Chanticleer Holdings, Inc., a minority owner in the privately-held parent company of the Hooters® brand, Hooters® of America (“HOA”), and a franchisee of international Hooters® restaurants, announced today the adoption of the new “Hooters 2.0” branding campaign in its exclusive international Hooters® franchise markets.
Chanticleer currently owns in whole or part of the exclusive franchise rights to open and operate Hooters® restaurants in parts of Brazil; all of South Africa and Hungary; and has joint ventured with the owner of exclusive Hooters® franchise rights in Australia. The Company owns in whole or part of six Hooters® restaurants in its international territories (4 in South Africa; 1 in Australia; and 1 in Budapest, Hungary) with one additional location in Surfers Paradise, Australia expected to open before YE 2012. The Company’s Budapest location successfully held its grand opening on August 27, 2012 with this location incorporating and showcasing the updated, more contemporary motif unveiled as part of the new Hooters® campaign.
The multi-year campaign to update the brand is called “Hooters 2.0” and in-part will target to increase female customers. Hooters® recently kicked off a new advertising campaign sporting a new tagline, “Feed the Dream.” It has hired HBO’s “Eastbound & Down” creator Jody Hill to produce new TV commercials that include ESPN football analyst Jon Gruden, a Super Bowl winning head coach and former Hooters® employee.
Moreover, Hooters® unveiled a revamped menu that includes nearly 30 salads, new varieties of burgers, and an “expanded line” of chicken wings. Lastly, it plans to remodel about 25 stores each year with an updated, more contemporary motif. All new locations, both domestic and international will take the form of a more contemporary prototype.
Chanticleer’s Chief Operator in South Africa, Gordon Jestin, commented, “Although the Hooters brand is less than three years old in South Africa, the timing of this brand overhaul could not be better. The South African market is constantly looking for changes and reinvention. Since the inception of Hooters in 2009, our ratio of women to men has grown from 10% to approximately 25% at present. Marketing coupled with in house changes have played a part in this growth, however we continuously strive to increase our female guest count. The menu revamp is expected to assist in this regard; and our focus on cocktail menus and specific evening promotions also send the message, ‘Everyone is welcome at Hooters.'”
Michael Pruitt, CEO of Chanticleer, commented, “While our existing international Hooters® restaurants in South Africa and Australia are relatively new compared to most U.S. locations, the new Hooters® branding and marketing campaign should only add to the early success of our business plan and model of opening Hooters® in our emerging international markets.”
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