KATER

Food Industry: Australia & New Zealand

Kater*, a leading fast food chain with a Global presence was failing to engage with customer sets in the Australian market. As a result, sales declined by over 40% and plateaued whilst efforts to resolve performance issues fell flat due to uninspired franchisees and end-consumers. Internally, product development was struggling to generate innovative outputs compared to competitors.

Kater* needed a strategy to overhaul its brand and redesign its infrastructure to effectively navigate industry trends and competitors.

THE FULL STORY

(4 min read)

Originating from East Asia, Kater* had a goal to expand into the Australian market. Their ambition was to attract a new customer base that would grow over time and build confidence in the new market to expand their Global network. Kater* was faced with a number of structural and organizational challenges further exacerbated by the new market space and the nuances it presented.

An overhaul of the brand was required to instill a clear sense of purpose internally, before mobilizing to deliver a differentiated experience to the new market. Kater* needed a structured process to grow their brand whilst building a sustainable and scalable internal system to achieve their ambitions.

East Asian company Kater* turns their focus ‘down-under’ and successfully expands its Global retail footprint. A Growth and Expansion strategy, realized.

THE PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

  • Absence of Infrastructure and Strategy to Implement
    Kater* needed a tailored approach to the Australian market as past models failed to gain traction. To achieve its ambition of growth, Kater* needed a system to provide guidance to customer-facing business units and a strategy to take it to market.
  • Ineffective Branding Position and Communication Sinkholes
    An overhaul of a Global brand was required to localize Kater* for the Australian customer base. Messaging and communications budgets were depleted with little effect and movement towards the company goal.
  • Undefined Culture and Values
    Kater* was new to the Australian market and hired on functional skillsets alone which over time, saw an amalgamation of employees of conflicting belief systems. This influenced their approach to problem-solving and the result was an increase in internal escalations which restricted future-planning at the leadership level and efficiency at the frontline. Costs surged to solve for conflict across the organization and performance suffered.
  • Inconsistent Decision-Making, Planning, Goals and Objectives Settings
    Leadership lacked the system to plan and make decisions in a manner that would drive valuable results . Highly reactive goals and objectives resulted inefficient actions and inconsistent customer experiences that forfeited sales to competitors.
  • Immediate and Constant Attacks by More Established and Better Resourced Competitors
    Kater* lacked the applied experience within its new market and found itself constantly flanked by louder more effective competitive activity. Team morale took a steady decline as internal efforts and external target markets failed to engage. At a time where growing market share was critical, the organization found itself fighting battles on all fronts and depleting resources took focus where competitive analysis was required.
  • The Right Step, but the Wrong Approach
    Kater* correctly identified a new market and took measures to ensure the target market was clearly defined however, the lack of strategic planning and execution of a system to support their ambitions allowed the organization to sway with market sentiment rather than align behind a clear, compelling and consistent value proposition. This fracture at its core manifested into confusion and scepticism throughout key business units, to devalue communications, product propositions, sales training, and business development efforts. Directionless and haemorrhaging resources, Kater* needed a clear way forward to engage both internal team members and the new Australian market.

OUR APPROACH

Monter worked directly with Kater’s* Australian CEO and his leadership across each state in Australia and New Zealand to more deeply understand the root cause and key concerns of the business. Through an established in-house process, a platform for change and on-going growth was implemented to align internal people, processes and outputs that ensured a consistent external customer experience was delivered in an efficient and effective manner. New and exciting marketing and communication campaigns were taken to market and awareness grew quickly, measured by NPS and qualified by increasing sales and customer loyalty figures. Kater* was now a real contender in its new market space.

  • Creation of Core Platform
    Winning in the Australian market was made possible with the  development and implementation of the Core Platform which provided a much needed foundational business structure, to guide and direct the organization towards results, and acts as a blueprint for good governance.
  • Establishing and Implementation of Values, Culture, and a Vision of Success
    Kater* mobilized key leaders to input into the development of these important elements that were actively utilized to empower, enliven and confidently direct all internal teams across both countries. As the teams operated in lock-step and achieved everyday tasks more seamlessly, performance naturally lifted and a culture took shape. People were being rewarded and equally, were held accountable for their behaviours in a manner befitting a high-performance fast food business focussed on Growth and Expansion.
  • Identifying New Opportunities and Setting Objectives and Goals
    Determining the validity of a new opportunity must be evaluated thoroughly based on outcomes, following data-driven analysis. Once identified, Objectives and Goals have to serve the vision of the organization with assertion on clarity and well-defined direction.
  • Master Strategy Formulation
    consisting of Corporate Strategy and Business Unit Strategy – driving the company towards the goal, providing guidance across key business units, and detailed plans to execute the value proposition.
  • Growth and Expansion Strategy
    Careful and considered implementation of a unique Growth and Expansion strategy for Kater* allowed the business to make clear decisions in a new market, leading to incremental acquisitions and bottom line growth. This ultimately allowed Kater* to win its share of the Australian market and achieve its strategic imperative for Growth and Expansion.

OUR SOLUTION

Based on our detailed assessment of Kater’s* leadership and key business units; Monter developed an internal structure and a multi-strategy to direct the organization’s people and resources to achieve their Growth and Expansion goals. The stages include:

  • Deployment of Core Platform into the organization – to provide foundational business structure and to act as a guiding system for continued growth and action.

  • Structuring objectives and goals setting, decision making process, and planning with full utilization of the Core Platform

  • Development of the Kater* brand – from the foundational Brand Strategy to the individual guiding elements that sit atop it.

  • Utilization of the Core Platform on Communication (PR) – Dictating an effective and differentiated tone governed by a unique set of principals

  • Create Customer, Sales & Marketing Strategy, market positioning, and new-market entry strategy – to launch Kater* as a brand into the Australian market, followed by the executions of branded experiences through a range of mediums

  • Implement building blocks of AGILE to optimize teamwork and outputs. Strategy and process were developed to compliment a new high-performing structure.

THE RESULTS

Through the implementation of the internal structure, platform and principals we developed and deployed for Kater*, the organization was able to successfully launch into the Australian market and continue to grow within the new geography guided by Monter’s strategies and structures.

  • Structured and systematic approach to new business opportunities, decision making, and planning which was critical in an otherwise, foreign market space

  • A successful brand that stretched and resonated not only with the intended audience but also with internal leadership across states and their business units

  • A brand that is recognized and considered in the new market space – measured by NPS

  • Successful expansion of new look branded stores

  • Clear leadership direction focused on execution and results

  • Increase of Global customer base across new geographies

  • Successful entry into new market space

  • Fully Optimized growth trajectory

18X

New stores across Australia

65%

Average annual growth over 4-year period

19%

Growth in market share

*We respect our client’s privacy and although names have been altered, the results are genuine.

Next case study   →

CASE STUDY