Rebranding Cracker Barrel
People are up in arms this week about Cracker Barrel’s rebranding efforts. Some people are accusing the company of abandoning its history while others claim the brand has bone woke.
Here is my assessment.
Brand Repositioning
The world changes and brands need to change in order to keep up. As people’s interests evolve, a brand can’t just stand still.
The challenge for a brand is to be relevant and change without losing too many of its fans.
Dramatic repositioning or rebranding efforts can be a bit like sepsis. In the healthcare world, sepsis is known as the common pathway of death. When someone gets very sick, what actually causes their demise often isn’t the problem that sent them to the hospital, it is sepsis, which causes multiple organ system failure.
Brand repositioning sometimes acts the same way. When a brand is struggling, marketers are tempted to embark on a bold repositioning. Unfortunately, the repositioning can drive away the existing customers. If new customers don’t quickly appear, the brand collapses.
Cracker Barrel’s Situation
To understand the Cracker Barrel situation, it is important to realize the brand has been struggling. While the chain has grown significantly since its creation in 1969, it is no longer on a promising path.
Net income was $255 million in FY 2021. Profits have declined every year since then, falling to $41 million in FY 2024. The stock is down from a high of about $175 in 2021 to less than $60 this year.
Behind the brand’s struggles is an aging consumer base. Cracker Barrel’s core target is over 65: individuals with time to enjoy a leisurely lunch and browse through the retail offerings. Traffic with this group fell off post-pandemic and remains weak.
It is hard to see how the current trajectory leads to better results; the brand’s old-time look and feel is comforting but not likely to resonate with younger consumers or those entering their older years.
The Rebrand
It is wrong to call Cracker Barrel’s latest moves a dramatic rebranding. The fundamental product proposition isn’t different. I suspect the brand positioning, brand character and brand purpose haven’t changed in a notable way.
It is better to think of this as a brand refresh.
-Store design: Cracker Barrel is dialing back the clutter, moving to something of a country modern look and feel. The new restaurants definitely feel rural, but it is more prosperous rural than old farm house rural.
-Menu: The menu is shifting, though not dramatically. Cracker Barrel is still offering eggs and pot roast and casserole.
-Logo: The new logo keeps the color but drops the character and the barrel.
The moves make a lot of sense. How do you perk an old brand? You make it slightly more modern and interesting.
The Reaction
Reactions to the rebrand have varied. Some people like the more modern look but others are enraged. You can get a sense of the comments on Tik Tok here and here.
The problem is that the Cracker Barrel rebrand is becoming political. The former Cracker Barrel imagery was old, rural, traditional and, for some people, racist. Any move away from that can appear inclusive or woke.
In a world with hair-trigger social media and commentators eager to stir up controversy to drive ratings, this is a dangerous area.
Now What
So how should Cracker Barrel respond?
First, stick with the program. There is no question Cracker Barrel needs some changes and the current moves seem reasonable. People will likely move on when the next hot issue comes along.
Second, respond to the critics. It is tempting to be quiet and hope the controversy dies away. That doesn’t work; Bud Light tried the approach and the results were disastrous. Perhaps, the CEO could say, “We love that people are so fired up about Cracker Barrel. We’ve been making changes and we are going to listen to the feedback. The brand needs to evolve, but we will of course consider adjusting course. One first step: we will be using both versions of the logo for at least the next several years.”
The part about the logo seems like a big concession, but it isn’t really: any logo change leads to a transition period. Cracker Barrel can just extend this period and gather feedback along the way.
Third, Cracker Barrel should encourage its employees and supporters to post positive things about the brand. This is also a great time for influencer marketing, to ensure that people see a balanced portrayal in their social media feeds.
Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t popular. That doesn’t mean it isn’t the right thing to do.
I think this is a really thought-provoking take on the situation. There is a great deal of debate online regarding the stylistic choices around the new logo/mark. What’s more important to look at, in my view, is the reasoning behind the changes which you lay out well. It’s short-sighted to suggest, as many do, that changing a logo is an affront to what’s worked in the past or what helped to build a brand to begin with. This brand evolution is pointed toward the future, not the past. And whatever I think about the design choices (I think there is room for improvement but no-one asked me), the expression of leadership is what’s important. And now the question will turn to whether leadership was right.