New Franchise Slogan Communicates Wingers Alehouse Mission and Celebrates the Brand’s Roots
Coming up with a great franchise slogan is more of an art than a science, says Eric Slaymaker, co-founder and CEO of Wingers Alehouse. But art and science contributed to the brand’s new slogan, “America’s Small-Town Alehouse.”
First, an explanation of the science – or rather, economics – behind the slogan. In developing the Wingers Alehouse franchise strategy, Eric and co-founder Scott Slaymaker, his brother, determined that the economics of operating in smaller markets would be advantageous for franchise owners. They relied on experience with the original Wingers American Diner, founded in 1993 in Bountiful, Utah, as well as many years as franchisees with large brands including Sizzler, Tony Roma’s and TGI Fridays.
With a smaller staff and smaller footprint of around 4,500 square feet (versus the 6,000 to 9,000 or more square feet typical for large national brands in metropolitan areas), it’s less expensive to develop and operate restaurants in smaller markets; the Wingers Alehouse target market has a population of about 20,000-50,000. And, as compared with larger metropolitan restaurants, Wingers Alehouse locations require lower annual revenue to be profitable, “so that opens up a lot of opportunities for us to be very successful in places a lot of our national competitors can’t even consider,” Eric Slaymaker says.
“We are in metropolitan markets, but the bread and butter for Wingers Alehouse has always been small-town America. We’ve got existing stores in small towns like Elko, Nev.; Richfield, Utah; Mountain Home, Idaho; Nampa, Idaho; Ontario, Ore.; Winnemucca, Nev.; Vernal, Utah; and others.”
Birth of ‘America’s Small-Town Alehouse’
So, how does art come into play in creating a great franchise slogan? Although experts in branding might disagree, there’s no magic formula for stringing together a few words that encapsulate the essence of a brand, resonate with a target market and even evoke emotions. Therein lies the art.
“America’s Small-Town Alehouse” originated organically among Wingers Alehouse team members, Slaymaker says. Further discussions centered on whether the “small town” reference might constrict the brand, especially as the Wingers Alehouse franchise continues to grow in western and northwestern states and expands into the Midwest. But “small town” meant more than geography or population.
“Finally, I came to the group and said, ‘Guys, I think this is what we are. We need to own it,’” Slaymaker says. “We bring a small-town mindset and ethic wherever we are. We get to know our guests and connect with them in a way that some of the other brands don’t. This is really what makes us unique and different. And when we say ‘America’s Small-Town Alehouse,’ we can take that to larger markets, too, not just small communities.”
To underscore the point, in addition to the new franchise slogan, the Wingers Alehouse team came up with a new vision statement, “Cultivating vibrant community Alehouses around the world,” that reaches far beyond small-town America.
101 Varieties of Beer!
Now in 25 locations with more in development, Wingers Alehouse features great food and drinks served in a casual, family-friendly atmosphere. Fresh, hand-breaded, bone-in chicken wings and the brand’s signature boneless “Sticky Fingers” come with a choice of 16 different sauces or rubs including Wingers’ Original Amazing Sauce. The restaurant menu also features a variety of burgers, pastas, Southwestern favorites, salads, vegetarian and gluten-free options, as well as innovative limited time offers.
But Wingers Alehouse is best known for its wide selection of beer, with new locations offering up to 101 different draft and bottle varieties. “We have great relationships with all these cool microbreweries producing craft brews in each state we go into,” Slaymaker says, adding that Wingers Alehouses now feature décor showcasing artwork reproduced from regional microbreweries’ logos and labels.
“We’re celebrating these craft brew communities with their artwork on our walls, and it’s these types of details that really create a connection with our guests. As we enter these new markets, we really embrace these communities in a way that is different than almost any national brand does,” he says.
A Slogan and ‘Marching Orders’
Before becoming a restaurant franchisee with his brother and father, Eric Slaymaker was a marketing executive with a specialization in restaurants. “When it comes to marketing and franchise branding,” he says, “one of the important things you can do is really try to identify what sets you apart and makes you different in a crowded marketplace, because no matter what we do, we’re all competing and dealing with a lot of voices. But you just need to be able to figure out what it is that makes you unique and different and hopefully better. And then you ask yourself how do we best communicate that?”
“America’s Small-Town Alehouse” is more than a franchise slogan, Slaymaker says. “It encapsulates who we are and communicates that in a way that is pretty simple to understand in a lot of ways. But it’s not just how we communicate externally. I think it also provides us, as an internal team, with our marching orders and guidance on how we continue to build and grow and get better every single day.”
Visit the Wingers Alehouse website to learn more about franchising opportunities.
