Article

Arby's launches 'major' brand revitalization initiative

Arby's revitalization includes Brand Camp, where team members learn about the company's values and guest experience enhancements.

June 12, 2014 by Alicia Kelso — Editor, QSRWeb.com

Arby's Restaurant Group has launched a remodeling program across its system nationwide. According to a company announcement, the "major, holistic" turnkey initiative includes a new building image, team member re-training program and franchisee remodel financing solution. The new restaurant image is called "Inspire" and it is being introduced as the Arby's brand celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. 

"We continue to make tremendous progress against our multi-year program to reinvigorate the Arby's brand," CEO Paul Brown said in the announcement. "The release of the new Inspire remodel image and corresponding revitalization initiative is an important step in the journey ... Initiatives like these will ensure we're well positioned for our next 50 years of growth."

Jason Rollins, Arby's manager of public engagement, said recently that the brand began testing the new prototype last year, and the new solution is more affordable than previous prototypes.

Arby's is now planning to remodel at least 30 company-owned restaurants to the new Inspire image this year in key markets, including: Huntsville, Ala.; Indianapolis; Youngstown, Ohio, and Salt Lake City. Youngstown is the site of the first Arby's, so it was chosen to mark the milestone anniversary.

Architectural plans were released to franchisees this month, and the company plans to significantly expand the number of remodels in 2015.

"Though we're still in the early stages, the response from guests has been extremely positive," COO George Condos said in the release. "Since the start of rollouts in early 2014, the revitalized restaurants have seen an average of nearly 20 percent in sales increases, which further supports our focused efforts on this front."

The design elements

Updates to the restaurant interior and exterior include a new color palette, geometric shapes and elements, renewed materials and subway tiling. Condos said the remodel designs were largely based on customer and franchisee feedback.

"Our success is directly correlated with how our guests experience the brand," he said. "It's critical for us to listen and respond accordingly when our guests and franchisees share suggestions on how we can improve."

According to the release, exterior enhancements include: cantilevered red awnings at the primary touch points (drive-thru, entranceway, etc.), new internally-illuminated signage, wood tones, white brick, enhanced lighting for strong visual impact at night and upgraded landscaping around the restaurant.

Interior enhancements include: an inviting color palette that ties to the brand colors using updated, fresh materials, subway tiling and stainless steel in the kitchen area, multicolor wood materials, modern lighting and chalkboard graphics.

Brand Camp and branding shifts

Additionally, the brand revitalization effort includes a half-day, offsite Brand Camp session for all restaurant team members. In Brand Camp, team members learn about Arby's purpose, core values, and how they can deliver a better overall guest service experience. Year-to-date, more than 19,000 team members have participated in this program and Arby's intends to conduct these sessions for the remainder of the system throughout the balance of the year.

The restaurant remodeling effort is part of Arby's plan to debut a new positioning and creative campaign later this summer, under the direction of new CMO Rob Lynch, who came on board in September from Taco Bell, where he helped spearhead the launch of the Doritos Locos Taco.

"He's already brought on so many big ideas and we could not be happier. We're at a point now where we want to focus on our proteins, which is our unique differentiator," Rollins said, adding that the Smokehouse Brisket, introduced in September, is Arby's most successful LTO ever.

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