With grocery retailers like Loblaws, Sobeys and Costco pecking away at sales of its core rotisserie chicken business, Swiss Chalet is fighting back with a new campaign promoting its unique characteristics.
The casual-dining chain introduced its new “Nothing Else is Swiss” brand positioning this week with a series of TV and online spots developed by Vancouver agency 123W.
The spots were inspired by actual revelations, from customers’ preferred dunking style for its iconic “Chalet Sauce,” to patrons who admitted to over-ordering so they could have a guilt-free opportunity to swipe extra food from their child’s plate.
It is the first major campaign for Swiss Chalet from 123W, which successfully pitched the assignment last fall. While 123W is one of several agency partners for the Cara-owned chain, it has emerged as its primary partner for TV and radio, said director of marketing Lindsay Robinson.
“They get business strategy, they get the agency model that makes the most sense, and they get our brand,” she said. Swiss Chalet’s marketing plan calls for extensive TV advertising this year (“We plan to be on air as many weeks as possible,” said Robinson).
Media buying for the campaign is handled by Vancouver-based Genuine Retail Media.
123W founder and executive creative director Rob Sweetman said the campaign is intended to reflect customers’ affinity for the brand. “It felt to us that Swiss Chalet [occupied] a special brand territory that not a lot of other Canadian brands do – just this affinity that Canadians have for it,” he said.
“You talk to these people that are so passionate, they think that anybody who orders something different from what they order are crazy. We wanted to really tap into that.”
One of the spots, “Chicken POV,” shows the inside of a Swiss Chalet kitchen from a chicken’s perspective as it spins on the rotisserie. Viewers see glimpses of a cook peering at the chicken, the accompanying voiceover says “Not yet. Not yet – only after 90 minutes of basting inside the rotisserie can Swiss Chalet’s grain-fed Canadian Grade A chickens make it to your table. Our top secret ingredient? Patience.”
Rotisserie chicken forms the backbone of the “home meal replacement” category, which sees consumers picking up ready-to-eat food at grocery stores instead of dining at casual chains like Swiss Chalet.
According to research firm NPD Group Canada, the HMR category is now a $2.4 billion industry in Canada, putting pressure on chains like Swiss Chalet to make their offer more appealing to consumers.
“We’ve been on a journey for probably the last two years to really crack the code of our marketing,” said Robinson. “People just aren’t coming back to us as often, for multiple reasons: The recession hit and people are going out for dinner less, and at the same time grocery store chains are really picking up their game.”
After previous attempts to drive sales for its takeout and delivery business, the 61-year-old chain is opting for a brand-centric approach designed to drive business across both its on and off-premise segments, said Robinson.
“We have a dedicated off-premise strategy and we have a dedicated dining-room strategy, but anytime we go to market with a message, it’s a brand message, not a channel message,” she said.
The 214-restaurant chain is also planning to add a new menu category in the fall that Robinson said is “ going to be the next biggest thing since rotisserie chicken.” She said the undisclosed menu category has proven “majorly successful” in tests throughout Ontario.
