Bangkok--Sep 27--Central Restaurant Group The leading snack brand is introducing its latest yummy menu “ Pretzel Knots” to popularize snacking among Thai consumers. World’s leading snack franchise brand Auntie Anne’s is making a new move to expand its consumer base across the country through a comprehensive brand — building effort to position its brand as “Life Style Snack.” To cater to the new lifestyles and the growing popularity of snacking, Auntie Anne’s is unveiling the new light meal menu “ Pretzel Knots” that is poised to beat sales of its best-selling predecessor “Pretzel Dog” introduced just last year. Mr. Thiradej Chirathivat, executive director of Central Restaurant Group of the Central Hotel and Resort Group, and brand manager of Auntie Anne’s Thailand, said that, Auntie Anne’s highly successful launch of Pretzel Dogs last year marks the company’s milestone achievement in refocusing its brand positioning from “Snack” to “Light Meal.” “Sales of Pretzel Dog make up of over 20% of Auntie Anne’s total sales, causing the number of our male customers to increase from 20% to 30%,” said Mr. Thiradej. Inspired by this remarkable success, the company is kicking off its new brand-building campaign in a bid to position Auntie Anne’s as a “Life Style Snack” brand, and to ultimately become the “Best Snack Shop.” To materialize this vision and goal, Auntie Anne’s has set up its R&D unit to be responsible for studying consumer needs and wants through an extensive and in-depth research program. According to Mr. Thiradej, findings from consumer research have significantly contributed to Auntie Anne’s ongoing product development and new product launches, which have been warmly welcomed by the markets. “Our first menu introduced this year was “Pretzel Dog New Orleans” which made its debut in March. As extension of the Pretzel Dog Original menu, Pretzel Dog New Orleans is spiced up to suit the Thai taste buds and has been so well received. Given such success, we decided to make Pretzel Dogs our permanent menu at all Auntie Anne’s outlets nationwide. The Pretzel Dogs are so popular. Their sales now account for over 15% of Auntie Anne’s total sales,” said Mr. Thiradej. The second menu that made its debut in July 2005 was “Snow Stix” of which introductory period has already ended. However, given such a good response, Auntie Anne’s is now considering to bring it back on the menu as consumer research shows that over 90% of those who had tried Snow Stix said they wanted it back on the menu again. Thailand is the first franchise country that Auntie Anne’s Inc. U.S.A. approved of “Pretzel Knots” market launch. The move comes as a result of Thailand’s remarkable success in brand —building efforts that place Thailand in top position as Auntie’s Anne’s largest market in the world, recording the highest sales volume and fastest market growth. This achievement also earned Auntie Anne’s Thailand the “International Awards of Excellence” awarded by Auntie Anne’s Inc. U.S. earlier this year. Mr. Thiradej added, “Auntie Anne’s Inc. U.S. A. recognizes our dedication and determination to build the Auntie Anne’s brand in Thailand, and gave us permission to be the first country in the world to launch “ Pretzel Knots.” This is such a great pride since we dedicated so much efforts to the R&D of the product to make it really suit the tastes of Thai people, ” Pretzel Knot is a real “innovation” pretzel made from best quality dough rolled into a shape of “knot,” and comes with assorted delicious toppings --double mozzarella cheese, New Orleans chicken sausage, button or pizza mushroom, and spices for an extra yummy taste. To be available from late September until end of November, Pretzel Knots come in a set box containing three pretzels, tomato ketchup and a coca—cola —all at a value price of only 79 baht per set. Pretzel Knot launching campaign also includes airing of two versions of television commercials; namely “Temptation” and “Lost.” “We are confident that Pretzel Knots will be warmly received just like its predecessors. It will help us expand consumer base to cover those people who opt for snack instead of full meals. Moreover, the launch of Pretzel Knots will also popularize a new trend of “Life Style Snacks” as the menu is created to serve a busy lifestyle of today’s consumers,” said Mr. Thiradej. A comprehensive “IMC” or integrated marketing communication incorporating both mass and direct marketing approaches will be implemented to launch “Pretzel Knots.” The mass marketing tools include television commercials, magazine and newspaper advertisement, while direct marketing consists of on-premise POPs at outlets nationwide, and launching event offering a chance to over 1,000 Auntie Anne’s Club members to enjoy fun activities and great taste of Pretzel Knots for free. “ We are sure that sales of Pretzel Knots during the launch period will beat that of Pretzel Dogs which recorded a 25% of Total sales at its launch. This is because we have 20 more Auntie Anne’s outlets now as compared to October last year. With this far-reaching sales network that is made up of over 70 outlets all across the country, Auntie Anne’s is well positioned to record a 50% growth again for the third year in a row. And that will keep us in the number one position as best-selling Auntie Anne’s franchisee in the world,” concluded Mr. Thiradej. For more information, please contact:Siripa Lapanawin Narisa ChamuneeMarketing Manager Auntie Anne’s Public Relation ConsultantCentral Restaurant Group Co.,Ltd. Tel. 0-9780-2212Tel. 0-2635-7930 Fax. 0-2291-7929Fax. 0-26357925-7 E-mail chamuneetik@hotmail.comE-mail [email protected] Click for photo release at www.thaipr.net End.