Au Bon Pain revised its brand mission and essence in order to cope with the economic recession that caused restaurants across the industry to revise their strategic plans.
The company's mission was revised to reflect "something simple and something our field can understand," said Au Bon Pain CEO Sue Morelli. "It's about our food and about our people."
Morelli gave the keynote address at the start of day two of the Fast Casual Executive Summit, held Sept. 14-15 at the Hotel Palomar in Dallas.
Baking and baking fresh everyday is still the heart and soul of the brand, Morelli said, but like many other restaurants, the company needed guidance to help understand what was going on with the consumer and the economy as the recession hit.
Au Bon Pain tracks trends using the Bellwether Report, an online financial community that offers free market analysis to retail and other business establishments. Morelli said that was the best document they have found to guide them through the past year.
"Last year, as the great recession hit, things changed," Morelli said. "Consumer buying behavior worldwide has changed. We spent a lot of 2009 trying to figure out what is going on, where is this consumer mindset nowadays and how do we react."
Consumers are feeling more insecure than ever before because of the employment situation. "They feel less wealthy and consumers are learning to live with less, and that has got major implications for all of us who live in this room," Morelli said.
Going forward, Au Bon Pain plans to adjust its marketing effort in an effort to create a theme for each quarter. They also will roll out less trendy products.
"It's just our gut that right now that maybe a good chicken salad sandwich is appealing to our guest rather than the Salmon Wasabi sandwich we launched a few years ago, Morelli said. "Brand evolution is inevitable and it should be built around progress."
