't convinced this is the way to go.

For starters, large QSR chains already have a lock on tying into value products like Harry Potter books.

"What fast casual needs to do is incentivize repeat service rather than to generate new sales," Cannon said. "You don't necessarily have to have a toy as long as there are elements to occupy a child's interest. That's the key."

But whichever philosophy franchises choose to adopt, it's a mistake to talk down to the under-18 crowd. Thanks, in part, to sophisticated electronic games and toys, today's youth considers itself more mature than previous generations. "They're upward aspirational," Cannon said. "They want to see themselves as grown up enough to order adult food even though their portion is less."

** QSRWeb editor Valerie Killifer contributed to the article.