News

Krystal's CMO launches millennial-centered ad campaign

June 28, 2018

The Krystal Company recently hired the former global marketing vice president at Moe's Southwest Grill, Dominic Losacco, to refresh the brand and launch a new ad campaign, along with other responsibilities, a news release said. 

To lead off the brand refresh, Krystal's new promotional campaign takes the chain — which distinguishes itself as the South's "original" QSR — and points it firmly at the millennial audience, through a pop-culture-saturated appeal. 

The #SquareTalk campaign uses an integrated multi-channel approach, heavily tilted toward digital and social venues to both win back wayward customers and boost comp sales under the theme of "living a little."

"'Live A Little' is a mindset and is at the very core of why people visit Krystal," Losacco said in the news release. "#SquareTalk is more than a play on words about our iconic square burgers. It means Krystal gives it to you square and simple in a way that other QSRs can't."

The brand worked with a Knoxville-based ad agency, Tombras, to develop the campaign, which includes paid social using a beta program and partnerships with third-party vendors to track each digital tactic deployed, as well as the real-time, walk-in business that the chain hopes to create through it.

Concurrent with the #SquareTalk campaign roll-out, Krystal is also launching LTOs, including Pimento Cheese Bites and Frozen Lemonhead Slushies, as part of an ongoing strategy to celebrate the brand's 11-state Southeastern domain with "playfully Southern" recipes.