Chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, milkshakes \u2014 and now TV shows and podcasts?<\/p>\n
Chick-fil-A plans to launch a new app on Nov. 18, with a slate of original animated shows, scripted podcasts, games, recipes and e-books aimed at families.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s an unusual move for a restaurant company to wade into the crowded media world, Chick-fil-A has been expanding outside of food for years already \u2014 with the ultimate goal of directing more people to its over 3,000 restaurants. Since 2019, Chick-fil-A has held the spot of the third-biggest U.S. restaurant chain by sales, trailing only Starbucks and McDonald\u2019s, with many fewer locations than either. Last year, its revenue reached $7.89 billion, according to franchisee disclosure documents.<\/p>\n
As it tries to drive more restaurant sales, the company has sold branded merchandise, like a sleeping bag that resembles its chicken sandwich\u2019s packaging, and created a\u00a0spinoff brand called Pennycake, which offers family-friendly games and puzzles. And for the last five years, it\u2019s released\u00a0animated shorts on YouTube\u00a0during the holiday season as part of its \u201cStories of Evergreen Hills\u201d series.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been paying attention to some research and conversations we\u2019ve had with families that are our customers, and insights bubbled up that content and games are both adjacent to mealtime,\u201d said Dustin Britt, Chick-fil-A\u2019s executive director of brand strategy, entertainment and media.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur belief is, as we add value to their experience, then we\u2019re giving them a reason to want to enjoy more Chick-fil-A with us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
A preview of the app viewed by CNBC included the first 22-minute episode of\u00a0\u201cLegends of Evergreen Hills,\u201d\u00a0which continues protagonist Sam\u2019s adventures in the fantasy world of Evergreen Hills; the first installment of \u201cHidden Island,\u201d a scripted podcast about a family that shipwrecks on a deserted island; and a step-by-step cooking tutorial that uses a Chick-fil-A milkshake as a key ingredient.<\/p>\n
Customers can pre-download the free Chick-fil-A Play app for their iPhones, iPads and Android devices ahead of the launch next month.<\/p>\n
Chick-fil-A decided to create the app following years of discussions with customers and as consumer behavior shifts away from prolonged visits to its restaurants.<\/p>\n
While many of Chick-fil-A\u2019s customers still enjoy its in-restaurant playgrounds, more of its customers are now using its drive-thru lanes and ordering delivery, according to Khalilah Cooper, Chick-fil-A\u2019s vice president of brand strategy, advertising and media. Rival\u00a0McDonald\u2019s\u00a0has slowly been erasing its PlayPlaces, a change likely resulting from fewer children using the playgrounds, concerns about health and safety, and a shift away from marketing to children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking at this app as a way to have a digital playground for the entire family to enjoy, whether they\u2019re in our restaurants, in the drive-thru, driving to soccer practice or even relaxing at home,\u201d Cooper told CNBC. \u201cWe want it to be an extension of our in-restaurant signature hospitality and generosity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The content on the app focuses on themes like generosity, friendship, problem-solving, creativity and entrepreneurship, according to Cooper. Chick-fil-A designed the app\u2019s content to appeal to children 12 years old and under and their parents.<\/p>\n
After the initial launch, new episodes of \u201cLegends of Evergreen Hills\u201d will release weekly through the holidays; \u201cHidden Island\u201d will follow a similar drop schedule. Next year, the Play app will launch \u201cIce Lions,\u201d another scripted audio series based on the true story of Kenyan teenagers who want to form the country\u2019s first ice hockey team.<\/p>\n
Most of the content that will be available on the app was created with outside partners led by Chick-fil-A\u2019s internal team, but some of it was licensed. The company didn\u2019t disclose the names of its external partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re constantly thinking about what additional elements we can add into the app over time,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
In August, media publication\u00a0Deadline reported\u00a0that Chick-fil-A has been working with outside production companies for content, including unscripted shows, like a family-friendly game show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll say that we\u2019re exploring a variety of different types of content, and everything right now is a potential opportunity for us. We\u2019re going to keep learning and exploring and figuring out what things work,\u201d Britt said.<\/p>\n
As legacy media players like\u00a0Disney\u00a0and\u00a0Warner Bros. Discovery\u00a0have found out, making content is expensive and attracting viewers is difficult, given the glut of available options on streaming services.<\/p>\n
For brands like Chick-fil-A, the calculus is a bit different. Rather than using content to make money from subscriptions or advertisements, they\u2019re looking to sell more of their own products. That\u2019s been the case since\u00a0Procter & Gamble\u00a0first sponsored daytime radio shows to sell its soap \u2014 creating the soap opera.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of content creation that happens from media houses for brands, and I think that brands want to tap into that because it feels more authentic. It feels more like content and not an ad,\u201d said Stephani Estes, chief media officer for Goodway Group, a digital marketing agency.<\/p>\n
More recent entrants include\u00a0Starbucks, which\u00a0announced this summer\u00a0that it will create original content through a partnership with Sugar23. And in January,\u00a0Chuck E. Cheese said\u00a0it\u2019s working with \u201cTop Chef\u201d producer Magical Elves to create its own game show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest question I would have, as a marketing professional, is what is the business problem that you\u2019re trying to solve? And is the dollar invested in that content creation or particular initiative going to pay out more than spending that dollar somewhere else in the marketing funnel?\u201d Estes said.<\/p>\n
For Chick-fil-A, the branded content gives it a way to connect with kids \u2014 without the same stink as advertising directly to them \u2014 and foster goodwill toward the brand from their parents.<\/p>\n
And unlike Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, Chick-fil-A has some flexibility to figure out if the investment is working. As a family-owned company, it isn\u2019t beholden to shareholders who might push back against an expensive marketing endeavor.<\/p>\n
Chick-fil-A also has cash to burn,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>especially given its meteoric growth over the last decade. From 2018 to 2023, its systemwide sales nearly doubled. Last year, it raked in net earnings of $1.07 billion. Chair Dan Cathy, who served as CEO from 2013 to 2021 and is father to current CEO Andrew Cathy, has a net worth of $10.6 billion, according to\u00a0Forbes estimates.<\/p>\n Coincidentally, Dan Cathy owns Atlanta-based Trilith Studios, whose stages have acted as sets for many Marvel movies and TV shows, plus Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s 2024 mega-flop \u201cMegalopolis.\u201d Tax breaks and cheap labor have helped Atlanta become the \u201cHollywood of the South\u201d over the last decade. Cathy has previously drawn criticism for remarks he made in 2012 opposing same-sex marriage, and the company\u2019s foundation donated to anti-LGBTQ groups during his time as chief executive.<\/p>\n Dan Cathy was not directly involved in the development of the Play app or making decisions related to the content, according to Cooper. Chick-fil-A also hasn\u2019t worked with his studio \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve not currently done any work directly with Trilith to date, but that\u2019s something that we continue to explore, where it makes the most sense for both our businesses and brands,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, milkshakes \u2014 and now TV shows and podcasts? Chick-fil-A plans to launch a new app on Nov. 18, with a slate of original animated shows, scripted podcasts, games, recipes and e-books aimed at families. While it\u2019s an unusual move for a restaurant company to wade into the crowded media world, Chick-fil-A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}