Restaurant Brand on the Rise Adds Strategic, Revenue Generating Expertise
For Church’s Chicken, the primary focus of 2019 has been a comprehensive brand relaunch aimed at positioning Church’s as the authentic, straight-shooting, all-about-the-food destination for fried chicken done right.
As part of its digital brand transformation, Church’s is aligning with new partners and adopting new digital strategic priorities. An integrated media approach of national television, rooted in both new paid digital media channels and the growth of owned digital channels, has been a driver of overall sales and traffic growth, year to date.
After a three-month selection process, T3, an Austin-based innovation agency, has been named as the brand’s new “digital innovation partner.” Also, Sarah Minton has joined Church’s marketing leadership team as the Senior Director of Media.
“T3 is an award-winning firm that has proven its ability to generate meaningful, measurable results by creating social currency and personalized consumer engagement,” said Chief Marketing Officer for Church’s, Brian Gies. “Their digital first approach integrates tightly with the enhancements we’ve been making in 2019 to drive awareness and brand relevance with both core customers and a new generation of guests who are constantly connected, crave convenience, and have higher expectations around a brand’s digital experience.”
“We are thrilled to be joining the team at Church’s and are all looking forward to creating new ways to build emotional connections and brand loyalty through digital engagement with both current and future Church’s guests,” said Ben Gaddis, President of T3. “We wholeheartedly believe in the modern approach Church’s is taking to create differentiated digital experiences that drive loyalty.”
Now in its 30th year as an independent agency, T3’s strong performance was recently recognized by The Forrester Wave for Loyalty Service Providers (Q3, 2019). Their portfolio of past and present clients includes Pizza Hut, 7-Eleven, Hilton, UPS, and Capital One, to name a few.
For Church’s, Sarah Minton will be responsible for leading the development, planning, and execution of the brand’s integrated media calendar. Her deep experience in digital media will facilitate new platforms, channels and partners to continue expanding the Church’s customer base. Prior to joining the Church’s team, Minton served as Vice President and Social Media Director for Publicis Media UNIT3C, where she specialized in connecting brands to consumers in real-time “shared space” environments. Past leadership positions include Vice President of Digital and Magazine Activation for Zenith, where she successfully planned and implemented digital strategy across six brands.
“With the launch of our holistic digital ordering platform, Church’s To-Go, we now have the ability to provide our guests direct ordering and get their food, when, how and where they want it. This allows us to make smarter decisions attributable to data, which, in turn, drives incremental transactions and direct revenue, all with media as the catalyst,” said Minton.
“As consumer behavior and the media landscape continue to evolve at a rapid pace, these right resources are right-timed to continue the forward momentum of our business growth,” shared Gies.
Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church’s Chicken is one of the largest quick service restaurant chicken chains in the world. Church’s specializes in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, Honey-Butter Biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church’s (along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside the Americas) has more than 1,500 locations in 25 countries and international territories and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church’s on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken.
T3 helps clients build Useful Brands. It is one of the largest independent agencies in the country with offices nationwide. Ranked alongside the world’s top innovation agencies, T3 works with UPS, 7-Eleven, Capital One, Pizza Hut, FOCUS Brands (Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba Juice, McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Schlotzsky’s), Hilton, Edible Arrangement and other clients.
