Restaurant rebranding can be a great way to keep current customers, but to also appeal to new customers. Whether you just want to modernize your restaurant or you need to attract new talented chefs, there are a lot of reasons to consider a restaurant rebrand.

There have been some great rebranding campaigns done by well-known restaurants that you can model your restaurant rebrand after. Whether you want to strive for social media greatness like Wendy’s or use some celebrities to promote interesting thoughts like Chipotle, modeling yourself after successful restaurant rebrands is a good option.

Read on for the 5 best restaurant rebranding campaigns that you should know about when doing your own rebrand. Depending on your specific goals, you should be able to use one of these rebrands as part of your own strategy.

1. Chipotle

There are a lot of reasons to rebrand your restaurant, and Chipotle shows you how effective a good rebrand can be. Chipotle went for a “lifestyle rebrand,” and ran a campaign to prove that you can lead a healthy lifestyle while eating Chipotle. This is perhaps the biggest change you can make with a restaurant rebrand – rebranding your actual food to target different clientele.

This helped improve the company’s image as people now think of them as a health restaurant, and not so much as a fast-food restaurant with no healthy options. If your restaurant right now is seen as unhealthy, target the rebranding campaign that Chipotle ran, as you can learn how to freshen up your menu and target customers who are looking for fast food that is also healthy.

2. Wendy’s

Arguably the best social media brand of any national brand, Wendy’s has taken a lot of measures to rebrand their restaurant. If the goal of your rebrand is to improve your social media accounts, there is nobody better to mimic than Wendy’s. Gone are the days of boring fast-food restaurants. Wendy’s has catapulted itself into the position as leader of fast food amongst millennials, largely due to its ability to advertise on social media.

Around the same time their social media presence took off, they also revealed a new logo. It is always nice to change the appearance of your brand anytime you are going to rebrand and increase social media efforts. This gives your customers something new and shiny to look at and they will see the advances and progress your restaurant has made.

3. Taco Bell

Updating their logo was just one part of their rebrand. Everyone knew the Yo Quiero Chihuahua from 20 years ago, but Taco Bell recently elevated their image. Recognizing they needed to modernize their business, Taco Bell rebranded to include digital menu boards. Other companies have done this as well, and if you find your restaurant has not gone digital yet, now is a good time to incorporate that into your rebrand.

At its Vegas location, during the rebrand, Taco Bell also offered customers a lounge experience where you could even order alcohol. This rebrand was largely successful because Taco Bell elevated its game and was no longer known as just a fast-food restaurant. Taco Bell was once known as cheap tacos that were not very good. Now, it is a cleaner restaurant, offering healthier foods, and it has adapted for digital ordering. Their rebrand has changed the outlook of the entire company.

4. McDonald’s

One of the reasons to rebrand is to freshen up a company that has been around for decades, like McDonald’s. Their chief aim was at marketing, and they rebranded with new packaging that essentially serves as its own billboard. When people carry around McDonald’s, they are now advertising for the company, as many people will see the packaging around the world.

They also freshened up their stores, proving that updating outdated facilities can be a great way to successfully rebrand. If you have older restaurants, take a note from McDonald’s rebranding campaign and freshen up your facilities. McDonald’s found that even in a fast-food restaurant, appearance matters. People did not want to feel like they were eating in a cafeteria but wanted that restaurant feel, and McDonald’s rebranded to create that experience.

5. Subway

If you have had some bad press in your history, Subway is the campaign you should follow. They did one of the best rebranding campaigns in recent history. Subway successfully rebranded themselves after the nightmare that was spokesman Jared Fogle. Taking advantage of timing, Subway rebranded to get a fresh start after the Fogle debacle. Using their rebrand as a launching point, they cleaned up their public image and became somewhere where people did not mind spending their money.

They changed their logo, but more importantly, they rebranded at the right time. In addition to waiting out the Fogle press, Subway also rebranded worldwide during the 2016 Olympics, which meant their new ad campaign was seen by millions all over the world.

Timing is everything, and Subway hit it out of the park. If you want to rebrand after bad publicity, time your ad campaign the right way.

Restaurant Rebranding – bring your Restaurant into the Future

Restaurant rebranding can be successfully done in a variety of different ways and for many different reasons. Chipotle did it to freshen their food and prove they offer healthy options. Wendy’s overhauled their social media and online presence to target a younger generation who they found were not frequenting their restaurants. An old classic, McDonald’s, recognized the need to liven up their dining room, to give customers a better eat-in experience. Subway even was able to use a rebranding campaign to move past the bad publicity from Jared Fogle. The campaign was so successful that nobody talks about that bad incident anymore.

No matter the reason for your restaurant rebranding, there are a lot of great rebranding campaigns that you can model yours after. Rebranding is the best way to elevate your brand and set yourself up for success in the future.