Q&A with Popeyes President, Ken Keymer

What attracted you to Popeyes?

Popeyes is a great brand, and the attributes — flavorful food, loyal customers — that made it great over the last 33 years will help us gain momentum and drive the brand forward in coming years. I am a loyal Popeyes customer and when approached by AFC regarding the president’s position, I saw it as a wonderful opportunity given the brand’s growth potential. In a short period of time, I have built relationships with the people who really do the heavy lifting — the franchisees, the field services team, and the Popeyes corporate team (service center) — in order to enhance the health and vibrancy of the brand. Though we are in the early stages of this transformation, we have made significant progress. The entire Popeyes team, including franchisees, is excited by what’s happening. We have great potential to make this the “best in class” QSR brand in the next few years and I am excited to be a part of that.

How does being a single-brand company change AFC — and Popeyes?

The fact that AFC is now a single brand allows for a razor-sharp focus on Popeyes. The full force of the organization is now concentrated on the success of one brand. With the allocation of all company resources — attention and services — aimed at the Popeyes brand, our franchisees, domestic and international, can be confident that we are also entirely focused on their success. AFC, as a single-brand company, will have a narrower focus and will present a much simpler story for our stakeholders to understand.
The Popeyes Opportunity at a Glance
  • Highly Franchised — Over 97% franchised globally, domestically over 96%

  • Low Capital Needs

  • Brand Expansion Potential

  • Equity in a Highly Differentiated Brand
 
What was the biggest challenge Popeyes faced last year and how did you meet it?

The greatest challenge for the brand in 2004 was creating better alignment between the service center and franchisees, so the groups work in unison, discussing the business as a whole, establishing action plans and executing those plans to move the business forward. After some very productive conversations, we worked together to create joint initiatives that everyone could support. In a franchise system such as ours, we are aligned with our franchisees most of the time. We recognize, however, that having the ability to successfully work through important system issues with our franchisees depends on having a strong and mutually respectful relationship and we continuously work on building and strengthening that relationship.