Going Whole Hog: Arby’s Rides Meat Wagon to Spectacular Results

Arby’s got the meats—and now it’s got the results.

The chain has gained uncommon momentum these days in a quick-serve-restaurant sector where many of its contemporaries are struggling badly. Leveraging the strategy of a new CEO and new CMO, Arby’s had its best year ever in 2016, with $3.7 billion in sales, up 20 percent from 2013.

And behind the four-year leadership of Paul Brown, the CEO, and Rob Lynch, Chief Marketing Officer Arby’s is stepping on the gas this year with new initiatives such as its Triple Thick Brown Sugar Bacon BLT, available for a limited time only at Arby’s 3,300 restaurants nationwide.

Triple speed and triple thick: both are triumphs pic.twitter.com/3Q1K6ZhYFf

— Arby's (@Arbys) July 27, 2017

Brown told Business Insider that he saw McDonald’s as the New York Yankees of fast food and Arby’s as the Oakland A’s, the scrappy team from over a decade ago whose data-intensive, counter-intuitive strategy was made iconic in Moneyball. 

“So when you look at it that way, you’ve got to do things differently,” Brown told the publication. “We had to one, come up with a way of talking about ourselves in a voice that actually stood out, but we also had to be more creative about all the channels that you could use to get the message out.”

As Business Insider puts it, Arby’s underwent some “Moneyball” moves that included more than 20 new menu items and revamped restaurant kitchens. Last year, for instance, Arby’s celebrated deer-hunting season by offering venison sandwiches in prime deer-hunting communities.

Arby's version of porchetta looks FIRE. https://t.co/K5WJ8qDCbL

— foodbeast.com (@foodbeast) July 27, 2017

In the marketing realm, Lynch came out with Arby’s boldly differentiated “We Have the Meats” positioning in 2014 in attention-getting commercials voiced by Ving Rhames; had its social media team tweet about a hat that Pharrell Williams wore to the Grammy’s that was reminiscent of Arby’s logo; and creatively engaged Jon Stewart’s criticism of the brand.

And after Lynch decided to sponsor the English professional golfer Andrew Johnston, whose nickname is “Beef,” Arby’s went on to sponsor the 2017 PGA tour.

Your new favorite golfer is Andrew "Beef" Johnston @BeefGolf. And yes, he's sponsored by @Arbys. #OpenChampionship pic.twitter.com/kWWVE5Usbs

— Beau Bowden (@beaubowden) July 23, 2017

Nowadays, Arby’s is gleefully playing into a nationwide craving for bacon products that have driven up US pork belly prices by 80 percent this year, to record highs. Reviewers are using phrases like “bacon dreamwich” to describe the new sandwich.

Arby’s has the meats, indeed.

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