There are three classic Southern food icons: Waffle House, Cracker Barrel, and Krispy Kreme. One of them stumbled lately by compromising its brand!
You guessed it: Cracker Barrel. The brand has been brutalized from all sides for abandoning its heritage.
It’s been said that whenever you read an obituary for a senior, Cracker Barrel has just lost a core customer. The classic brand was founded in 1969 and, according to Fox News, has been making gradual changes since 2020.
For decades, Cracker Barrel has been a bastion for homestyle foods, a country store shopping experience, and the feel that you have traveled back in time to a small town with flashbacks of long-forgotten memories.
First, let’s address the logo. A logo is a living, breathing personification of the brand –the company’s values and the brand promise that the company makes.
By simplifying the recognized and adored logo, Cracker Barrel moved away from being people-focused and relationship-focused. The new logo said, “We’re no longer about people and relationships. We sell stuff. We’re just another casual restaurant.”
The recently replaced logo featured a man they called “Uncle Herschel” sitting on a wooden chair and leaning on a cracker barrel. That barrel symbolized country living, where people often used a barrel as a small table to share meals, snacks, or play checkers.
That barrel symbolized people gathering and visiting. By the way, the oval shape of the logo was in the shape of a pinto bean, which was one of the early staples of the Cracker Barrel menu.
When the CEO stated on Good Morning America that “people like what we’re doing,” let’s consider who those “people” are:
· The logo designer, who was paid
· The logo designer’s family, because they can go on a nice vacation
· The marketing director, who approved the change · The employees, who are operating under the “Emperor’s New Clothes” concept, are afraid to express any contrary opinion for fear of losing their jobs.
The ambiance has obviously changed. The gift shop areas are less cluttered, thereby eliminating the feeling that you are embarking on a treasure hunt. At the same time, the
dining area is much cleaner and structured, making you feel like you are inside any other restaurant.
Next, how about culture? The commitment to traditional Southern family values began to shift five years ago, which resulted in a change in the customers and employees the brand would attract.
Just yesterday, it was revealed that the small peg game had been… uh… shall we say, re-branded?
The goal is for a player to remove all the pegs except one by jumping over one and then another. Before the rebranding campaign, the good-natured scores were:
· Leave only one – you’re a genius
· Leave two and you’re purty smart
· Leave three and you’re just plain dumb
· Leave four or mor’n you’re just plain eg-no-ra-moose
The new scoring system harkens back to when children started receiving participation trophies even for finishing in last place. The peg game now states that if you leave three or more, “Don’t be embarrassed, try again!”
If I want to play the peg game at Cracker Barrel, I don’t need to feel better about myself for losing. I’m just having fun!
The most dramatic changes began in 2020, when Cracker Barrel changed its rule against serving alcohol. That changed as the pandemic began. Another change: the company relaxed its dress code for employees, moving away from neat haircuts and trimmed facial hair.
One writer opined that the only spokesperson who could save Cracker Barrel is Sydney Sweeney, who was the face of the high-profile campaign that boosted the awareness of American Eagle apparel with her “Jeans/Genes” messaging.
Compare Cracker Barrel to Waffle House, the down-home favorite for waffles, hashbrowns, and an occasional brawl late at night. Waffle House still uses the same logo – so simple and basic – that it launched the brand with in 1955. Check out this tongue-in-cheek video about how marketers might re-imagine Waffle House in a way that would lose its identity and its soul.
By the way, that other Southern brand, Krispy Kreme? My Arlington location, which I visit every Sunday, plays with me a bit. Sometimes when I order the hot glazed, they surprise me and wave off my attempt to pay at the window.
While Cracker Barrel is messing with what was a successful concept, Krispy Kreme has adopted the three legendary rules of Positively Outrageous Service, the idea developed by customer service guru T. Scott Gross:
1. Make the moment random and unexpected
2. Make the moment out of proportion to the circumstances (sometimes, if I order two doughnuts, they’ll give me both of them for free!)
3. Make the moment invite the customer to “play” (have fun) with the cashier at the window
Cracker Barrel could use a little… no, make that a LOT… of Positively Outrageous Service at its corporate and retail levels.
John Fletcher is President/CEO of Arlington-based Fletcher Consulting, a public relations firm that helps clients stand out through powerful branding and reputation development. He is a past winner of the Better Business Bureau’s National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. And he’s a fanatical follower of the Savannah Bananas.
