George Felix, a renowned marketer known for modernizing and repositioning restaurant brands such as Pizza Hut and KFC, returns to the restaurant industry after leading one of the most famous dating apps: Tinder. Now the expert will act as Director of Marketing for Chili’s (CMO) at a time when the chain is experiencing declining profits as prices rise, driving its shares down.
Informal chains have been struggling for several years and the inflation induced by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as labor shortages are not helping. However, the biggest culprit may be changing consumer tastes, with millennialswhich exceeded the baby boomers as the greatest generation in 2020largely preferring to cook at home or frequent fast-casual restaurants over traditional establishments.
That is the main reason why several companies dedicated to this sector are suffering the damage.
In addition, the millennial, the largest living generation, are poised to have more spending power than baby boomers this year, according to analysts at Bernstein. According to the results, millennials eat just 2 percent of their meals at a restaurant, which is estimated to be about one trip every two weeks.
As this habit grows, more supermarkets are now offering prepared meals or upgrading their existing options. More restaurants and fast casual chains are offering home delivery and making their takeout menu options more accessible. And technologies like mobile ordering and delivery apps are playing a key role in making eating more convenient for consumers. millennials.
Nevertheless, Chili’s is not the only company affected by the generation millennial, Well, the preference for prepared foods boils down to convenience, to the point where even making cereal is considered too much of a hassle for them because it would leave a dirty bowl, according to a 2021 report from Mintel. As a result of this, the cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s saw its sales drop 14 percent between 2019 and 2021, as younger consumers turned to more convenient options like yogurt and ready-made breakfast sandwiches.
So that find out how to market to millennials is probably a mandate for the new CMO of chilis. More broadly, the ad highlighted Felix’s reputation for revitalizing legacy brands.
“George has a history of driving sales quickly and rebuilding great brands over time,” Kevin Hochman, Brinker’s president and chief executive officer, said in a press release.
In 2020, Felix joined Pizza Hut as CMObut left the mark for Tinder in 2021. His departure marked the CMO’s second departure in two years, reflecting the brand’s continued growth struggles as it tried to keep up with changes accelerated by the pandemic. He resigned just as the brand launched its campaign “Newstalgia”, that updated part of the brand of pizza huthow to turn pizza boxes into games of Pac Man playable through QR codes and virtual reality.
During his tenure in KFC, the brand won the Marketing Dive 2017 Marketer of the Year award. That year, the brand launched a chicken sandwich into space and published a 96-page romance novel featuring a Colonel Sanders inspired by Fabio, the brand’s mascot.
Felix’s appointment as CMO in chilis follows the recent attempts of the chain of upgrade the customer experience, including the launch of an e-commerce store and the introduction of robots that deliver food. Felix’s arrival can be seen as the next step in the chain’s efforts to boost its brand.
Furthermore, with this we can see that the heart of any brand lies in its marketing efforts. marketing. A company’s revenue or customer engagement efforts are highly dependent on the success of its marketing campaigns. marketing or advertising. Therefore, effective marketing management is key to a brand’s reputation in the global marketplace.