Wendy’s new CMO on building a beloved US burger brand in Australia
This week, US burger chain Wendy’s appointed its first Australian chief marketing officer, as it looks to launch in 200 locations across the country within the next ten years.
Corina Black comes to the fast food chain from the NRL, where she worked on the league’s marketing strategies. She tells Mumbrella both roles are ultimately “all about building fandom and fan tribes.” But will Team Wendy’s succeed in a market where many US fast food chains have tried and failed? And what of the annoying detail that there is another Wendy’s food outlet — Wendy’s Milk Bar — established in Australia?
The early signs are good. In January, Wendy’s opened a single store on Cavill Avenue in Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast which inspired Beatlemania-type fanfare.
“We opened with crowds that actually circled all the way down to the beach from Cavill Avenue,” Black recalls. “People were prepared to wait for a number of hours to try us out for the first time. And that momentum has continued. It hasn’t just been a first-opening fever.”
The flagship Australian store
In the US, Wendy’s is a household burger chain, opening its first store in 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, and ballooning to over 6,000 locations in America, with an extra thousand or so scattered across 32 other countries. Wendy’s even invented the drive-through window, originally called “the pick-up window” – an idea so revolutionary that customers needed to be trained how to talk into the order speaker.
Wendy’s is now the second-largest burger chain in the US, behind McDonald’s, and third-largest in the world, with Burger King outselling it internationally.
“It’s a globally recognised brand, and much anticipated into this market,” Black says.
The first Wendy’s
Not surprisingly, Flynn’s Group, which holds the master franchisee licence for both Wendy’s and Pizza Hut in Australia, did a lot of research before entering the Australian market.
They took note of “the social [media] fever that was really encouraging Wendy’s to come to this country”, after opening a pop-up Wendy’s in The Rocks in Sydney for a single day in May, 2021.
In 2023, it announced a flagship Wendy’s store on the Gold Coast, and plans to expand rapidly.
Black says, from that point on, there was “fan-driven, huge social momentum, even before the doors opened – which was really testament to Wendy’s global brand equity.”
“The foundation is really, really strong here and there’s a great opportunity for us now to build on that.”
Being a beloved fast food chain isn’t enough to succeed in Australia, though.
Last July, US burger chain Carl’s Jr exited the Australian market, shutting down 20 stores, while earlier this month, Taco Bell’s local licensee Collins Foods announced it will look to sell off its 27 Australian local stores, with plans to exit by next year.
US pizza chain Little Caesars launched locally in 2014, but had wound up in 2019, while burger chain Five Guys, who opened its first Australian store in 2021, has only added four more to its tally, an average of one store a year.
While Five Guys is aiming for a modest 25 Australian stores by 2030 (it has more than 1,200 outlets in the US) Wendy’s is hoping to open 200 local stores by 2034, with two more planned for this year.
Wendy’s is already a going concern in New Zealand, too, with 21 stores there. Marketing in Australia will be social-led, at first, given the online groundswell that convinced Flynn’s that Australia was a viable market.
Corina Black
“The first priority is clarity and being really crystal clear around positioning, and what Wendy’s stands for in this market.”
Wendy’s point of difference will be in its fresh ingredients, Black says.
“We really want to own quality — fresh, never frozen — and build really strong emotional connection through culture, not just food. And we think there’s a great opportunity here for that. So, it’s really about building the brand-heat through smart in-the-store openings themselves. We’re taking a social-first storytelling approach as we build scale, and build fan engagement with our limited footprint.
“Initially, every store needs to be the flagship for the brand experience,” Black continues. “So great food, personality, and those shareable moments. Then, it’s about setting then the foundation for that scale and for that growth and development, and laying down the systems, the people and the platforms that can grow us over the next decade.”
Wendy’s isn’t entirely new to the market. The burger chain attempted an Australian launch in 1978, but had pulled out by 1986. There’s also the delicate matter of there being another popular, long-established food-based chain named Wendy’s in Australia.
Wendy’s Milk Bar
Wendy’s Milk Bar, originally known as Wendy’s Supa Sundaes, then just Wendy’s, opened in South Australia in 1979, and currently has 120 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
“We’re certainly aware of it,” Black says, of the 46-year-old brand. “We’re confident in our ability to differentiate.
“One is a local dessert chain, and the other is a global brand known for burgers, fries and fresh craveable meals.”
Black says “we’re not seeing any significant confusion from consumers to date”, and notes “the awareness and the anticipation for Wendy’s has been so strong, driven by those years of social media fandom and brand buzz.”
Both brands have registrations for ‘Wendy’s’ on the Australian trade mark register; the burger-based trademark stems back to February 1978, and is due for renewal in February 2029, which means this battle may have already been settled during the disco era.
“I think we can continue to clearly define who we are” Black says. “Consumers will understand that.”
A spokesperson from Supatreats Australia, parent company of Wendy’s Milk Bar, reiterated the difference between the two companies when contacted by Mumbrella.
When asked for comment on the brand confusion, she said her organisation did not want to talk about it.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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