In the world of brand recognition, only 15% of brand assets are ‘truly distinctive’, with many brands facing something of an identity crisis. After all – the first job of any brand is to make sure you can be instantly recognised by consumers before consideration, preference and conversions all begin to flow.

From McDonald’s Golden Arches to the Nike swoosh, knowing what makes consumers instantly connect to your brand is crucial – so why then, did hugely successful restaurant chain TGI Fridays become Fridays back in 2020, before rebranding again – to TGI Fridays – earlier this year?

In the world of branding, it is crucial to create and maintain that familiarity among consumers – yet when Rhiannon Scarlett came on board as CMO for TGI Fridays, she found that the business was doing the exact opposite; dropping a well-established name, logo and branding in a bid to reinvent itself.

It would have been a bold move at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis where consumers are eschewing trips out in favour of saving money at home. Scarlett is candid about the brand’s missteps in the past, but has plans in place for the rich and exciting brand with a determination to succeed.

The story of TGI Fridays

First established in the US in 1965, TGI Fridays  soon became a global household name, with over 600 locations in 55 countries – 80 of which are in the UK.

Despite its historical triumphs, the last few years have been a tumultuous time for the brand. TGI Fridays has faced financial challenges in recent years, partially due to the pandemic’s impact on the casual dining sector and other issues related to changes in ownership of its UK operations.

So, when in August 2020, the brand announced it would be dropping the ‘TGI’ in their name in a rebrand attempt to “make Friday’s famous again”, they were met with a negative response.

Rather than the ‘shorter, sharper and more contemporary’ effect they wanted, consumers and marketers alike saw the move as a brand that was ‘lost and confused’.

“Tired. That’s how people saw it,” Rhiannon ventures.

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“People thought of it as a tired brand, that, you know, sort of had it’s day. I think a lot of people don’t know it exists. The idea in 2020 to rebrand it to Friday was actually in an effort to refresh the brand and to make it appeal to younger or new guests,” she says, explaining the move.

She added, “They didn’t think it was unsafe at the time, if that make sense. There was rationality behind [the decision]”.

But Rhiannon did and shortly after her appointment last year, the brand name quickly reverted back to the well-known name, ‘TGI Fridays’.

“I just felt that we should retain the equity in the TGI Fridays name. People would still search Google for TGI’s, not Fridays,’ she explained.

Show Your Stripes

In 2022, TGI Fridays’ Show Your Stripes campaign showcased across multiple channels as part of a major brand reposition.

Aimed at driving customer acquisition, retention, and growth of existing customers, the films depicted TGI Friday guests visiting the restaurant with family members at the beginning of the video, before exploring a cocktail experience towards the end.

When asked how TGI Fridays hoped to balance the cocktail experience with a family-friendly vibe, Rhiannon pointed out the flexibility of the restaurant.

“We are a daytime venue as well as an evening venue. Families tend to come in after school and planning for an early meal, whereas drinkers probably come in after work. So then, there is obviously some overlap, but there is also just a natural shift in the day where different groups are here.

“We are really quite excited in our ability to appeal to the different groups and [provide] the sort of experience are looking for. Ultimately, the commonality is that guests are all looking to come for a great time.”

Moving on from addressing the variation in their target audience, Rhiannon added that the campaign’s strategy was to “rebuild brand equity in the UK”.

This in itself presented a challenge in how to appeal to the different TGI Fridays guests. Using different channels allowed the team to target audiences accordingly – showcasing the parts of the campaign that were most relevant to them.

“It’s because we’ve got a really broad audience. And we do span a range of demographics in particular kind of age profiles, so we have to think about how we represent ourselves in different groups. Using Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube really introduced us to new audiences and helped us grow interest with guests that didn’t really consider us before.”

Speaking about brand heritage and identity, Scarlett explained that she feels strongly about leaning into what made the brand a success in the first place.

“Initially TGI Fridays was a kind of corner street cocktail bar in Upper East Side, where women would go on their own drinks and with their friends, which – if you think back to 1965 – would have not been that common.

“It would have been quite safe,” she added. “TGI Fridays has always been quite socially progressive brands very liberal, very open, very accepting, a little bit daring.

“Inclusivity socially liberal thinking is absolutely at our core. So we just wanted to show that but in a more relevant twist, in a way. To visualise it as something that would be meaningful to a modern consumer.”

Loyalty and consumer focus

However Scarlett acknowledged that while growing an initial target audience is important, in order to be successful, TGI Fridays also needs to retain and grow its loyal customer base.

Finding a medium between both new and existing customers, Scarlett revealed it was actually the success of the culture campaign that inspired a reimaging of TGI Fridays rewards app, with the response from the creative leading the marketing team to reconsider the existing model.

“We talked to people and then updated our own database, to create a really compelling a loyalty programme,” Scarlett explained.

“We actually restructured the programme to make it more accessible and restructured the rewards to make sure we had a lower entry point.”

While the new loyalty programme is still in its early days, Scarlett revealed that it is already securing “really strong recruitment statistics”.

TGIF’s future

Alongside growing the loyalty app, Scarlett revealed there are multiple projects in the brand’s pipeline.

Future innovations include Blockparty, which focuses on guest experience, and an ongoing new campaign, ‘Turn up the Flavour’, which will centre around innovating taste, food and drinks.

“We are really rich and exciting brand. And we’ve been around for a long time. But I think we’re on a journey to come back to the forefront,” Scarlett said.

Acknowledging that the brands’ repositioning will not ” happen overnight”, she remains “100% committed to bringing this brand back. But in a new way, in a way that’s relevant today. Absolutely.”