Corporate Reputation Management Case Study

1. Chick-fil-A:
Corporate Reputation Management Case
Study
Taylor Zito

2. Background: History
• 1946- Truett Cathy, and brother Ben open up diner in Atlanta
• “The Dwarf Grill” later renamed “The Dwarf House”
• 1967- First Chick-fil-A based solely on the chicken sandwich
• Perfected boneless chicken sandwich recipe
• Location: Atlanta’s Greenbriar Mall
• 384 square feet

3. Background: Products/Services
• Famous boneless chicken sandwich and Chick-fil-A sauce
• Breakfast, entrees, salads, sides, treats, and dipping sauces/dressings
• Items
• Offers catering
• Nutritional values and allergens

4. Breakfast Menu
mysembalun.info

5. Lunch Menu
cfaclackamas.com

6. Sides/Drinks
www.cfaclackamas.com

7. Catering Menu
alignable.com

8. Background: Industry Trend/Competitors
• Food Industry (fast and easy)
• Competitors
• Yum! Brands
• Church’s Chicken
• Wendy’s
• Twitter followers

9. Background: Current Issues
• WinShape
• $8 million in funds from Chick-fil-A
• Given to National Christian Foundation and Exodus International
• Supports heterosexual marriage
• Demeaning gay marriage
• Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy:
• “Well, guilty as charged, we are very much supportive of the family-the biblical definition of
the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to
our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

10. Reputation Management: Social Responsibility
• Supports good causes and certain areas/aspects of its community
• Family-owned business
• Chick-fil-A philosophy
• “Everyone’s job at Chick-fil-A is to serve. No matter our title or job description, our reason for coming
to work is to generously share our time and talents. Whether it’s treating customers like friends, or
serving our communities like neighbors, we believe kindness is a higher calling” (Chick-fil-A, n.d)
• Chick-fil-A Foundation
• “created out of desire to honor Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy’s legacy of giving, goodwill and
passion for supporting youth, the Chick-fil-A Foundation seeks to inspire and equip the next
generation of leaders with opportunities they deserve to build a better future” (Chick-fil-A, n.d.).

11. Social Responsibility Continued
• True Inspiration Awards
• Invests in youth with Junior Achievement partnership
• Employees during work hours: 7,000 hours
• Cultivate community gardens
• Pack meals for local children in need
• Work as mentors in summer youth camps
• Help assist Atlanta’s Westside community
• Supports whole community:
• Stuffed Animal Sleepover
• Daddy Daughter Date Night

12. Social Responsibility Continued
• Image/public perception
• Family-owned
• Treats everyone with respect, dignity, and honor
• Does not help:
• WinShape
• Anti-gay-does not support LGBT community

13. Social Responsibility Continued
• Suggestion:
• App/option during checkout
• Customers choose which foundation
• Offer percentage of their purchase to

14. Reputation Management: Emotional Appeal
• Family-owned
• Closed on Sunday: rest and worship day for employees
• Respected and trusted
• Chicken
• Country/community

15. Emotional Appeal Continued
• PR/AD campaigns- right emotional appeal
• “EAT MORE CHIKIN” cows
• Billboards, advertisements, and signs
• Cow outside of Chick-fil-A
• Cow Appreciation Day
• Social media posts
• Service in the community
• Events

16. Emotional Appeal Continued
• Suggestion:
• Employee “clean-up days” one Sunday of every month
• In local community
• Normally a rest day but truly cares about environment

17. Reputation Management: Workplace
Environment
• Gives back to employees
• Treats all employees with honor, dignity, and respect
• Respectful employees- “my pleasure”
• Scholarships (rewards employees)
• Remarkable Futures
• True Inspiration Scholarship
• Leadership Scholarship
• Enhances work ethic, leadership, and builds respect

18. Workplace Environment Continued
• Moving towards a more inclusive culture
• Tearing down walls in offices
• Corporate offices make open spaces
• Mandatory nametag

19. Workplace Environment Continued
• Suggestion:
• Corporate discount to local gym
• 15 minute outside break for employees
• Healthier lifestyle= happier, better work ethic
• Increases employees appreciation for work and Chick-fila

20. Current Usage of Social Media
• Fully takes advantage of social media
• Overall favorite brand on social media in 2015 by Engagement Labs
• Ranked higher than JetBlue and Target
• Creates posts specific to each social media platform
• Uses humor
• Human voice instead of corporate voice
• Visual content
• Interacts with users
• Present on social media 6 days a week- Sundays offline
• Fastest growing channel: Instagram
• Both average likes and comments per post up nearly 150% since 2014

21. Current Usage of Social Media Continued
• Activities/campaigns
• Develops own original content for each platform
• Posts real pictures of food from iPhone with only a filter- does not pull pictures from
commercial marketing campaigns
• Responds to 35,000 social media mentions a month
• Facebook=moms=recipes that appeal to older females
• Instagram=younger users=actual pictures of food
• Influences reputation in good way-designs activities/campaigns based on social media
platform and target audience

22. Current Usage of Social Media Continued
• Suggestion:
• Contest on social media
• Follow account, link & email, find five friends
• Free entrée with side and drink
• Creative way to
• Get more popularity on social media
• Have users being engaged
• Influence reputation

23. References
• Chick-fil-A Competitors and Alternatives. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://craft.co/chick-fil-a-inc/competitors
• Koh, S. (2015, August 25). What does Chick-Fil-A support (other than "the family")? A closer look at the numbers. Retrieved from
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/chickfila-support-family-closer-numbers/
• Moxie. (2016, January 10). Chick-fil-A Social Media Ranks #1, ahead of Amazon and Netflix. Retrieved from
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chick-fil-a-social-media-ranks-1-ahead-of-amazon-and-netflix-300201788.html
• Pathak, S., Weiss, M., Joseph, S., Digiday Editors, & Seb Joseph. (2016, January 11). Chick-fil-A uses data to respond to 35,000 social media
mentions a month. Retrieved from https://digiday.com/marketing/chick-fil-uses-data-respond-35k-social-media-mentions-month/
• Peterson, H. (2016, March 21). Chick-fil-A is making big changes to take on Shake Shack and Chipotle. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-is-reinventing-itself-2016-3
• Salo, J. (2016, January 15). How Chick-Fil-A's Social Media Marketing Translated Into Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Success. Retrieved
from https://www.ibtimes.com/how-chick-fil-social-media-marketing-translated-twitter-facebook-instagram-success-2265588
• Taylor, K. (2016, January 25). The incredible story of how Chick-fil-A took over fast food. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-history-and-facts-2016-1
• Who We Are. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.chick-fil-a.com/About/Who-We-Are

24. Quiz Question
• What are two things that Chick-fil-A has done to enhance workplace
environment?