Targeting by radius
What particularly stood out about Camelot is its data-driven approach, according to Davila, as the brands look to invest less in national linear TV in favor of digital and connected TV. The brands will still show up on local linear TV where it makes sense as they switch to targeting consumers based on proximity to a restaurant rather than targeting an entire city.
“There’s an opportunity for us to really reassess our footprint and understand where it makes sense to buy at a designated marketing area [such as a city like Phoenix or Atlanta] level versus putting a radius around a location,” Davila said. “Then that creates media efficiency, which then can be reinvested back into spending in core markets.”
Media buying at a DMA level for Los Angeles makes sense, according to Davila—but not so much in rural areas. “There’s a lot of folks that are being served ads that are 10-plus miles from a location and very unlikely to visit,” Davila added.
An ongoing revamp
Davila says Carl’s Jr. is known for being an L.A.-centric brand with big bold flavors. Its ad legacy has included models such as Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, which it has walked away from over the years. The Hardee’s audience is vastly different, according to Davila.
“I was actually born and raised in the Midwest, so I think of it [Hardee’s] as kind of a legacy burger brand—but how the business actually manifests today is actually quite different,” Davila said.
“The majority of our sales volume is actually at breakfast, it’s very well established in particularly Southeast markets … and a lot of our locations are in smaller towns of 10,000 people or less. And so when you think about those two different types of consumers, they’re quite different. And so I think trying to market them together is quite challenging.”
Carl’s Jr. spent $76.5 million on U.S. measured media in 2022, down from $83.2 million in 2021, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics. Hardee’s spent $40.3 million on U.S.-measured media in 2022, below the $48.5 million spent in 2021.
The media agency switch is the latest change for CKE, which last month named former Papa John’s Chief Operating Officer Max Wetzel as its new CEO.
In September, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s unveiled new logos and uniforms accompanied by new ads that featured fake newscasters. In May 2022, CKE announced a $500 million co-investment with franchisees to modernize its store base and technology over the next four to six years.
