A mom walking into a Chick-Fil-A with four kids, the cashier at Chick-Fil-A (CFA) will notice the situation, and go above and beyond to make sure that the guest has everything they could possibly need. They will grab a high chair for the small child, and bring everything to the table so the guest with the many kids doesn’t have to worry about anything other than watching her kids, CFA cashiers will handle everything she could possibly need. This is just one of many stories about how CFA employees go the “Second Mile” to make sure that every guest has a remarkable experience. It’s really something special to eat at CFA, and we have their marketing strategies to thank for everyone’s remarkable experiences while going to a CFA restaurant. Chick-Fil-A makes sure you have a remarkable experience in a few different areas, in person at the restaurant, online (social media), and marketing events in the store and in the communities around each store. There is something very special and unique about walking into a restaurant and feeling like your very well taken care of, and you can tell that they are trying to do everything to make your visit remarkable. All of this does cost the company money, but the payoff is definitely worth the investment for Chick-Fil-A, making them standout from all other Quick Service Restaurants (QSR’s). 

It’s very important to look at CFA’s marketing strategy as a whole, and the idea behind it all before we can look on how they apply it to the many forms of marketing. Scott Davis, the chief marketing officer at Prophet, conducted an interview with Steve Robinson, Chick-Fil-A’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer, to talk about everything that he knows about CFA’s complex marketing and company plans that have led the company to so much success. “Between gains from its existing restaurants and opening new stores, the company has been growing at the enviable rate of roughly 13 percent annually, which means the business doubles every five to seven years” (qtd. in Davis). This is something that most companies are striving to grow at the same rates as CFA, and most don’t ever see the kind of sales that CFA does consistently. Robinson goes on to specifics about what he thinks are the main reasons for the success at CFA. “Our growth is based on two things, the first is brand relevance, which includes everything from menus, buildings, service, technology, packaging and sustainability. And next, we have a strong focus on our Operators to ensure they have what they need to grow same-store sales” (qtd. in Davis). CFA has all of the state of the art equipment, custom made for specific uses at the restaurants, and also the operators all have their own in house marketing team which works to continue to boost sales on a local level while also working with the cooperate team to increase company wide sales all together (Wissinger). The cooperate CFA has a specific plan for its increasing sales and maintaining dedicated customers, and is very unique in almost every area of the marketing plan.

Robinson goes on to talk about specifics that make up the parts of the overall marketing plan for CFA. The first major point to the plan is for them to create a “raving fan” or a customer that goes to CFA more than 4 times a month and is so involved with the company that they will support the company in any way they can. One example of all of the raving fans that CFA has is Cow Appreciation Day where if they dress up as a cow and then come into the store then they will win a free sandwich, and so many people make a day out of it and come to CFA in crazy costumes. These die-hard fans are the ones that help CFA keep expanding, and CFA goes to great lengths to keep these fans raving over CFA. Operators will do anything to keep the fans engaged with the company, I have personally seen operators give out free food to those who come in often and walk peoples orders to their car. Even in Columbia, SC when they had a flood about a year ago and a lot of people lost their homes to the flood, the operator for the Chick-Fil-A at Garners Ferry Rd. handed out over a thousand free sandwiches to the families who lost their homes and to the volunteers who were helping rebuild. This doesn’t have to be done by any of the operators, they aren’t asked to do anything. But this is what makes CFA something different, the operators strive to make a difference in their communities and in turn this is creating those “Raving Fans.” The next topic of the marketing plan is to predict what the customers will want in the future, and not always what they need in the moment. Like a new mobile ordering app or the next cow billboard. Plan for what the customers want and makes them happy. The next point in the plan is to build relationships with your customers, not just building more transactions. Such as when CFA continues to sponsor the bowl game, and also supporting local athletic programs from each operator’s area. This is a huge expense for CFA to do, but it is worth it for the company because it makes people happy and helps to strengthen relationships with a lot of people at once. The last part to the plan is standing up for customers even when it is difficult. No matter what the customer needs, CFA will do everything they can to provide for them. CFA doesn’t just go over the top for their guest in person, but also online, provided and providing exceptional service online. (Davis)

There is something very new to the world of marketing, and that is effective use of online accounts to increase traffic and flow not only to your online accounts, but making that flow come into the stores as well. David Farmer, Chick-fil-A’s vice president of menu strategy and development, makes a statement about when the customers brought back the original BBQ Sauce by using social media:

We like to say that while the Cathy family owns the business, our customers own the brand. It’s critical that we remain in constant dialogue about changes to the menu or guest experience. Social media allows us to have very personal and immediate conversations with our guests, which is very different from traditional customer surveys that are often anonymous. We have not seen this level of passion around a menu change that was also something we could course-correct fairly easily. In the past, our menu changes have typically been a result of low sales or operational challenges—this was truly a first for us. 

(qtd. in Dixon)

Looking at how CFA usually engages with their guest on the matters of the menu items was mainly done through surveys on the bottom of the receipt with the promotion of getting a free sandwich if you complete the survey. Statistically this causes some problems because your data can be skewed from people that are on both extremes of service and those who just click through the survey for a free sandwich, and don’t give accurate answers. This is CFA’s normal way of getting feedback from their guest other than just in person comments while they are in the store, but in October of 2016 CFA was bombarded by their Raving Fans on twitter about CFA after changing their BBQ sauce to smokehouse BBQ from the original BBQ sauce. Taken from a QSR magazine article on the matter:

Thousands of customers took to social media, posting with the hashtag #BringBackTheBBQ, and they didn’t hold back. Fans also created petitions on change.org. ‘Hey @wikileaks, have you found any correspondence about the @ChickfilABBQ sauce change? I'd like to see someone brought to justice pls,’ one Twitter user wrote.

(Dixon)

A lot of companies would have just swept the tweets aside because the matter was so small that it wouldn’t matter if they brought a simple sauce back because a couple thousand people spoke out saying that they liked the old one better. Chick-Fil-A didn’t do this though, they took this as an opportunity to expand their brand community and increase the amount of Raving Fans they have. Not only did they bring the BBQ sauce back within two months of the event, but they went the second mile and actually sent over 5,000 bottles of the original BBQ sauce to people that contacted CFA about changing the sauce back to the original along with some other Chick-Fil-A branded items. CFA didn’t have do anything about the sauce, but they decided to respond to their community online and overall it had a huge impact and increase in sales as they continue to climb as a company. We can see this same scenario repeated over and over since the BBQ with all kinds of CFA food items, Frosted Lemonade, Frappes, and Bagels are just some of the few. But CFA continues to not only build relations in person, but with their online fan base as well. Going back to before CFA even had an official social media account we can see how much CFA as a company can impact people through their marketing.

Chick-Fil-A was founded in 1946 and didn’t have a single official online account to be made until 2008, but when they finally did start looking into the social media marketing side of things they found out that many fan pages had already been created on Facebook. One in particular had over 25,000 fans. They had many options to do at this point but they choose to do the least likely of all of them, and hadn’t been seen before:

After getting a read on the situation, Chick-fil-A's Michael McCathren, who holds the title conversation catalyst, contacted that fan, Brandy Bitzer. McCathren's hope was to get her to hand over the brand destination to the rightful owners. Yet soon into the conversation, he changed his mind. It turned out Bitzer was a true brand evangelist. She lives in Connecticut, an hour away from the nearest Chick-fil-A store, but she became acquainted with its signature chicken sandwiches when the cruise company she works for stopped in Los Angeles. She visited stores again while traveling for work and became hooked. Bitzer began the page in November 2007, posting photos and profile updates, and it grew from there.

(Morrissey 40)

They ended up hiring Bitzer and she owns half of the Facebook page and runs it with the help of CFA. They even paid for her to travel down to Atlanta to the headquarters and give talks about being such a raving fan. Since giving one of their own raving fans control over the company’s social media accounts all of them have been gaining followers exponentially and are a key asset for the company to give news to their raving fans and for the fans to communicate back to the company directly. Social Media also happens within individual locations in the same way except for the marketing team for each store controls that stores accounts and has free will over them. These accounts can also be used for announcements of bigger marketing events for Chick-fil-A as a whole and also each location. (Dixon)

If there is one thing that ties all of the marketing together for Chickfila and puts it into one big event, then that would have to be the marketing teams for each CFA that create marketing events inside the store and outside in the surrounding communities. I work for a CFA marketing team in Columbia, South Carolina, and I am going to use my personal experiences with the marketing events to tell some stories about what all the marketing team does. The local Marketing teams do a lot of work, and are very important for each CFA location. They are the key that brings CFA away and makes CFA stand out from all other businesses in the realm of marketing. Starting out with something small that the marketing team does would just be doing sampling, it’s nothing that has not been done before, but it does introduce costumers to new and different products that CFA is offering at the time. The second thing is creating in store events which is a major thing that makes CFA marketing really worth it. It makes CFA really remarkable and can leave a lasting impression in the people that participate in the events. One of the best memories I had as a kid was when I was in elementary school and CFA was having a polar express party and myself and all of my friends all went to CFA and got to ride a train through the parking lot, we got hot chocolate, and we also watched the entire movie in our pajamas in a CFA in Lexington, SC. This event has always left me with a slight connection with the brand that is Chick-Fil-A and has left a permanent mark on myself. These marketing events are leaving lasting impressions and found memories that are associated with the brand, this is positive reinforcement at its finest and will create a permanent bond with the brand. These kids will continue to go to CFA as adults because of this positive reinforcement. 

After I started my career working for CFA marketing team in Columbia I was actually able to be a part of the same event that I went to as a child. I was able to make an impact on so many people in one night. This continues to happen over and over for each event that we host. We tend to host about one event per month, such as Dinner with Santa Cow, Chick-Fil-A marathon, Get Lucky in the Drive through, and the weekly days spent with a man in a cow costume. All of these events you can literally see the impact that it has on the people that get to experience these events. That is what really makes CFA so remarkable, these events and every time a customer walks into a CFA, no matter which one, they are going to be guaranteed a wonderful experience, and guaranteed smiles. These marketing events create lasting impressions and really have a positive impact on the communities as well, giving something constructive to bring their kids to, or hosting a 5k, inspiring a healthy life style. Companies strive to achieve these levels of brand loyalty, but they just can’t seem to get there.

Chick-Fil-A stands out from all other businesses in the realm of marketing and having one of the strongest brand communities out there alongside big brands like Nike, Coke and Apple, unquestionable loyalty. Walking into CFA in person, your guaranteed an above all else experience and you’re going to feel like you’re in a five-star restaurant, where else will a cashier walk you to your car with an umbrella in the rain? You can always count on CFA to be there for you even if you are just letting them know you like a certain sauce through twitter. They might just send you an entire bottle of your favorite sauces. Making lasting memories through their marketing events, something that you will never forget, therefore you will build a mental connection to the brand. Some might even call it a relationship with the brand, a relationship that you will never want to leave, plus there is free Wi-Fi. There is just something great about feeling cared for and respected, some might say that they are wasting a ton of money on all the marketing, and yes they are spending a lot of money to pay for all of the events and free food for guest. All that marketing just pays itself off in the end because now you have customers that are so loyal that they are willing to pay the full price every time because they know they are being taken care of. Everyone loves to know they are cared for, and Chick-Fil-A really does care for every individual.
