Cracker Barrel is the most recent company to learn that rebranding can sometimes kill a business. They weren’t the first, and they certainly won’t be the last to attempt a refresh for financial reasons. Yet they made a big mistake. They blamed their inability to attract new customers on their iconic Cracker Barrel logo and old-timey country store vibe when they should have leaned into it.
If their goal was to attract Millennials and Gen-Zers then turning a kitschy restaurant into a bland Denny’s look-alike was not going to do it. Kitschy is cool. Both Millennials and Gen-Zs crave unique experiences. Instead of changing their identity they could have hired a panel of 16 to 44-year-olds to collaborate on a marketing plan that would speak to their peers. They needed to maintain the Cracker Barrel the older generations grew to love while making it hip enough for younger people to want to dine there.
No matter your age, when you enter the Old Country Store you can’t help but smile. Everyone loves nostalgic candy, toys, and games. Yet younger buyers want cheeky clothing and accessories, not old fashioned Christmas ornaments or granny shawls. Instead of rebranding and remodeling to the point of having no personality, Cracker Barrel should have focused on making younger generations feel welcome too. And if Trader Joe’s could come up with a must-have mini-tote that was all the rage on TikTok, so could Cracker Barrel.
Yes, the company was struggling. Their stocks were falling, and their older clientele were dying off. They needed to do something. They simply made the mistake of forgetting why they were able to survive for 55 years in business, and they changed too much. They invested $700 million into a rebrand that has cost them $100 million in stock value since its launch. What will they do next? They’ll commit to their new path and hope that business takes a turn for the better quickly.