Arby's campaign sets chain apart from the rest

Nation's Restaurant News, Dec 16, 1991 by Robin Lee Allen

ATLANTA -- Arbey's is getting ready to roll a new national ad campaign fashioned to further define the chain's stand as being the alternative to traditional fast-food restaurants.

The campaign voices a direct theme line that declares "Arby's is different -- different is good," a variation from the company's previous slogan, "There's a difference in fast food and it's Arby's," which aired for two years.

"[In the past] we didn't really define what Arby's is," said Tom Grant, senior vice president of marketing and communications of Arby's Franchise Association, the marketing arm of the 2,500-unit chain, which is about 90 percent franchised. Operating independently from the Miami-based company, AFA is funded by an equal percentage of sales from franchised and company stores.

In the late 1980s, Arby's launched a hard-hitting comparative advertising assault on the major hamburger chains.

"The thrust of the creative before focused more on what we are not, and now we've taken it a step further to define what Arby's is," he said, adding that the new campaign focuses more on Arby's products than previous campaigns had done.

Franchisees seemd enthused about the new creative.

"It is a contemporary and upbeat way of expressing how we differ from the burger folks," said Chuck Nadler, president of Franchise Associates Inc., a Minnesota-based company that owns and operates 40 Arby's restaurants.

"If you've got good creative, you have to spend behind it and we are going to spend behind it. I am going to increase our ad budget."

Based on similar operator feeback systemwide, Grant said he expects advertising spending to increase from #27.5 million to "well over $30 million."

The campaign will commence next month with four 30-second television spots that depict a montage of daily routines, among them the monotony of eating hamburgers in a fastfood restaurant.

By opening in black and white and changing to color when the Arby's dining experience is shown, the spots attempt to contrast the difference between eating a hamburger and eating an Arby's sandwich.

"You have to have a good reason to drive past a couple of McDonald's, a Burger King and a Wendy's to go to Arby's," Nadler said. "And although no one thing is a silver bullet, I think this is the most effective advertising we have had in years."

Production costs for the campaign, developed by the Baltimore-based agency W.B. Doner and Co., are expected to total about $2 million for television spots and $1 million for radio spots, point of purchase, print and outdoor materials.

"Our plan is to stick with this campaign for the next three to five years," Grant said, explaining that the theme is designed to complement the company's introduction of new sandwich lines.

This year Arby' introduced its New Lite Menu, which features three sandwiches all under 300 calories. Last year the company added a grilled chicken sandwhich to its chicken line, and this year will mark the debut of a new sub sandwich line.

"The average life of a theme line in this business is usually so short," Grant said. That has been a problem because there is too much fragmentation and there is no consistency delivered to the consumer."

Both the long-term goals and immediate impact of the campaign are receiving widespread support from Arby's operators, who cited the campaign's flexibility, upbeat approach and consistency.

"What we are seeing with this new campaign is that there is something for everyone to use," said Russ Umphenour, president and chief executive of RTM Inc., a franchisee that operates 270-plus Arby's units. "The campaign is easily adaptable to all media. In the past we have tried to use [campaigns] in different media, but this hit the nail on the head."

Another franchise group commented that the campaign projects a consistent message to consumers. "The campaign is good," said Leslie Andrews, marketing director of The Bailey Co., a Colorado-based franchisee that operates 63 units throughout six states. "The advertising message is consistent throughout."

Aside from trying to build consistency, Grant said, the new campaign is expected to boost flat sales although he was unable to forecast by how much. Systemwide sales for 1991 were flat compared with the previous year's tally of more than $1.4 billion in revenues.

"Our growth is going to come from our three sandwich segments," said Grant, noting that the light menu, chicken items and sub-sandwhich line are designed to complement the company's core roast-beef sandwich offerings.

"What we're looking to achieve is to change people's attitudes. If we can change attitudes, we can increase visits and frequency.

"We had broad representation from the system. That's something different, and we got some real good ideas from [franchisees] as well."