This feels like a personal betrayal.
Not just because it annoys me as a viewer, in ways similar to the recent Panera campaign.
No, as a person-who-talks-about-restaurant-branding, Jimmy John’s was always a reliable example of a brand who understood who it was, and what people liked about it.
They were freaky fast.
Over and over.
Quality of product was implied—they made it seem like their sandwich was as good as if not better than the other, similar choices near you at their price point. They win the tie with speed.
And their brand personality had a kind of punk, mildly counter-cultural feel. Like you might expect from a buncha guys who ride bikes and make subs for a living.
On social media they did stuff like this:
But now they’re straying from that personality.
The people who worked on this would say, “But it’s still about being fast.”
Yes, but by adding in that bit about pursuing my dreams, you suddenly seem like a different company. A different personality. Like different people are in charge. Like I can’t assume you’re the same company today as you were last time I ordered. Maybe my sandwich is going to change. Maybe there are other restaurants I should check to see if they deliver—it’s a subconscious shift, but it’s real, and you slip down the slope as soon as you shift your tone.
As I suggest in Chapter 7 in the book, a consistent brand tone is a sneaky advantage, and when you start talking differently it’s not that dissimilar from a person who seems different today than yesterday—and alarms start going off.
Some restaurants need to change their tone. They need to make us believe there are different people in charge. But JJ’s had it figured out, and they were disciplined.
Dang.
The chain will survive on momentum and familiarity, I imagine. Hell, it survives that awful photo of the owner having proudly safari-killed the last female black rhino or something.
But me, I’m personally aggrieved.
I’ve lost an excellent example of a disciplined brand with a clear idea of both messaging and tone.
