Popeye's 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

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What attracted you to Popeyes?
Popeyes is a great brand, and the attributes — flavorful food, loyal customers — that made it great over
the last 33 years will help us gain momentum and drive the brand forward in coming years. I am a
loyal Popeyes customer and when approached by AFC regarding the president’s position, I saw it as a
wonderful opportunity given the brand’s growth potential. In a short period of time, I have built relation-
ships with the people who really do the heavy lifting — the franchisees, the field services team, and the
Popeyes corporate team (service center) — in order to enhance the health and vibrancy of the brand.
Though we are in the early stages of this transformation, we have made significant progress. The
entire Popeyes team, including franchisees, is excited by what’s happening. We have great potential to
make this the “best in class” QSR brand in the next few years and I am excited to be a part of that.
How does being a single-brand company change AFC — and Popeyes?
The fact that AFC is now a single brand allows for a razor-sharp focus on Popeyes. The full force of
the organization is now concentrated on the success of one brand. With the allocation of all company
resources — attention and services — aimed at the Popeyes brand, our franchisees, domestic and
international, can be confident that we are also entirely focused on
their success. AFC, as a single-brand company, will have a narrower
focus and will present a much simpler story for our stakeholders to
understand.
What was the biggest challenge Popeyes faced last year
and how did you meet it?
The greatest challenge for the brand in 2004 was creating better
alignment between the service center and franchisees, so the
groups work in unison, discussing the business as a whole, estab-
lishing action plans and executing those plans to move the business
forward. After some very productive conversations, we worked
together to create joint initiatives that everyone could support. In a
franchise system such as ours, we are aligned with our franchisees most of the time. We recognize,
however, that having the ability to successfully work through important system issues with our
franchisees depends on having a strong and mutually respectful relationship and we continuously
work on building and strengthening that relationship.
The Popeyes Opportunity at a Glance
• Highly Franchised — Over 97% franchised
globally, domestically over 96%
• Low Capital Needs
• Brand Expansion Potential
• Equity in a Highly Differentiated Brand
Q&A with Popeyes President, Ken Keymer