Scott Davis Archives - Reputation Communications

More Than Chicken Fuels Chick-fil-A’s Success

The opening of Chick-fil-A in Manhattan has brought out protesters opposed to the company’s politics. A New York Times story about the situation prompted us to republish this case study, originally posted September 29, 2014.

Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy passed away earlier this month, but his legacy will live on through his popular restaurant chain.

By openly reflecting Cathy’s own beliefs and values, Chick-fil-A forged a strong identity that has earned broad appeal. As Emma Green explores in an in-depth Atlantic article, the company is well known for sharing Cathy’s deeply Christian views. This stance has spurred controversy—in 2012 the company faced a firestorm on social media for donations it made to anti-gay charities—but it has also imbued its brand with a distinct authenticity.

Employees value company’s culture and values

Employees recently voted Chick-fil-A one of the top companies for culture and values, and, by incorporating philanthropy into the company’s mission, Cathy “pioneered the charitable business,” according to the Christian Science Monitor’s Bryan Cronan. Such honesty and sincerity has paid off, as Drew Harwell notes in the Washington Post:

The chicken chain has inspired a consumer loyalty that is the envy of its fast-food rivals. Just after the 2012 flare-up, consumers told market analysts that Chick-fil-a scored way above average for attributes like “brand image” and “emotional connection,” a measure of whether the restaurant “has a likable personality” and “has values that are similar to my own.” Technomic gave Chick-fil-a another award this year for “social consciousness.”

Building an image online

Chick-fil-A’s social media presence builds on that authenticity and creates a personal connection with their customers. Their Facebook updates are an excellent example of balancing promotional messages with more personal content and a general sense of enthusiasm for the brand. This mix has earned the company more than 7,500,000 likes on Facebook and some of the most loyal followers among top brands. It also consistently elicits engagement. For instance, Brand Channel’s Darcy Newell points out that “more than 50,000 Facebook followers ‘liked’ the brand’s announcement of Truett’s passing in the first 48 hours.”

…and off

Though it has adhered to its founder’s core principles, Chick-fil-A also understands that it must listen to its customers to maintain such loyalty. Last year Forbes.com contributor Scott Davis talked with senior vice president Steve Robinson about the importance of “raving fans” and popular initiatives like LEED-certified restaurants. “That may not sound interesting to all of our leaders, but it is very important to our customers,” Robinson explained. Similarly, this past February Chick-fil-A heeded public calls to move toward using antibiotic-free chicken.

With its strong values and ability to engage with its customers in a way that is both sophisticated and sincere, Chick-fil-A has built an exceptional brand image. S. Truett Cathy’s ardent vision has proven successful. Last year Chick-fil-A had the most sales of any chicken restaurant chain, even though the previous leader KFC operates nearly three times as many stores.

Social media has played a central role in several of the most successful reputation management campaigns of the last few years.

In a recent Forbes.com article Scott Davis described how Toyota repaired its reputation following the bout of recalls that sent it plummeting in 2009 and 2010. The automaker employed a series of innovative social media strategies to engage with its customers on a personal level.

One of Toyota’s strategies was a series of Digg Dialogg Q&A sessions, which allowed the company to respond directly and candidly to customers and critics. Mashable’s Todd Wasserman said those sessions, “gave Toyota the appearance of achieving social media branding nirvana: Transparency.”

Transparency Paid Off

That approach clearly paid off, as Harris Interactive’s latest Reputational Quotient survey, published in February, ranks Toyota as the company with the most-improved reputation.

Harris Interactive’s survey reveals that few companies have seen their reputations improve lately. Joining Toyota in that small group is BP, which embraced social media in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Strategy Matters

Simply building a presence in social media isn’t enough. AT&T, for example, implemented an extensive social media customer service strategy aimed at rehabilitating its tarnished reputation.

The factors that separate an effective strategy from a failed one can be difficult to generalize. The best strategies seem to be tailor-made for a company, its customers, and the problems it is facing. Davis summed it up nicely: “Reputation is something that is both fragile yet resilient. The ability to spring back when it’s damaged takes a keen understanding of the factors and attitudes that shape a reputation to begin with.”