How Wingstop turned a supply chain failure into a marketing win

Context

In June 2021, supply chain issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a national chicken wing shortage across the US. One brand severely affected by this was US fast food chain Wingstop.

Objectives

• Halt the dramatic drop in sales
• Find ways to continue doing business when the brand's #1 product wasn't available
• Be the only QSR brand to win during the chicken wing shortage

Insight

Chicken wings are usually cheap and abundantly available, and they are a cemented snack in North America. Wingstop were uniquely known for their wings, but not so much for other parts of the chicken. McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A, and even Arby's had stronger claims to "white meat" in their nuggets and burgers. But no one was using chicken thighs.
And most importantly, chicken thigh availability had not been disrupted by the breakdowns in supply chains.

Strategy

Wingstop temporarily put its focus on a cheaper part of the chicken: thighs. They rebranded itself online to Thighstop, featuring a menu focused on bone-in and boneless thighs. The brand was available for delivery or carryout in its 1,400 Wingstop restaurant locations nationwide via DoorDash or on Thighstop.com. This was as much an operations strategy as a marketing strategy, shipping a new menu nationally overnight.
Wingstop started testing bone-in chicken thighs the previous year and that test showed no signs of cannibalizing its signature wings. At the time, however, a broader rollout didn’t seem too urgent.

An integrated campaign promoted the rebrand, with the TV component starring rapper and Wingstop’s most famous franchisee, Rick Ross.

Outcome

The campaign won the Cannes Grand Prix in Creative Commerce. Wingstop reported that the campaign increased share price by 8% and drove 60% new customer acquisition.