A sign hangs outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant on May 6, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, milkshakes – and now TV shows and podcasts?
Chick-fil-A plans to launch a new app on Nov. 18, featuring a series of original animated shows, scripted podcasts, games, recipes and e-books aimed at families.
While it’s an unusual move for a restaurant company to enter the busy world of media, Chick-fil-A has been expanding outside of food for years — with the ultimate goal of directing more people to its more than 3,000 restaurants. As of 2019, Chick-fil-A ranks as the third-largest restaurant chain in the US by sales, trailing only Starbucks and McDonald’s, with far fewer locations than either. Last year, its revenue reached $7.89 billion, according to franchisee disclosure documents.
As it tries to increase restaurant sales, the company has sold branded merchandise, like a sleeping bag that looks like a chicken sandwich wrapper, and created a spinoff brand called Pennycakewhich offers games and puzzles for families. And for the last five years it has been circulating short animations on YouTube during the holiday season as part of the Evergreen Hills Stories series.
“We’ve been paying attention to some research and conversations we’ve had with families that are our customers, and the insights have shown that content and games are both next to mealtime,” said Dustin Britt, executive director of Chick-fil-A. . brand strategy, entertainment and media.
“We believe that as we add value to their experience, then we give them a reason to want to enjoy more Chick-fil-A with us,” he added.
A preview of the app aired by CNBC featured the 22-minute first episode “Legends of Evergreen Hills” which continues the adventures of protagonist Sam in the fantasy world of Evergreen Hills. the first part of “Hidden Island”, a scripted podcast about a family shipwrecked on a desert island. and a step-by-step cooking tutorial using a Chick-fil-A milkshake as the base ingredient.
Customers can pre-order the free Chick-fil-A Play app for their iPhones, iPads and Android devices ahead of next month’s launch.
Why Chick-fil-A is betting on content
People walk past a Chick-fil-A restaurant on 8th Avenue on December 30, 2023, in New York City.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images
Chick-fil-A decided to create the app after years of conversations with customers and as consumer behavior shifts away from extended visits to its restaurants.
While many of Chick-fil-A’s customers still enjoy its in-restaurant playgrounds, more of its customers are now using drive-thru lanes and ordering delivery, according to Khalilah Cooper, Chick-fil’s vice president of brand strategy, advertising -A. and media. Opponent McDonald’s is slowly phasing out its PlayPlaces, a change likely resulting from fewer children using the playgrounds, health and safety concerns and a shift away from marketing to children.
“We’re looking at this app as a way to have a digital playground for the whole family to enjoy, whether it’s in our restaurants, driving, driving to soccer practice or even relaxing at home,” said Cooper. CNBC. “We want it to be an extension of our hospitality and generosity in the restaurant.”
The app’s content focuses on themes such as generosity, friendship, problem solving, creativity and entrepreneurship, according to Cooper. Chick-fil-A designed the app content to appeal to children 12 and under and their parents.
After the initial release, new episodes of “Legends of Evergreen Hills” will be released weekly during the holidays. “Hidden Island” will follow a similar drop schedule. Next year, the Play app will release “Ice Lions,” another scripted audio series based on the true story of Kenyan teenagers who want to form the country’s first ice hockey team.
Most of the content that will be available on the app was created with external partners led by Chick-fil-A’s internal team, but some of it was licensed. The company did not disclose the names of its external partners.
“We’re constantly thinking about what additional elements we can add to the app over time,” Cooper said.
In August, publication in the media The deadline was mentioned that Chick-fil-A partners with outside production companies for content, including unscripted shows such as a family game show;
“I will say we’re exploring a variety of different types of content and everything right now is a potential opportunity for us. We’ll continue to learn and explore and figure out what things work,” Britt said.
Restaurants as media brands
A Chick-fil-A meal is displayed at a Chick-fil-A restaurant on June 1, 2023 in Novato, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
As legacy media players like it Disney and Discovery by Warner Bros have found that creating content is expensive and attracting viewers is difficult given the plethora of options available on streaming services.
For brands like Chick-fil-A, the calculus is a little different. Instead of using content to monetize subscriptions or ads, they seek to sell more of their own products. This has been happening ever since Procter & Gamble first sponsored daytime radio show that sold her soap – creating the soap opera.
“There’s a lot of content being created by media houses for brands, and I think brands want to tap into that because it’s more authentic. It feels more like content rather than advertising,” said Stephani Estes, head of media for Goodway Group, a digital marketing firm. .
The most recent participants include; Starbuckswhich announced this summer that it will create original content through a partnership with Sugar23. And in January, said Chuck E. Cheese is teaming up with “Top Chef” producer Magical Elves to create its own game.
“I think the biggest question I would have, as a marketer, is what is the business problem that you’re trying to solve? And the dollar invested in content creation or a particular initiative is going to make more money than spending that dollar somewhere else elsewhere in the marketing funnel?” Estes said.
For Chick-fil-A, branded content gives it a way to connect with kids – without the same stench of advertising directly to them – and encourage brand goodwill from their parents.
And unlike Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, Chick-fil-A has some flexibility to figure out if the investment works. As a family company, it is not owned by shareholders who might push back on an expensive marketing effort.
Chick-fil-A also has cash to burn, especially given its meteoric growth over the past decade. From 2018 to 2023, its system-wide sales nearly doubled. Last year, it had a net profit of $1.07 billion. Chairman Dan Cathy, who served as CEO from 2013 to 2021 and is the father of current CEO Andrew Cathy, has a net worth of $10.6 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
Coincidentally, Dan Cathy owns Atlanta-based Trilith Studios, whose scenes have served as the setting for several Marvel movies and TV shows, as well as Francis Ford Coppola’s 2024 mega-flop “Megalopolis.” Tax breaks and cheap labor have helped Atlanta become the “Hollywood of the South” over the past decade. Cathy has previously come under fire for comments he made in 2012 against same-sex marriage, and the company’s foundation donated to anti-LGBTQ groups during his tenure as CEO.
Dan Cathy was not directly involved in the development of the Play app or making decisions about the content, according to Cooper. Chick-fil-A also hasn’t worked with his studio — yet.
“We haven’t done any work directly with Trilith to date, but that’s something we’re continuing to explore where it makes the most sense for both our businesses and our brands,” he said.