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    • Home
    • Marketing
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      • EXPERIENTIAL
      • MEETINGS
      • TRADE SHOWS
    • Case Studies
      • Hospitality Rebrand
      • QSR GTM Project
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      • Tequila Branding & Distro
      • Medical Website Info
      • CPG GTM Strategy
      • Meal Plan Subscription
    • Brands
    • About
    • Contact
  • Home
  • Marketing
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    • EXPERIENTIAL
    • MEETINGS
    • TRADE SHOWS
  • Case Studies
    • Hospitality Rebrand
    • QSR GTM Project
    • Fitness Online Business
    • Tequila Branding & Distro
    • Medical Website Info
    • CPG GTM Strategy
    • Meal Plan Subscription
  • Brands
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GTM Strategy for a QSR

Taking a QSR Concept to the Market in Chicago - Corky's Chicken Shack

Bringing a 40 year old hospitality favorite into a QSR concept 

The Challenge

Corky’s Chicken Shack had a beloved 40-year-old fried chicken recipe, but it was only served in hospitality and catering settings—never as a stand-alone, fast-service offering. The challenge was to introduce Corky’s as a quick-serve restaurant (QSR) in a highly competitive fast-food market while preserving its heritage, quality, and reputation. With no prior retail presence, no fast-service infrastructure, and no existing customer base in the QSR space, we needed to build brand awareness, demand, and operational efficiency from the ground up.

The Strategy

To successfully launch Corky’s Chicken Shack as a fast-service brand, we developed a strategy focused on brand positioning, market entry, operational efficiency, and customer acquisition:

Brand Development & Market Positioning

  • Created a unique brand identity that balanced heritage and modern appeal—emphasizing “famous fried chicken” with a nostalgic yet fresh aesthetic.
  • Developed a logo, packaging, and store design that felt authentic and inviting for both new and loyal customers.
  • Crafted messaging that highlighted the 40-year history while competing with major QSR brands.


Menu Engineering & Product Adaptation

  • Adjusted the traditional hospitality-style chicken into a quick-serve format that maintained quality while increasing speed of service.
  • Designed a streamlined menu featuring signature fried chicken, tenders, sandwiches, and sides to cater to fast-moving customers.
  • Introduced combo meals, dipping sauces, and grab-and-go options to enhance appeal.


Strategy & Market Entry

  • Created a scalable store format that could be replicated across multiple locations opting for a shipping container design that could be built out for 1/3 the price of traditional brick and mortar. 
  • Positioned Corky’s to compete with fast-casual and fast-food competitors while maintaining a premium-quality perception.


Digital & Local Marketing Launch

  • Pre-launch buzz campaign through social media, influencer engagement, and PR.
  • Developed a user-friendly online ordering system with third-party delivery integrations.
  • Implemented targeted digital ads, social media campaigns, and local promotions to attract early adopters and loyal fans.

The Execution

Launching Corky’s Chicken Shack as a QSR Brand

Storefront & Experience:

  • Designed an inviting, classic chicken shack style pick up only layout optimized for quick service.
  • Ensured highly efficient kitchen operations to meet demand while maintaining quality.
  • Created a cohesive brand experience with custom packaging, signage, and branding elements.


Marketing & Community Engagement:

  • Hosted grand opening events with special promotions to build hype.
  • Partnered with local influencers, media outlets, and food bloggers to generate organic awareness.
  • Launched loyalty programs, limited-time offers, and referral incentives to drive repeat business.


Optimized Digital Presence

  • Created a mobile-friendly website with online ordering and delivery integration.
  • Focused on SEO-driven content marketing to capture local search traffic for “best fried chicken near me.”
  • Built an email and SMS marketing funnel to keep customers engaged and returning.

The Results

Instant Success

The chicken shack's and success was in a large part due to its existing brand knowledge. Leveraging the local market with mouthwatering photography, approachable prices, great digital placement and ease of ordering were an instant success for the brand.

MARKET RESEARCH

Understanding the market and knowing the right mix only took a few months to dial in the right paid ads and placements.  

Engagement

Knowing the influencers that could reach the right audience was key. Local influencers with 25,000 - 50,000 followers with high engagement was the key to the performnace. 

Menu Development

Developing a menu mix that was fast, efficient and cost effective was the goal of the brand from the start. The only fresh items on the menu were the buns, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and sauces. All menu items were fried eliminating any additional equipment. 

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The Creative & Brand Narrative

Overall Concept:

The logo for Corky’s Chicken Shack embodies a vintage and rustic aesthetic, emphasizing authenticity and tradition. The circular design gives a badge-like appearance, which is often associated with quality, heritage, and trust. The central illustration of a rooster reinforces the brand's focus on chicken, adding a handcrafted, artisanal touch that appeals to a farm-to-table or homemade-style experience.


Typography:

  1. "Corky’s Chicken Shack" (Top Arc):
    • Uses a bold, vintage-inspired, serif typeface in red-orange.
    • The angled positioning around the circular frame creates a dynamic and engaging feel.
    • It conveys warmth and familiarity, aligning with the rustic, Southern-style branding.

  1. "Famous Fried Chicken" (Bottom Arc):
    • Uses a slightly different but complementary serif font in golden yellow.
    • This color evokes feelings of warmth, fried food, and nostalgia, subtly referencing the golden, crispy texture of fried chicken.

  1. "ESTD. 1978":
    • Simple, sans-serif font in dark brown.
    • Reinforces the brand’s history and longevity with a no-nonsense, understated elegance.


Illustration:

  • The hand-drawn rooster at the center is detailed, sketched in a red-orange tone.
  • It gives a traditional, down-to-earth feel, reminiscent of farm branding or old-school butcher stamps.
  • The sketch adds a tactile, organic quality, making it feel crafted rather than overly commercial.

The Logo

Branding Impact

This logo effectively communicates heritage, quality, and homemade excellence. The mix of warm, inviting colors and handcrafted typography and illustration makes it feel like an established, trusted brand, perfect for a fried chicken restaurant with a Southern, rustic, or farm-fresh identity.

Color Swatch

Rustic Red (#C14E3C) - This color immediately signals a classic, down-home feel, making customers associate the brand with authentic, homemade-style fried chicken.

Golden Yellow (#E59B2D) - This color enhances the appetite appeal and reinforces the fried chicken theme, making the brand feel warm and inviting.

Dark Brown (#44352E) - This color balances the warmth of red and yellow, ensuring the brand doesn’t feel overly aggressive. It gives a classic, reliable, and down-to-earth personality to the restaurant.

The Mobile Site

Overall Concept: Keep the mobile ordering as clean, simple and efficient as the menu its self. This allowed ease of use for both the younger and older demographic and less glitches. The bottom featured a home, cart, favorites, wallet and Settings. 


The Mobile Strategy - Clean UI/UX

Photo Concepts

Overall Concept: Keep the food simple and delicious, take mouthwatering images and they will come. Keep the look vintage and rustic, emphasizing tradition. Have the employees taking their own photos, staff were provided with free meals while on shift helping with the local promotion. 


Photos & Menus

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