Ken Keymer and Popeyes team member Tinika Harris assist a customer at the brand’s Roswell Road restaurant in Atlanta.



  
 
Given the shift in the bone-in chicken market, how can Popeyes increase its market share?

Popeyes’ foundation was built on bone-in chicken and the brand will always remain true to its bone-in chicken heritage. We have the best bone-in chicken in the marketplace today and we must continue to communicate that to our customers and keep delivering on that unique quality. However, over the last few years, the popularity of bone-in chicken has decreased, while overall chicken consumption has skyrocketed. For the next few years, revenue growth is going to come from places other than bone-in chicken. Popeyes must be smarter about occasions to increase market share. We have to enhance our boneless chicken offerings, ensuring they provide the same flavor superiority that our bone-in chicken delivers. Additionally, we must provide a variety of boneless chicken — everything from sandwiches to finger food and snack foods. We also have a wonderful array of side dishes that are unique and very special. I think if you combine those sides with the new boneless products that we’re producing, like Popeyes Naked Chicken Strips™ and hand-battered tender nuggets, we have a great opportunity to grow market share and drive our afternoon and evening snack day-parts.

What are you doing to build momentum at Popeyes?

Momentum-building efforts are an integral part of the brand’s overall business strategy. Our primary job is aligning brand communications and making sure that we stay on message. Consistent brand communications allow us to highlight key product initiatives, thus driving consumer awareness in the marketplace and further building brand momentum. The field services team is doing an incredible job of driving improvements in operations. In the last half of 2004, we saw a 10 percent improvement in our mystery shop scores — and we have only just begun. Obviously, if we are driving mystery shop improvement, we are driving the quality of our customer experience. Improvements in speed of service, order accuracy, flavor, and restaurant cleanliness are the primary contributors to the increased scores. Our restaurant operators are making an effort, supported by our field services team, to really improve the quality of operations, which drives the quality of customer experiences. I grew up on the operations side, so I know that improving the quality of our operations will drive sales and improve the profitability of our restaurants. We are also driving momentum in the development area by building the new store opening pipeline and reducing new restaurant development costs. Add to that a new prototype restaurant that costs 10 percent less to build than previous heritage-design restaurants and our aggressive re-imaging program, and you have a solid strategy for continued momentum in 2005 and beyond.