Creative Project Rationale

Brand: Shake Shack

Group 5: Lexi Bean, Claire Latimer, Grace Meyer, Savannah Lowry

Target audience
Shake Shack’s goal is to fill a fast food craving with a more elevated experience. It provides finer
dining for classic fast food favorites. Therefore, Shake Shack caters to those with a greater
disposable income than someone looking to eat at a McDonalds or Burger King. Because of this,
Shake Shack’s target audience are Millennials (25-40). Millennials are also more socially
conscious and look for companies that also value being socially responsible. Shake Shack
addresses this point by using environmentally friendly products and through a corporate policy
that supports local communities.

Consumer Insight & Main Messaging

In order to attract our target audience and to stay true to the Shake Shack brand, our main
message is: an elevated fast food experience for the hard working millennial. Shake Shack
recognizes that millennials have a bad reputation--being accused of killing marriage and family
values, always needing a trophy or recognition, and being too lazy. That is not how Shake Shack
wants its customers to feel. Stepping into Shake Shack should feel like a breath of fresh air,
where millennials can forget the world around them and enjoy a familiar comfort meal at an
elevated experience.

Key Competitors
While there are dozens of popular burger franchises around the country, the largest competitors
for Shake Shake are In-N-Out Burger, Steak and Shake, and Smashburger. These chains are
predominantly regional burger/shake locations that are considered staples in their geographic
areas, while also giving off a similar personality to Shake Shake of a more elevated diner
experience than a McDonalds or Wendy’s.

Positioning
In this seemingly cluttered market, with the aforementioned competitors, Shake Shack needs to
find a way to stand out to its millennial customers. The other chains highlight their fresh, quality
ingredients, mouth-watering flavors, and low pricing in their advertisements, but don’t focus on
the experience you have while eating at the restaurant. By emphasizing Shake Shack as a
comfort meal for millennials, we not only demonstrate the quality of the food, but also feature
the dining experience of Shake Shake as a restaurant that understands you, and wants to create a
safe space where you can be a millennial and proud of it.

Bonus Idea Concept & Rationale

Taking this idea to the next level, many people consider millennials the “me generation,” and
think of them as selfish. However, research shows that millennials actually care a lot about
brands that involve themselves in corporate social responsibility (CSR), and Shake Shack is a
brand that does this exceptionally well and humbly. This creative concept focuses on making the
work Shake Shack does with social and environmental organizations stand out. This is the Real
Food Real Change campaign. This campaign redesigns Shake Shack’s bags to associate the logos
of different organizations the restaurant supports with the Shake Shack logo, highlighting
different groups the purchase supports and letting the customer know their purchase doesn’t just
buy food but it also contributes to a good cause.

According to the 2015 Cone Communications Millennial CSR Study, “More than nine-in-10
millennials would switch brands to one associated with a cause, and two-thirds use social media
to engage around CSR” (Cone Communications). We understand that our target audience wants
more out of the brands they love. Millennials can see through false promises, and what they
really want is action. Shake Shack is currently involved with a multitude of organizations
devoted to sustainability and human rights initiatives that we want to showcase to our audience.
The purpose of the #RealFoodRealChange campaign is to highlight the organizations Shake
Shack works with and to get our target more involved. The hashtag also allows for our target to
share and interact with our campaign on social media.