"How ’bout a double cheeseburger to go with that large Super Supreme?" or maybe "So that’ll be a bucket of original and a nacho supreme, right?"
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news in the restaurant industry this one may shock you – YUM Brands (parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver’s, and A&W) may be considering the purchase of Wendy’s International, the #3 hamburger chain in the world. Given YUM’s penchant for co-branding (the practice of putting 2 or more brands under the same roof) it could lead to some interesting combinations.
I’ve been working with the Wendy’s brand since before Dave Thomas died. And while that had a small resurgence since then, it has been mostly a downhill sled ride. Their marketing and advertising has sucked, they have forgotten how to treat people, they have reorganized, and they have suffered a brain drain. YUM may be able to get them performing like the Wendy’s of old, as that is one of the hallmarks of YUM. They take tired brands and re-energize them. If YUM doesn’t buy them, expect there downhill slide to continue.
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