Chick-fil-A brings the beloved Cows back to drive Loyalty

Chick-fil-A’s cows are back and they are here to promote the trivia game that aims to help the chain’s rewards program. And they are on TV spots for the first time since 2019. Chick-fil-A is one among several fast food chains who are trying to find creative ways to make the most of their rewards program.

This ad is from McCann New York and has the cows working for Chick-fil-A’s mock rival Circus Burger. They have been seen earlier very discreetly promoting chicken saying that they were better than burgers. The new spot has them working on a program called “Code Moo” in Circus Burger’s social media department.

Code Moo is a mobile game developed by AKQA where customers will need to answer trivia questions in geography to help the cows Daisy, Carrots and Sarge try and sabotage Circus Burger locations, which is a cheeky reference to McDonald’s. Users who answer the three questions correctly every Wednesday until the first of August, will get a reward that they can redeem for an item on the menu – it could be a chicken sandwich or waffle fries or 8-count nuggets (until supplies last).

Those who are members of the Chick-fil-A One rewards program will be able to play this new game at playCodeMoo.com. They will have a chance to win sweepstakes such as free Chick-fil-A for a year or a trip for two to the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship.

Chick-fil-A hopes to measure the success of this campaign by tracking the number of food rewards redeemed. The brand has 2.5 million weekly food rewards planned.

According to the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, as reported by Restaurant Business Chick-fil-A is the third largest restaurant chain in the US in 2022. Chick-fil-A’s sales went up by 12.8% to $18.8 billion and along with Raising Cane’s, is one of the two chains that ‘outperformed’ the rest of the fast-food players over the past decade. They managed to increase sales at a rate faster than inflation!

Fast food is just that – it is quick and easy and most convenient. And most of the time, it has pretty much the same fare. It has beverages, a main order which could be burgers or chicken pieces or pizza and sides which are usually fries.

In this kind of set up, how does one get new customers to your brand and more importantly, make them keep coming back?

You do a rewards program. It is a known fact that customers keep going back to the brand that has them hooked up to a loyalty or a rewards program. Some brands offer points for every purchase.

The trouble is that these days, most brands have that already. So how do you get new customers to come to you and then keep coming? You offer rewards in tiers. The more you spend, the quicker you move to a higher tier that will earn you more points than the previous level.

What if you offer them a choice to do what they wish with the rewards points? What if the prizes are things not in the usual range of things that the brand offers? What if brands give them something exclusive that money just can’t buy you from a store?

What is you do a creative event that will engage them? What if you do some trivia. Play a game. Have special deals and combos. Limited edition toys and collectibles. Do something really fun!

Chick-fil-A’s campaign now has the excitement of two events clubbed into one – it has the fun of a trivia quiz combined with the unbeatable excitement of a treasure hunt – and it has the adorable cows thrown in as well – characters that customers and audiences already know and love. So the anticipation is palpable.

It is like a favorite comedian who comes on stage – since he is a favorite already, he doesn’t have to do much to get a laugh out of you. The Chick-fil-A cows are like that – well known and much loved.

All in all a great initiative by the brand to drive loyalty!