In the Zone with MWEB Entrepreneur: Nando's: SA's most successful restaurant export

What is the history of Nando's and how did they become such a worldwide success? What makes them stand out among the dozens of other 'fast food' restaurant chains?

In 1987, an entrepreneur named Robert Brozin and his friend Fernando Duarte, went to a Portuguese takeaway restaurant named Chickenland in Rosettenville, southern Johannesburg. Brozin was so impressed with the restaurant's flame grilled chicken that he proposed the pair of them buy the restaurant, which they duly did. They renamed the restaurant Nando's, abbreviating Duarte's first name. Within two years, Nando's had three outlets in Johannesburg and one in Portugal.

Their growth and popularity continued, and today there are over 1,000 restaurants in 30 countries around the world, making Nando's South Africa's most successful restaurant group export.

Their first two British branches opened in 1992, in Ealing and Earl's Court, west London, serving mainly takeaway food. The business struggled at first, and was on the verge of collapse when the chairman, Richard Enthoven, handed it over to his son Robert, who shifted the emphasis from takeaways to what is known as a mixed service model. Under the mixed service model, the way customers are encouraged to act is different and there's an element of responsibility, in that you have to go to the counter to order and you help yourself to your own cutlery, soft drinks and sauces, before servers bring the meal to your table. All this moving about helps to create a fluid, busy atmosphere, and an environment in which customers enjoy spending time.

Enthoven also came up with the idea of individualising the design and decor of each outlet, thereby avoiding the uniformly bland feeling of a restaurant chain. Nando's commissions its own artworks and runs a Worldwide Art Project, where artists from local communities are invited to interpret Nando's in their chosen, local art form. The artist is then profiled along with their art, and the restaurant wall is transformed into a gallery showcasing their work. Nando's has the largest collection of South African art in the UK, with over 3,000 works displayed in their restaurants.

A highly successful formula

Individualised store design and the mixed service model proved to be a highly successful formula. By 2001 there were 29 branches in the UK, and by 2005 the number had risen to 114. In 2012, Nando's registered a profit of £14.7m, up from a loss of £7m in 2010-11 - a 26% increase over the year. Since then, the UK's love for Nando's has grown so much that there are over 250 outlets across the country. They occupy a particular place within the food service industry known as 'fast casual dining'. A survey by the market research company NPD shows that restaurants in the 'fast casual sector' have an average 'revisit intent' (defined as definitely or will probably go again) of 69%. Nando's has a 'revisit intent' of 80%. They serve everyone from happy families to workers at lunchtime, and from groups of teenagers to dating couples. It's a safe place for teenagers to go on their own, and in an astute marketing move, Nando's is relaxed about its teen-appeal and even encourages it by offering free refills of soft drinks.

Nando's sees its customers as its best brand advocates. They have carefully cultivated some clever branding elements, and astutely reveal the famous names who have passed through the restaurant's doors, including David Beckham and J-Z, on a blog on its Facebook page, which has 13 million followers.

In 2010, Advertising Age magazine named Nando's as one of the world's top 30 hottest marketing brands.

In 2009, two students from London, James Colom and his friend Marc Joss (who ate at Nando's every weekend) set up a website called Rate Your Nando's - a place where different Nando's branches can be rated and compared. Their site now gets about 500 hits a day. The top contributor to Rate Your Nando's, and number one in the website's 'hall of fame' is Ryan Wilson, who has eaten more than 1,000 meals in 139 different branches. Wilson's aim is to eat at every Nando's in Britain, but it is a huge task. No sooner has he struck one branch off his list than another one opens. 'But then again,' he says, 'the worst thing that could happen is to go to all the branches and then have to wait for new ones to open. I can only see it as a challenge.'

Some quirky statistics on their website (www.rateyournandos.com) include:

• The most isolated capital city in the world is Santiago, Chile which is a whooping 4,915 miles away from its nearest Nando's in Camps Bay, Cape Town. Unfortunately, we are yet to find any cheap flights for you Santiaguinos;
• In need of an urgent Nando's fix? You better hope you are in London or Melbourne, which with over 100 Nando's each, have the highest restaurant density in the world!
• The Nando's with the longest name in the whole world is Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa which has a huge 16 letters. It really is quite a mouthful!
• The largest Nando's in the world is in Stratford Westfield. It has space for 260 Nandoers to eat at once.
So is the Nando's secret that it is more than just your usual takeaway place?

Nando's professed unique selling point is that it is all about the family feel. It prides itself on its spicy chicken and it does seem that the Nando's peri-peri sauce remains its basic selling point, but it's the friendly atmosphere, both for workers and clientele, that keeps its fans loyal. Customers know what they're getting, which is quick, friendly service, clean surfaces, big tables you can spread out over, unique art on the wall, and a different architectural style in each restaurant.

Comedy works

But there is more to the brand. In a shrewd move, they have added something unique to their marketing campaigns: a dash of comedy, entertainment and the ability to make people laugh.

Nando's are well-known for their adverts and have made use of witty, astute, and occasionally controversial marketing campaigns to promote themselves. They have built their brand to extend beyond food, and they use humour and political satire to create popular adverts, which range from being hugely controversial to simply providing a good laugh.

A Nando's advert can go viral within minutes but it can sometimes land them in trouble too, as their satirical adverts comment on social, cultural and political issues in an off-beat manner. Their irreverent and viral marketing campaigns include The Last Dictator Standing, Julius Malema calling for change and the 2012 Diversity ad, which took a controversial approach to xenophobia in South Africa, and was quickly banned by television broadcasters.

To celebrate their 25th birthday, they ran a series of adverts celebrating the reasons why they love South Africa:

Nando's has always been quick to create adverts in the immediate wake of the people and events that it satirises. In 2012 they ran an advert that was a cheeky take on a Santam advert...

And in an industry first, Santam then responded with a counter-spoof to the Nando's advert...

They've won numerous advertising awards and in March 2013 were awarded the Creative Circle Ad of the Year award in the film category for the Diversity TV advert, which was created by creative agency, Black River FC.

And with their latest advert, Nando's has once again found an original way to sell chicken with a campaign that spoofs the SABC and hungry members of parliament. Launched in April 2013, their advert "Nando's meals make the news" pokes fun at what appears to be an SABC news report about what
members of parliament like to eat for lunch:

Set to grow

Abiding by their mission statement that "We live according to a set of values which are core to everything we do. They are pride, passion, courage, integrity and family. Our aims are genuine but we don't take ourselves too seriously and our fun approach to life means when you visit Nando's you can fully relax without airs and graces..." is definitely a winning formula for this popular brand.

Geoff Whyte, newly appointed CEO of Nando's Southern Africa, has recently joined the company, after holding top-level positions at Unilever, Pepsico and SABMiller. He was named Sunday Times Marketing Person of the Year after receiving three accolades for marketing effectiveness while at the head of Cadbury-Schweppes. David Niven, global CEO of Nando's, has said "We are delighted to welcome Geoff into the Nando's family at what is an exciting time for the business. We believe his broad experience will add considerable value to the group."

The combination of popularity, good food and loyal customers promoting their brand on various social media platforms, is certainly working well for Nando's, and they look set to grow into an even bigger success story, with many more entertaining advertising campaigns along the way too.