Chick-fil-A

Glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us, and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with us

Be REMARKable

Create values that reflect your cause

• We're here to serve.
• We're better together.
• We are purpose-driven.
• We pursue what's next.

Serve great food fast and accurately in a clean and safe environment with genuine hospitality

The gracious and generous caregiver

These caregivers have the spirit of a servant. As humble stewards guided by traditional Christian values, they believe in being respectful, prudent, patient, loving, forgiving, and generous. With an always clean and neat appearance, they hold themselves to a high standard of excellence, working hard and continually striving to do better. People are drawn to their cheerfulness, warmth, and positivity. In return, they welcome everyone into their lives with grace, hospitality, and a sincere smile.

Endearing, engaging, and enthusiastic

With a goal to always make people smile, Chick-fil-A speaks with a tone that makes it sound like they are smiling themselves. They tell jokes in an affectionate and playful way that never come across as mean-spirited. In a response to a teacher's complaint about the Chick-fil-A's cows misspelling of words, founder Truett Cathy simply replied with this: "We’re sorry, but Cows can’t spell. It’s just a joke. Maybe you could use it as an object lesson to help kids learn the right way to spell. Thanks for what you do!”

Hospitality

To Chick-fil-A, service is the presentation, consistency, cleanliness, quality, and accuracy of a restaurant. On its own it is just the table stakes that customers expect from any dining experience.

Hospitality, however, is about going above and beyond in what Chick-fil-A calls Second Mile Service. This is the added value the brand brings to the experience, from the random acts of kindness to the connections they make with customers along the way. But the key to hospitality is that generosity and care need to be behavioral, not prescriptive. So Chick-fil-A focuses heavily on recruiting the right people and training them in order to make Second Mile Service second nature.

Fresh food

Operational excellence begins with fresh ingredients and Chick-fil-A prides itself on its fresh handmade food. Each piece of chicken is thawed, breaded, and made to order all in-store. Any chicken not used within 20 minutes of being cooked is pulled and repurposed for chicken soup. Biscuits are made from scratch daily, lemonade is freshly squeezed, and salads are locally sourced and hand-chopped.

Marketing

For over 25 years, Chick-fil-A has focused on building emotional connections by using cows in all of their marketing. From billboards to calendars, the Eat More Chikin campaign, has positioned these Cows as endearing underdogs that are in a fight for self-preservation. And just as Chick-fil-A focuses on the freshness of their food, they also put just as much care into crafting the personality of these Cows in what they call the Chick-fil-A Moo Manifesto.

Quality time seekers

Family-oriented, Chick-fil-A customers care about spending quality time with the people they love. Their lives are busy, and they usually have kids in tow, so they need a place that helps make their lives easier. Finding somewhere that is clean, safe, and values-oriented is a top priority, so they can enjoy their time together worry-free. While price does matter, they are also willing to pay more for food that they feel is higher quality and more nutritious. Most importantly, they want to walk away feeling like they have done right by their family and themselves, while also creating a shared moment to remember.

Give up $1 billion a year to stay closed on Sundays

Although the policy is rooted in their religious beliefs, Chick-fil-A believes in giving employees one day a week off to rest and spend time with family. Even with being closed on the most popular shopping day of the week, Chick-fil-A still makes more per restaurant than McDonald's, Starbucks, and Subway combined.

Limit your product selection to what you do best

Hamburgers make up about 40% of all fast-food dining in the US. That's 50 billion hamburgers every year and Chick-fil-A doesn't even have them on their menu. And why should they when they have built their reputation on inventing and perfecting the chicken sandwich. Their authority in this industry helped them not lose any sales during the Chicken Sandwich Wars of 2019 and has kept them firmly ranked as the third largest fast food restaurant.

Give up capital and rapid growth in order to make more charitable contributions

As one of the largest privately owned restaurant companies in the US, Chick-fil-A never plans to offer stock options to the public. Too often Wall Street focuses on profits over principles which might limit the large amounts of money Chick-fil-A gives to charity. To Chick-fil-A, being generous today, is what guarantees a successful future.

Choose values, over gimmicks

Instead of focusing their kids' meals on the most popular movies or TV shows, Chick-fil-A gives out books on history, geography, weather, and dozens of other subjects. Their goal is to not draw families in because of gimmicks but instead to create opportunities for children to learn and parents to be a part of that journey.

Expand your business by finding owners, not investors

Chick-fil-A reinvented the fast food franchise model by focusing on finding fully committed owners, which they call Operators, who will be present every day to maintain high quality standards. But to do find the best people, Chick-fil-A first removed the need for any large upfront costs on the Operator's part. This allowed Chick-fil-A to select new owners based on character and values, rather than the size of their wallets.

The Operator's Agreement for Chick-fil-A works like this:

• The Operator makes an initial low and fully refundable investment of $10,000.
• Chick-fil-A supplies the Operator with everything that is needed. They select the location, build the restaurant, and purchase the equipment.
• The Operator is committed to a single store and is not allowed to have other businesses on the side.
• The Operator pays Chick-fil-A 15% of gross sales, plus 50% of net profits.
• Everything else is left up to the Operator. He or she is now the CEO, manager, president, and treasurer of the business and is in charge of all operations.

Out of 20,000 applications submitted each year, Chick-fil-A selects only .4%. Their high standards come from a desire to make each relationship last for life, and with less than a 5% turnover rate, in an industry where 30-40% is common, they are succeeding.

Find your Blue Ocean Marketing Strategy

Chick-fil-A's marketing goal was to find an uncontested market space, and then dominate it. With a limited budget, they couldn't compete with TV ads—but what they could do, was focus on billboards, 3D billboards to be precise. At the time, billboards were used only to showcase price points and tell people which exit to take. Chick-fil-A, however, found their Blue Ocean by using billboards to build an emotional connection with their brand. Their rules for billboards were simple:

• Create advertising that is unexpectedly fun. Every billboard had to be endearing and make them laugh.
• Don't show the product. You can't build an emotional connection around a picture of a piece of chicken on a bun, so don't try.
• Don't show prices, deals, or tell people where to turn. Focus on connecting with people through humor, not selling them something. See first rule.

Decentralize innovation

Instead of relegating innovation to a few experts, Chick-fil-A opens up their innovation process to the entire organization.

Staff from each department volunteer and then are trained to become innovation coaches. They then go back to their teams as consultants to help facilitate innovation using Chick-fil-A's innovation methodology:

• Understand the problem and the audience that is experiencing it.
• Imagine ways to creatively solve the problem. Specific creative thinking techniques are used in collaboration spaces found in the Hatch, Chick-fil-A's onsite 32,000 square foot innovation center.
• Prototype your vision using materials from anything that can be found in the Hatch from wood to foam board. One innovation team built a fully functioning replica of a restaurant to try different layouts.
• Validate your creation with a dress-rehearsal of sorts that brings all departments and stakeholders together to stress test the prototype.
• Launch your creation into the marketplace.

From the start of the process, each team member is encouraged to play the part of a particular thinking type:

• The Investigator is in charge of asking why to get to the root of the problem.
• The Inventor asks why not and proposes solutions.
• The Investor narrows the ideas down to the best one or two.
• The Implementer finds way to get things done even if it means breaking some rules and asking for forgiveness later.

Create a brand architecture with your brand essence at the center

Over ten years ago, Chick-fil-A wanted to relay to its staff, in the simplest visual format, how each brand touchpoint, although separate, connects everyone together across the organization. They started by placing all touchpoints around a wheel design to breakdown the stigma of organizational silos. Everyone is responsible to work around the wheel and have influence in all projects, even if they are not directly accountable. At the center of the wheel, aligning everyone together, is their brand essence.

A brand essence is a short rallying cry created to embody a brand cause, mission, promise, and personality. Chick-fil-A defines theirs as: Where good meets gracious.

• Where: Anywhere, not just in a restaurant, but any encounter with the brand
• Good: Good people, good food, good environment, good service
• Meets: Any encounter shows genuine care for another person
• Gracious: Hospitality with a personal touch that people don't expect

Test, survey, then launch

All new products and services are first tested by Chick-fil-A in roughly 60 to 100 stores for a one-year period. During this time, Chick-fil-A surveys customers to see if the new product or service are consistent "with what they perceived to be the Chick-fil-A brand."

When choosing between shoestring and waffle fries, Chick-fil-A used this methodology and found that, even though waffle fries were more expensive, customers saw them as a better brand fit. Shoestring fries were trying too hard to be like everyone else, and waffle fries were visually different, and perceived to be more nutritious.

Don't undermine the value of your brand with coupons and discounts

To Chick-fil-A coupons and discounts scream, “Our products are not worth full price." Instead of being a "transaction-chasing" brand like other fast-food restaurants, Chick-fil-A chooses to build their brand through personal relationships.

Create a 'Culture of Care'

Founder Truett Cathy set out to build a company culture where staff genuinely care for each other and put other's needs ahead of their own. But a culture like this can only flourish when "it is backed up by authentic sentiment, reinforced through action, and strengthened over time." Some key ways that Chick-fil-a fosters their Culture of Care is to:

• Inspire care through words. Leaders greet each staff member every morning with a warm hello and can spend entire one-on-one sessions discussing any problems their staff are having.
• Set an example of care through actions. After lunch, the CEO and leaders can be found clearing the staff's dishes in the cafeteria. They also make their departures very public when leaving early for family events to set a tone of work-life flexibility.
• Spread the tools for care through training. Every corporate leader goes through a two-year training program to understand the foundations of servant leadership.
• Reinforce an expectation of care through evaluations. All staff are evaluated on how they embody the company's core values during bi-annual evaluations and monthly check-ins with their manager.

Align your brand around a single cause

In the early 1980s, Chick-fil-A, then a mall-based restaurant, was in trouble. There was an economic recession, mall development stopped due to low engagement, and Chick-fil-A saw its first ever decline in sales. Founder Truett Cathy considered budget cuts and sales contests but shifted gears when he was asked at an executive committee retreat: "Why are we in business?"

Before then, the company's biblical values were never officially codified in one official statement. Leaders spent the rest of the retreat defining what would become Chick-fil-A's just cause. This statement laid the foundation of how the brand will:

• Manage cash and charitable donations
• Attract great franchise owners who will uphold the brand
• Market the business by focusing future growth in communities and away from malls
• Retain and invest in talent

And the results? As former chief marketing officer, Steve Robinson, put it: “There's no way to explain it. The next year, we had a 36% sales increase. And let me assure you the financial crisis and the retail crisis was not over.”

Have a single vision of what leadership means

Around 2000, Chick-fil-A was having a shortage of next generation leaders. Their staff was talented but was not aligned on how to lead. This caused unintended negative consequences for the brand's culture. To fix this, Chick-fil-A set out to align the organization under one single vision of leadership guided by a list of key principles.

Vision: Great leaders serve.

Principles:

1. Don't expect others to do what you are unwilling to do. Chick-fil-A leaders have given up their box seats at the Peach Bowl football game, which Chick-fil-A sponsors, to work side-by-side with their staff at the stadium's restaurant.
2. Acknowledge that every member of the team is important. Chick-fil-A leaders go and introduce themselves to each employee individually at the home office. They learn staff member names, ask questions, and thank them for their service.
3. If there is a line, be the last one on it. Executive privilege and servant leadership do not mix. After company events when all 1,200 staff members are on line to board the bus, the leaders are the last ones on it.
4. Share opportunities and privileges with those who might otherwise never have the opportunity. When executives traveled with hourly workers to attend events, they purchased first class seats for their staff while they sat in economy.
5. Be inclusive. Leaders foster an abundance mentality showing team members that there are opportunities for everyone. Chick-fil-A executives spend time with all employees across the company to hear new ideas and gain feedback.

Guide by principles, not rules

For years, founder Truett Cathy would remind Chick-fil-A restaurant owners of his rule for staff to say 'My pleasure' to customers. And for years, it never took hold—until he began teaching them the principle behind the phrase, not just the rule itself.

As Truett Cathy explained, customers are the reason staff have paychecks, college scholarships, team outings, and parties, and because of that, it is always a pleasure to serve.

Over the years, Chick-fil-A developed a culture led by guiding principles rather than an exhaustive prescriptive list of behaviors and rules. Leaders would share principles with their staff, give the meaning behind them, and coach them on their understanding. This ultimately empowered staff to take it upon themselves to explore new ways of providing remarkable experiences for guests, like changing tires in the parking lot and dumpster diving for retainers.

Be a positive influence in your employees' lives, inside and outside of work

Acts of generosity and care from Chick-fil-A leaders range between little moments of appreciation to grand gestures of kindness for their staff. It is not uncommon for restaurant owners to:

• Leave personal notes in employee paychecks
• Attend employee softball games and track meets
• Invite employees and their families over for dinner
• Invite spouses to events
• Raise money to buy a car for an employee who is reliant on a taxi to bring her to work
• Personally pay for an employee's orthodontic care

Chick-fil-A, as a company, also provides scholarships to over 7,000 employees which totaled $19 million in 2021.

Demonstrate that every job is important by getting your hands dirty

While it seems obvious that floor level employees clean the bathroom at Chick-fil-A restaurants, owners and executives clean the bathroom just as often. As founder Truett Cathy would say: "When top executives demonstrate that they don't mind doing the dirty jobs, team members understand that every job is important."

Reward employees frequently and publicly

Some Chick-fil-A owners carry around $10 gift certificates in their pocket to reward employees after they say or do something special for a customer. This not only serves as a public example of excellence, but engages employees to try to be the next winner.

Draw inspiration from brands across all industries

Chick-fil-A leadership made it a habit to stop at every fast food operation and visit the headquarters of brands like Disney, Apple, Harley-Davidson, Southwest Airlines, and Zappos to understand each one's service philosophy.

They also took training courses from Horst Schulze, co-founder of The Ritz-Carlton. He suggested: "Don't look to be better than the other fast food restaurants. Those limited expectations will just weigh you down. Instead, aspire to the next level of service—restaurants with price points that are at least Chick-fil-A's, and build a service model that resembles that."

From there, Chick-fil-A drew inspiration from steak houses, grills, and restaurants that were three times their price point, borrowing ideas like:

• Out-front cooking, instead of out-of-sight cooking
• Fresh flowers on tables
• Umbrellas at the door on rainy days
• Providing freshly ground pepper and beverage refills at tables

Chick-fil-A even borrowed their iconic 'My pleasure' from The Ritz-Carlton.

Focus on giving, not getting

At Chick-fil-A, the widely used Be Our Guest free meal card, is not viewed as a gimmick to drive business growth (even though it does that very well), but as an opportunity to create a memorable moment for someone.

In fact, the brand's underlying intent behind any generous act is to solely bring happiness to a customer without any strings attached. Its this prevailing giving mindset that empowers employees to proactively:

• Reach out to schools and churches to see if they need any donations for upcoming events.
• Give free food to protestors, without any influence from the home office.
• Pick up trash on unkempt exit ramps along the way to work—a tradition started by the former president and continued to this day, over twenty years after his retirement.
• Send sympathy cards and free food to the widows of a valued customer.
• Donate food to shelters, soup kitchens, and emergency first responders.
• Give free meals to carpoolers during times when state governments asked people to drive less.
• Give a homeless man, not only a free meal but also their own gloves because it was cold out that day.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes

While Chick-fil-A does expect their company's principles to be respected, leaders also want employees to feel safe testing their limits. Yes, mistakes will happen, and that's okay. The goal at Chick-fil-A is to learn a lesson from each mistake, so they don't happen again. When one employee took a chance which resulted in a $2 million dollar loss, founder Truett Cathy didn't belabor on the problem or hold it over his head during the span of his career. Instead, he replied "We just invested $2 million in your education. You'll never make that mistake again."

Even former Chick-fil-A president, Jimmy Collins, has reinforced this principle when he said: "We'd rather restrain mustangs than kick mules. Don't play it safe. If you're right out there at the edge of your authority, we'll ease you back when the time comes."

Actively recruit where quality people gather

As Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, wrote: "You don't generally find good employees wandering the streets. We go to schools, churches, youth organizations, and other places where quality people gather and tell them what we have to offer. When we speak to young people about job and career opportunities, we advise them, 'Select a job representing a company you will be proud to work for. Then make them proud of you.'"

Select for character, competency, and chemistry

The wrong person working just ten hours a week can break down a culture and turn away customers for good. Chick-fil-A takes their time to find candidates by judging them on three tenets.

1. Character
   Would you want your children working for this person? Find out by asking behavioral-based questions. These questions should be focused around your core values and require candidates to provide specific examples or stories from their past experiences.
   See how to determine the right character.
2. Competency
   Does this person have the potential to be a leader and help the company grow? Skill set is not as important as the candidate's ability and desire to learn. Chick-fil-A has candidates shadow employees for a day and then evaluate them on whether they asked good questions or any at all.
   See how to measure competency.
3. Chemistry
   Is this someone you would want to socialize with outside of work? Candidates are on their best behavior during interviews, so test them to see how they do in more relaxed social settings. Chick-fil-A includes candidates in team meetings, takes them to team dinners, and also takes them to ball games.
   See how to measure chemistry.

Ask the right type of questions

Chick-fil-A follows these three principles when it comes to asking questions during an interview.

• Ask behavioral-based questions
  Have candidates provide specific examples from their past by beginning questions with phrases like: "Tell me about when you.." or "Describe an experience you have had with..." Avoid situational questions like "What would you do if...," as they are difficult to answer if the candidate hasn't experienced the situation before.
• Go three questions deep
  After one behavioral-based question, follow-up with two more to dive deeper into the candidate's initial response. Dee Ann Turner, former vice president of talent, says that "the most valuable information about the candidate is usually found in the answer to the third question." See an example.
• Pull loose threads
  Make it your goal to get a full understanding of the candidate's character. If an answer sounds incomplete or made up, ask questions until you can get a clear response.

Try to get the candidate to not take the job

Dee Ann Turner, former vice president of talent at Chick-fil-A, is completely transparent with candidates when it comes to telling them the good, and also the bad, about the company and its culture. As Chick-fil-A sees it, if a candidate can be talked out of the job in the interview, it's much better to know then rather than to know after you have invested in their training and development.

Thoroughly check references

Just verifying employment history is not enough. At Chick-fil-A a reference interview can easily take up to 45 minutes. They ask the reference for specific behavioral examples and look to verify the candidate's answers during the interview process.

As Dee Ann Turner, former vice president of talent, wrote: "More of my hiring decisions have been based on references than any other part of the process."

Develop business generalists

Chick-fil-A employees are encouraged to move around in the organization between different departments. This gives everyone the opportunity to better understand the business in its entirety, which puts them in a better position to become future company leaders.

The path to becoming a business generalist starts with the leaders of the company who:

• Encourage staff to share ideas across departments. This not only helps leaders find employees with other talents and interests but fosters a culture of innovation.
• Give staff development plans and a budget for education. Staff attend workshops and conferences, buy books, and travel with the SERVE team who teaches leadership skills to other businesses.
• Mentor at least two people per year from outside of their department. Leaders meet with their mentees regularly and even take them on business trips.

Help employees follow their dreams

Want more from your employees? First ask yourself what you can do for them.

At Chick-fil-A, leaders take an active role in helping their employees follow their passion, even if it leads them away from the company. One restaurant owner went so far as to help an aspiring photographer make a business plan, create a website, and find her an apprenticeship.

As Dee Ann Turner, former vice president of talent, wrote: "As a steward of the talent entrusted to us, we receive 100% of our employees' efforts when they know we care about their dreams and desires."

Make the CEO an integral part of the onboarding process

At Chick-fil-A the CEO takes an active role in making new hires feel welcome. While it is common practice for the CEO to sit with new employees at company events, the biggest impact this leader makes is on the employees' first day.

Franchisees and office staff are welcomed with an organizational culture tour lead by the CEO. The day begins with a bus tour to the original restaurant and then to other meaningful locations in Chick-fil-A's history. There are additional stops to meet company vendors and to see firsthand the charitable work the brand supports. The day ends at the CEO's home, where dinner is served.

Turn an employee's excellent work into a lesson for everyone else

After being served a perfectly made sandwich, Jimmy Collins, Chick-fil-A's former president, would take it back into the kitchen and find out who made it. He would then say, loud enough for everyone to hear, "This is a beautiful piece of work," and then explain in great detail what the employee did right and what makes it a perfect sandwich. This was not only a great way for him to publicly praise outstanding work but also teach everyone a lesson in operational excellence.

Create training videos that remind employees that every life has a story

Reinforce your cause and beliefs in your training videos

Increase quality time together

"Since first opening its doors, Chick-fil-A has valued quality time together. From building relationships with guests, to encouraging shared moments between friends and families, togetherness has been at the core of our business." And while we may never be able to get back time, Chick-fil-A strives to make the time we have, and the moments we share together, more meaningful.

Never deviate from what customers expect

At Chick-fil-A, there is one way to make breaded chicken, one way to cut lemons, and one way to make coleslaw—and owners and secret shoppers are always on the look out for any deviation from these standards. So, when one team member tried making the slaw prettier by adding in purple cabbage, the entire batch was immediately thrown out. This comes from Chick-fil-A's strong belief that if you don't have operational consistency then you don't have a brand at all.

Deliver second mile service

Mile 1: Chick-fil-A's Core 4 ingredients

• Make eye contact to show you care and that you are paying attention.
• Smile and strive to see the customer smile in return. A smile shows that you actually like being at work.
• Speak enthusiastically. Make it sound like you are smiling when you talk. Turn 'okay' into "of course," and "do you need help" into 'hey, anything I can help you with?"
• Stay connected. Start building relationships by making small talk—ask a question or give a compliment.

Mile 2: Three required ingredients mixed with three necessary behaviors

• Deliver meals to the table.
• Perform table touch-ins every 10-15 minutes. Make small talk, thank guests for coming in, or just remind them that you will take away their tray when they're done.
• Carry large orders to a customer's car. Don't ask, just do it and say "I will be assisting you to your car."
• Be genuine. Act as if the customer in front of you is the only customer you have that day. Actively listen and follow your warmhearted impulses by offering to pick up the tab for anyone seeming down.
• Be proactive and anticipate needs. Bring extra napkins and condiments during table touch-ins, hold open doors, take away garbage, and have highchairs at the ready.
• Be personal. Always use the guest's name at every touchpoint, from the warm welcome to the fond farewell. Servers look at the name on the receipt so that they can use the customer's name when delivering the meal.

Turn unhappy customers into raving fans

Chick-fil-A employees turn bad experiences into a positive ones by making sure that customers are HEARD:

• Hear. Listen intently and focus on what is being said. Don't interrupt—even if what the customer says doesn't reflect what actually happened.
• Empathize. Recognize what just happened and seek to understand the customer's perspective. Make the situation not about you, but the customer.
• Apologize sincerely. Customers don't care about your organizational challenges. Don't make excuses but accept responsibility. Most times that's all that is needed.
• Resolve immediately. Take ownership of resolving the issue, even if you did not cause it. Don't pass it off for someone else to fix.
• Delight. First, thank customers for bringing problems to your attention. Let's face it, if they didn't speak up, you would never have known there was an issue. Then, go the second mile and do something nice and unexpected for them. Some Chick-fil-A owners, after receiving a negative comment on a survey, personally call customers to apologize and invite them back for a second chance, and a free meal.

Turn store openings into a party for raving fans

At each Chick-fil-A grand opening, the first one hundred customers receive free meals once a week for one year. This prize has become so popular that raving fans began to camp out in front of stores days before their opening. Seeing an opportunity to build relationships with their customers, Chick-fil-A turned these campouts into one long event with free samplings, a midnight Icedream® party, backstage tours of the restaurant, and live entertainment and activities.

Create REMARKable moments

In their mission statement, the remark in remarkable is capitalized to emphasize that Chick-fil-A employees need to do things worth talking about. With this in mind, they organize experiences across their restaurants that bring families and friends together in memorable ways.

• Daddy-daughter date night: Both dad and daughter enjoy an evening with limousine and carriage rides, table service from staff dressed in tuxedos, strolling violinists, and tablecloth-covered, candlelit tables.
• Cow appreciation day: Come into any Chick-fil-A restaurant dressed as a cow, or wearing cow print, and receive a free entree.
• Stuffed animal sleepovers: Have dinner with your favorite stuffed animal and then leave it there overnight for a stuffed animal slumber party with the other stuffed animals. It will be waiting for you in the morning with photos of the fun it had and a 'thank you' letter.

Encourage conversation instead of screen time

The Cell Phone Coop challenge was created to get people to spend more time talking to each other and less time on their phones while eating at Chick-fil-A restaurants. The rules are simple:

• All family members silence their phones and place them in a provided coop box.
• Everyone enjoys their meals distraction and cell phone free.
• When you are done, tell the staff you completed the challenge and receive a small Icedream® cone.

Create messaging that is worth talking about

When first launching this billboard campaign, Chick-fil-A only showed the rubber chicken without any text or logo. It was only after thousands of people drove past it and media chatter began to rise that they added the rest.

Always have something to give away

Whether they are at a doctor's office or on a plane, Chick-fil-A associates are encouraged to carry plush Cows and Be Our Guest free sandwich cards with them wherever they go. They then readily hand them out to anyone who seems like they could use a pick-me-up or anyone who can tell them what the Cows say. These small acts of generosity strengthen the brand because they:

• Help associate the brand with being fun and generous.
• Generate testimonials in public areas for anyone in earshot to hear.
• Create a one-on-one brand building opportunity.
• Provide people with something that they can take home which will continually remind them of the brand.

Emphasize what's really important to your customers

When surveying their customer-base, Chick-fil-A found that "93% of respondents said quality time together is the single most important ingredient to creating favorite holiday memories, in front of food, decorating, music, parties and gifts." This lead to the creation of their holiday Time Shop ad.

Choose a brand name that reflects quality

For Truett Cathy, the choice to name his company Chick-Fil-A was simple. They specialized in chicken sandwiches, the best cut of beef is a fillet, and the capitalized A reinforces top quality.