If I was a fast-food operator, I’d try to figure out ways to coax more teens into my place than the fast-food joint down the street, because 99% of teenagers are going to get fast food. That’s a fact, based on a Mintel survey of teenagers’ fast-food habits.
I think I know how I’d do it. I’d offer more snacks. And if I didn’t have any snack tidbit ideas, I’d just take something already on the menu and call it a snack. You see, it turns out, more teens eat snacks at fast-food restaurants than eat breakfast at them. The word snack combined with the time of day resonates.
KFC wins the snack daypart, in my opinion, for positioning some of its sandwiches as snacks by calling (and trademarking them) Snackers. There’s the basic KFC Snacker and then four other line extensions: Buffalo KFC Snacker; Ultimate Cheese KFC Snacker; KFC Fish Snacker; and HBBQ Snacker.
Snack wraps, that I’ve already said in a previous post aren’t a trend, are actually quickly becoming the main snack thing. McDonald’s is seeing to that. It has a handful of them now, the most recent being the Angus Snack Wrap.
I think there’s plenty more room for snack wordage innovation: Snacksation, Snackalicious, Snaccasion. Then, there’s the simple task of revising the menu to include a snack section. What once was called sides could now be called sides and snacks. Desserts make great snacks. So change that menu section and call it desserts and snacks.
That’s the menu part. Then there’s the marketing, which could all be done on the fast-food chain's Facebook page. That’s where teens hang out. Take KFC, for example. It has more than 2.5 million Facebook fans who can sign up for the chain’s e-mail club to receive special offers. That’s where to announce snack promotions and/or a frequent-snacker program.
Bottom line for fast-food restaurants, the Snacksky is the limit. What do you think?
Jody
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