Key Takeaways
- Shake Shack has had a hard time succinctly capturing why people love its food and beverages, but it’s working on creating a slogan, CFO Katie Fogerty said at a conference.
- The company has tapped the minds behind Arby’s “We have the meats” tagline for the effort, she said.
- Fogerty said a company catchphrase could help drive up traffic, but Shake Shack hasn’t yet incorporated this momentum into its growth algorithm.
Dunkin’ has its “America runs on Dunkin’” tagline. McDonald’s has “I’m lovin’ it,” while Taco Bell has “Live Más.” But can you recall Shake Shack’s slogan?
That’s a trick question: The company doesn’t have one. However, one’s coming, according to CFO Katie Fogertey, who believes it needs a succinct way to convey what makes its burgers, fries and shakes beloved.
Shake Shack (SHAK) hired a chief communications officer last year whose responsibilities include crafting a catchphrase for the chain, Fogertey said at a conference last week. CEO Rob Lynch and the chief communications officer, Luke DeRouen, have tapped the team behind Arby’s “We have the meats” slogan, Fogertey said.
They “really had a lot of strong track record on creating a brand slogan, a brand meaning that has driven deep consumer adoption,” Fogertey said, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. “That’s just something we haven’t had before.”
Executives at Shack Shack, which opened 11 new restaurants in the first quarter, think the company’s brand has room to run. “We’ve never really had a true brand positioning distilled down and communicated across all of our channels,” Lynch said earlier this month. “So that’s work that we’re doing right now.”
A slam-dunk slogan could drive long-term growth, according to Fogertey.
“That’s not really contemplated in our long-term [growth algorithm,” she said. “But as we kind of think about where those potential upside levers are, it’s something that really gets me excited.”
Annual same-store sales are expected to grow year-over-year in the low single-digit percent range in the year ahead, Shake Shack said on an earnings conference call in May. The outlook assumes import taxes, including the scaled back deficit-based tariffs, remain stable.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2023348941-2c772a0b8471455fbb36349be74739eb.jpg?ssl=1&description=Shake+Shack+Thinks+It%E2%80%99s+Time+for+a+Slogan.+What+Should+it+Be%3F){kind=link}