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Just when Wendy’s thought it was done with its 99¢ Value Menu, like Michael Corleone trying to leave the Mafia it’s being pulled back in. Wendy’s President CEO Emil Brolick told analysts today that Wendy’s has had to readjust its marketing calendar for the second half of 2013 to give more and continuous support to [...]

With CKE Restaurants’ release today of preliminary results for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2013, it’s now possible to estimate 2012 sales for the top burger chains and see how they align. On an earlier post, BurgerBusiness.com estimated that Burger King held the No. 2 spot for domestic sales, slightly eclipsing Wendy’s. Now it’s [...]

Embarking on what CEO Emil Brolick called a “holistic, highly integrated brand transformation,” Wendy’s has begun a three-year plan intended to extensively remodel its stores, image and menu. This week’s adoption of an updated logoand new packaging and crew uniforms is one element. Wendy’s released audited results, including a -0.2% decline in same-store sales for [...]

The Wendy’s Co. releases its audited 2012 financial results tomorrow (2/28), which no doubt will rekindle debate over whether Wendy’s or Burger King is the bigger brand in the U.S. and Canada. I believe Burger King again has the No. 2 position. But I’m not convinced that it really lost that spot last year. Last [...]

Wendy’s is confronting a “fiscal cliff” of its own but has done a better job of negotiating its less-dire version than has Congress. One of the chain’s resolutions for 2013 has been to create a new two-tier value menu to replace the ineffective My 99¢ Everyday Value Menu. The Right Price Right Size Value Menu [...]

This has been a really good year for burgers if by burgers you mean chicken. From Chicken McBites, Popcorn Chicken and Chicken Dippers to the Mozzarella Chicken Supreme, McBistro Chicken, 20-piece McNuggets and shareable Chicken Box, burgers often seemed consigned to a back seat. McDonald’s new Cheddar Bacon Onion was offered with choice of an [...]

[Update: Red Robin is bringing back the Chili Chili Cheeseburger, inviting customers to vote on next revival.] Given an economic environment that McDonald’s Corp. CEO Don Thompson recently called “uncertain and fragile,” chains are trying to minimize the uncertainty by bring back limited-time-offer burgers that customers already have shown they will buy. Chains are going [...]

The Wendy’s Company announced that in March 2013 a new version of its logo will be introduced on packaging, advertising, crew uniforms, restaurant signage, menuboards and websites. The iconic Wendy character (modeled on founder Dave Thomas’s daughter) remains but with an updated look. This is part of a larger brand transformation being directed by Craig [...]

Arby’s perpetual quest for the right way to explain itself to fast-food customers continues as the chain this week introduces its latest ad slogan: “Slicing Up Freshness.” This successor to the previous attempt, “Good Mood Food,” comes with a not-new-but-modified logo that simply lowercases the “A” in Arby’s. With the recent “Good Mood Food” and [...]

Quarterly earnings conference calls by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, The Wendy’s Company and Jack in the Box provided interesting snapshots of where the burger-restaurant business stood through the first half of 2012. Same-store sales reports were positive if not stellar. Red Robin’s comp sales for it Q2 ended July 8 were up 0.8% thanks to [...]

If you’ve read that a record North American lobster season has severely depressed prices and have wondered what happens to all the lobsters being hauled in, here’s one possibility: At Wendy’s in Japan, the two new high-end limited-time offers (LTOs) are the Lobster Surf & Turf Burger (on the right) and the Premium Caviar & [...]

It’s easy to over-analyze McDonald’s marketing skills because the chain does so much marketing, but it is just as easy to overlook some small efforts that show its finesse. An example: In many markets around the world, McDonald’s is promoting Olympics-themed Coke glasses. Coke-glass promotions are a long-standing tradition with McDonald’s and the offer does [...]

Craig Bahner may only have started as Wendy’s chief marketing officer in April, but he’s already weighing significant changes to strengthen the brand. Speaking to analysts at Wendy’s Investors Day program on June 28, Bahner outlined plans to accelerate new-menu-product development, revise its 99¢ value menu into a two-tier pricing structure, increase its use of [...]

Wendy’s pulled the promotion plug on its W cheeseburger, admitting that the $2.99 introductory price was too low and that, as critics suggested at the time, the sandwich cannibalized sales of the higher-price Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy Cheeseburgers, added just weeks earlier. Even though the W’s price was pushed up to $3.19, the problem continued. [...]

◙ Judging by the positive feedback following her first appearance, many diners will be more excited to see actress Morgan Smith Goodwin (below) return this week to Wendy’s advertising than they are to hear about the side dishes she’s promoting. Wendy’s, as noted before, is pursuing a Geico-like strategy of having multiple ad campaigns, each [...]