In the world of franchising, staying relevant is far more than just a goal – it’s critical to survival. As customer expectations evolve, competition increases and buying habits change, franchise brands must find fresh ways to grow, inspire and connect with their customers and their communities.
When it comes to high-impact marketing moves, it’s commonly said that few are more powerful than a well-executed rebrand.
As Chief Marketing Officer of The Cheesecake Shop, Rebecca Barnes leads strategies that not only sharpen customer relevance but unlock new pathways for growth. Since joining the iconic dessert brand, which now has a 250-store franchise network across Australia and New Zealand, Barnes has helped reposition their brand identity, engage younger audiences, and expand into fresh snacking occasions – starting with their rebrand at the helm in 2023.
Rebecca Barnes shares her key insights on how a strategic rebrand can positively impact your franchise business and unlock immeasurable growth in today’s climate.
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Remaining Relevant & Competitive: Sweet Success In A Fast-Moving Market
As a beloved legacy brand, The Cheesecake Shop knows a thing or two about heritage – having been a part of Australian celebrations since 1991.
In today’s evolving marketing, where trends change fast and consumer expectations move even faster, heritage doesn’t guarantee relevance or success. It’s imperative for franchises to make calculated, strategic moves to maintain a competitive edge, and this is where The Cheesecake Shop’s rebrand came to play.
In 2023, The Cheesecake Shop ran extensive focus groups across Sydney and Melbourne to better understand where the brand stood with customers – discovering that long-time fans still loved the brand, but many younger audiences didn’t know what we offered. At this breakthrough, The Cheesecake Shop set clear goals to reposition the franchise company as an aspirational brand that our customers would feel proud to bring to any celebration, and to spotlight what set us apart from competitors.
The rebrand saw new logo and lighter colour palette testing to redesigning stores with modern displays and open layouts to showcase the kitchen, which made our competitive edge clear by showing customers that cakes were baked onsite. As we rolled out these strategic changes, we saw brand salience jump and, following store refurbishments, 77 per cent of customers said they preferred the new design (more than double the previous benchmark).
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Customer Growth: Bridging Generations, Not Replacing Them
A successful rebrand isn’t about throwing out your history – it’s about evolving with your customers, both new and old. Understanding your customer base is imperative to success, and a rebrand allows you to uncover what’s working (and what’s not). How does your business maintain its existing customer base, while catering to new audiences for growth?
With The Cheesecake Shop’s rebrand discovering a strong emotional connection with long-time fans but less among the younger demographic, we prioritised building bridges between opposing customer opinions, rather than reinventing the wheel and risk alienating our loyal customer base.
To do this, we looked at how our brand story was told and segmented per audience group, by simplifying brand messages, leaning into storytelling around freshness and baker visibility, and modernising our digital footprint.
Crucially, we showed up in new places, while maintaining our existing marketing strategies. TikTok became a key channel, with influencers and food creators spotlighting our products with viral taste tests and unboxings, which reached younger consumers organically and on their terms. In addition, we started reviewing our digital operations and how we can enhance for the modern era – something we’re continuing to prioritise as the franchise grows.
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Product Innovation: A Fresh Slice For Modern Tastes
Rebrands come with an unspoken permission to reimagine your offering. At The Cheesecake Shop, that started with our menu.
For years, the company was known for big celebration cakes, rather than everyday indulgence or bite-sized products. This offering was not synonymous with industry data, which indicates the Australian snacking business is a multi-billion dollar industry.
We took this opportunity in our stride and introduced The Cheesecake Shop’s Daily Treats Range, serving up an extensive variety of single-serve treats designed for solo celebrations, late-night cravings, and quick delivery. The new range included loaded cookies, cupcakes, cake pops, and limited-edition products like our renowned cheesecake-lamingtons, which we leveraged via TikTok to drive more than 1 million views to our mouth-watering delights. We also recently expanded the range to include Cheesecake Sticks, which we’re seeing go viral across socials with food reviews and user-generated-content.
Not only did these products fill a gap in our product offering, they also introduced The Cheesecake Shop to brand-new audiences and connected with a new consumption occasion.
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Franchisee Expansion: A Brand Worth Backing
A rebrand gives you the ability to attract not only new customers but also new franchise partners, with a refreshed vision and strategies to support their investment in your business, while energising the existing franchisee network. We wouldn’t be where we are today (more than three decades in) without the commitment and care of our franchise community.
Since The Cheesecake Shop’s rebrand, we’ve seen an uplift in franchise enquiries, as well as more existing franchise partners investing in refurbishments.
Franchisees want to align with brands that are future-focused, and invested in long-term growth. Our rebrand sent a clear message that The Cheesecake Shop isn’t standing still, but evolving and continuing to prioritise growth, focused on diversifying and investing in our future.
When a rebrand is driven by purpose and bold execution, it’s not just the icing on top but the sum of all the slices coming together. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?!
Biography
Rebecca Barnes joined The Cheesecake Shop in 2023, bringing extensive experience working with franchise-driven businesses, developing brands and delivering compelling marketing campaigns with strong ROI for businesses in varied industries.
As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Rebecca is set to ensure The Cheesecake Shop is acknowledged as a leader in the franchise industry, delivering the brand story through its core purpose of helping families, friends, communities, and workplaces celebrate life’s sweet moments.
