Arby's is thinking chicken

Two years ago, Arby's executives discussed how to attract Wild Oats and Whole Foods customers buying products labeled "all natural" and "organic." The same sought-after demographic was spending $14 billion a year on natural foods and drinks, and according to a Datamonitor survey, consumers are expected to shell out $27.5 billion in 2007 on natural and organic food products.

 

"We threw around probably 15 or so ideas before deciding on Chicken Naturals," said Ed Gleich, senior vice president of Arby's national marketing.

 

After the product exceeded expectations in 14 months of testing, the Chicken Naturals menu line was made available nationally in February.

 

Gleich said the Chicken Naturals have represented a big percentage of the company's sales. He believes as Chicken Naturals continues to gain brand awareness, sales will only grow.

 

"Arby's Chicken Naturals goes along the same trend as McDonald's upgrading coffee and Wendy's adding Frescata Sandwiches," said Kyle Shadix, managing partner with Culinary Nutrition Consultants Inc. "They are going after educated people who don't want to go through a drive-thru."  

 

Shadix said the term "natural" draws customers expecting healthful food. But he contends that natural is misleading.

 

"What is natural?" Shadix said. "Natural can mean anything and it's not a regulated term like 'organic.' Whenever people use the term 'natural,' it's important that they define what natural is to their customers." 

 

Arby's claims "all-natural" means the chicken gets no additives during processing such as water, phosphates or salt. Arby's does not claim its chickens are raised without hormones or antibiotics. Its Web site states that "free-range" and "organic" are terms describing how the animal was raised, not how it was processed. 

 

But when average consumers see Chicken Naturals, they associate the product with organic or free-range meat, Shadix said.

 

Nonetheless, the marketing strategy has worked.

 

Gleich said Chicken Naturals was the company's largest product launch in the past five years.

 

"We did our homework before moving forward with Chicken Naturals and made sure this wasn't some trend that wouldn't stick around," he said. "What we learned was people want natural. And if you look at the major grocery stores, they all have natural stores within them."

 

In addition to the phenomenon behind "natural," Americans eat more chicken than any other meat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that domestic chicken consumption will reach more than 86 pounds per capita this year. The USDA points to chicken's halo of health and strong qualities of versatility, value, convenience and taste as main factors in consumption growth.

 

But concerns over avian flu hover over the chicken industry. The disease has been confirmed in six European Union countries, including Germany, Italy and Greece. And White House officials expect migratory birds will carry it to the United States sometime this year. That said, Arby's doesn't believe the negativity associated with the bird flu will impact Chicken Naturals sales.

 

"From a supply standpoint, we are confident in the availability of chicken," Gleich said. "On the marketing side, there is a challenge with everybody talking about (bird flu). But we feel we have risen above the negative association because of our differentiation with natural."

 

 

To promote Chicken Naturals, Arby's launched one of the largest marketing campaigns in the company's history.

 

When Chicken Naturals was announced, a Google-friendly Web site — ArbysChickenNaturals.com — was waiting to support the new product line. According to Google AdSense, when the term "natural chicken" is searched in Google, an Arby's-related news item or Web site is the first item on the searched terms list.

 

"Branding their URL after the products was very smart," said Rodger Roeser, vice president for Justice & Young Advertising and Public Relations. "They will receive good search-engine optimization on this site, for sure. It's just good guerilla marketing."

 

Another unique marketing tactic was the restaurant chain's "Greatest Natural Athlete of All Time" promotion. Arby's teamed up with the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association to create a list of Greatest Athletes. NSSA members were asked to identify their top natural athlete picks based on the individual's true natural athletic ability.

 

Finalists included Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Didrikson-Zaharias, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, Jesse Owens, Deion Sanders and Jim Thorpe. The winner was five-time Tour de France winner Armstrong, one of the most-frequently searched-for people on the Web.

 

Arby's Chicken Naturals also landed a product placement this year on the The Apprentice, the NBC reality show where host Donald Trump molds and "fires" business professionals. Gleich said the Chicken Naturals episode was the show's highest-rated episode of the year.

 

In its main television spot, Arby's spokesman Hulk Hogan flexes his tiny biceps and struggles to rip off his smallish tank top. But the Hulk still has that deep and intimidating voice he's known for.

 

"I was at Arby's checking out the Cordon Blue," the Hulk roars in the 30-second spot. "That Natural Chicken tastes righteous. That's 'cause it's not pumped up with phosphates and filler, which gave the Hulk an idea. Maybe I don't need to be pumped up either."

 

 

In the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, Arby's ran an ad targeting males 18-49. The Swimsuit-only ad featured a chicken on a beach.

 

"It was really a funny ad and it was targeted for that demographic," Gleich said.

Gleich said the company will soon launch another marketing campaign to support Chicken Naturals.