Flame Broiler
Flame Broiler sees a world where fast casual doesn’t mean unhealthy
Reinventing a Classic Without Losing the Magic
When Young Lee immigrated from South Korea to Los Angeles, he loved the diverse food culture of his new city but missed the freshness and flavor of the healthy, affordable meals back home. With little money and no restaurant experience, Young and his wife, Sarah, started Flame Broiler. This new fast-casual rice bowl restaurant celebrated the Lee’s Korean heritage while carrying a mission to cook tasty, healthy, and affordable food that they would be proud to feed their family.
Fast forward from the Lee’s first restaurant in 1995 to today, and Flame Boiler’s mission now attracts a loyal customer base across 135 stores in six states.
Flame Broiler approached Whiteboard at a major inflection point as leadership transitioned to the next generation of family members.
With new leadership came a bold vision for the future, and a big challenge: How do you expand a beloved regional brand into a national success without losing the familiar, local feeling that made customers fall in love with Flame Broiler?
Whiteboard was brought in to navigate that challenge and to find ways the brand could act as a catalyzing force to scale widely into new markets and grow deeper in existing ones. The effort needed to honor Flame Broiler’s legacy and take care of their loyal customers and numerous franchise owners. All of this while considering a truly omnichannel environment where the brand appears on in-store items such as signage, menus, bowls, napkins, drink machines, and cups, as well as on social media, loyalty and ordering apps, OOH advertising, and a website that represents all locations.
Hallyu: Riding a cultural Wave
Whiteboard led a comprehensive discovery and research project aimed toward a deeper understanding of the eating habits, daily routines, and emotional drivers of Flame Broiler’s existing and potential customers. Our approach included digital eating diaries, in-person dine-alongs with existing and potential customers, employee interviews, franchisee interviews, and a quantitative survey.
The research effort gave us insights into three major cultural shifts that connected perfectly with Flame Broiler’s heritage and values:
Korean culture is more popular than ever; consumers view healthy-eating more holistically than calorie-counting; and fast-casual diner expectations are shifting toward simplicity in menus, order customization, and transparency into ingredients and food preparation.
We connected those cultural shifts to existing Flame Broiler brand attributes. These insights and connections gave us what we needed to maintain the beloved feel of Flame Broiler while gaining resonance with potential new customers.
“Whiteboard did an exceptional job crafting a brand identity that feels both fresh and relevant, while staying deeply rooted in the heart and soul of our family’s restaurant brand. As my brothers and I take Flame Broiler to the national stage, we’re confident that the legacy of our dad—the passion that inspired him to open the very first restaurant—will continue to be honored. Whiteboard didn’t just give us a new look; they helped us tell our story in a way that connects with the next generation of guests while staying true to where we came from.”
Food to feel good about
Building on our insights, we developed a brand strategy that defined the core and expanded audiences, established emotional pillars that extended the brand’s equity in each of those customers’ minds, and strengthened the core brand attributes that core customers love. We positioned Flame Broiler in a way that capitalizes on their Korean heritage and quality ingredients, which together differentiate the brand in the highly competitive fast-casual landscape. We highlighted the bright, fresh, and healthy qualities of the food while adding a layer of meaning about what the food represents and its mission of broadening access to food diners can feel good about.
Turning up the heat
In our consumer research, we identified a disconnect between the Flame Broiler name and existing brand, and the high-quality, healthy Korean food they served. This disconnect often left potential customers unsure of what to expect, and reduced brand awareness and consideration.
Thirty years of history and 135 stores in six markets made a rename tricky. Instead of a rename, Whiteboard developed a more descriptive tagline that quickly told customers what to expect of the menu. We also designed a new visual identity that leveraged Flame Broiler’s Korean roots and captured the history, heart, health, (and heat!) of the brand. Additionally, Whiteboard leveraged photography and an illustrative iconography system that showcased the power of simple ingredients coming together to create something bold and tasty.
Flame Broiler’s new brand brought their promise and mission to the forefront.
Too dang good to keep a secret
Whiteboard developed a brand rollout strategy that navigated the complex organizational structure of franchise owners, the logistical challenges of multi-market stores, and the overall financial lift to meet the often competing business, marketing, and operational needs of the brand.
Our rollout plan took an iterative approach that allowed Flame Broiler to learn from early adopters, refine its approach along the way, and gather data on the impact of the rebrand to prove value to franchise owners.
In addition to launching the brand into market, Whiteboard also introduced a new set of customer engagement and satisfaction KPIs, along with measurement methodologies to capture the impact of the brand over time.
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