News

Wing Zone undergoes brand makeover

August 8, 2011

Wing Zone has completed a comprehensive brand makeover of its franchise operation.

Design Coup Inc. a brand development agency in Decatur, Ga., used its "Brand Story" approach to reshape the nearly-100-unit chain's message, food concept, graphics and operations to focus on Wing Zone's flavors.

Wing Zone was started in 1991, but had never fully developed a brand experience until now, after the concept's founder and president Matt Friedman began looking for a way to capture exactly what the brand is about.

"We won lots of national awards and prided ourselves on our food, flavor and operations," Friedman said. "But until now, we only seemed to communicate our winning attributes through the food itself. Design Coup latched onto flavor and pushed us hard to take our brand to a new plateau of awareness."

Design Coup's Brand Story approach taps into the core customer perceptions and benefits of Wing Zone's food, delivery system and flavors. This approach ensures that the brand connects emotionally with consistent messaging, clear benefits and credible positioning.

The Flavor brand was tested last month at a new Wing Zone location in the Bahamas.

"We determined in our brand story development that the flavor concept would travel well internationally," said Michael Higgins, president of Design Coup. "I personally went to the store opening. Customers were lined up and excited. Sales expectations were exceeded by 300 percent."

The new flavor-focused brand experience includes:

• A new Wing Zone corporate identity;
• A comprehensive Brand Platform to support the entire branding system;
• A Flavorholics customer engagement campaign that celebrates the individual tastes and eccentricities that define people's favorite flavors;
• A trademarked Flavor FUZE cooking process for wings, fingers, shrimp, sandwiches and more;
• Descriptive new flavor names and descriptions that liven up the menu;
• New Flavorholics graphics for the store interiors, website and menus;
• Digital menu boards that highlight Wing Zone's Flavorholics;
• A launch video to excite Wing Zone franchisees.

Brand revamp comes after Wing Zone launches drive-thru

Wing Zone recently opened its first freestanding drive-thru unit in Cumming, Ga. Additional Wing Zone locations featuring the drive-thru will open in Savannah this summer and Atlanta this fall.

"We are proud to be the first wing QSR to offer Wing Zone Flavorholics a drive-thru," said Friedman. "The drive-thru will provide Flavorholics with a quicker way to get our cooked-to-order product."

Along with the new drive-thru component, the stand-alone building will provide a more convenient location than the standard delivery/take-out unit. The freestanding building will offer enhanced real estate options for Wing Zone locations, with the opportunity for higher visibility areas closer to highly traveled roadways.

Check out the new branding message here:

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