Simon Says Burgers: Healthy Fast Food Franchise Marketing Plan

Vision and Brand Identity

Today, the average American consumer has little time to prepare home-cooked meals. This reality of modern daily life has driven even the most conscientious parents into the arms of fast food chain restaurants. The result has been a national health crisis: an expanding American waistline and an expanding American healthcare budget. Simon Says Burgers is built on the belief that Americans want to eat easy, healthy meals that taste good. In an increasingly image-conscious society, Americans care about their health and appearance, yet they also desire a warm, tasty family meal in an environment that is emotionally as well as physically supportive of a healthy lifestyle — in other words, no sprouts, but not just fried potatoes either.

The fast food industry has long prioritized speed and low cost over nutrition and transparency. Simon Says Burgers aims to occupy a different space: one where convenience and quality are not mutually exclusive. The brand's very name encodes its philosophy through the SIMON acronym — Simplicity, Intimacy, Mix, Organic, and Nothing artificial — making the company's commitments visible and memorable to consumers from the outset.

The core values of Simon Says Burgers rest on the principle that Americans have a right to eat healthfully, at a reasonable price, in a way that is convenient with their lifestyles while still providing the warmth and sense of community that come with shared mealtimes. These values are expressed through the SIMON framework:

Core Values and Mission

Simplicity — simple food, but well prepared. Intimacy — food that tastes the way home cooking used to taste. Mix — a varied menu. Organic — no GMOs. Nothing — nothing you cannot pronounce, nothing you do not recognize, and no "secret" sauces.

The mission of Simon Says Burgers is straightforward: to create a chain of small, intimate, fast-service restaurants that serve the average consumer using locally sourced ingredients. The company is not ideologically driven — not all founders are vegetarians, though vegan and vegetarian options are offered — but it is committed to partnering with local producers to deliver fresh, honest food quickly and affordably.

The core competencies supporting this mission include relationships with local farmers, a loyal customer base, and a strong distributor and transportation network capable of delivering fresh goods rapidly. Strategically, Simon Says Burgers operates as a smaller franchise chain than major competitors, prioritizing high customer loyalty and staff retention over geographic breadth.

Market Segmentation and Targeting

The primary market segment targeted by Simon Says Burgers consists of American families with children who are somewhat more affluent than the typical fast food customer but who nonetheless eat most of their meals outside the home. These individuals lead busy lives, often feel pressed for time, and are primarily members of two-income, middle-class households with multiple school-age children.

Market segmentation variables typically include age, sex, race, income, occupation, education, household status, and geographic location. For Simon Says Burgers, the most critical variables are household status (having children), geographic location (requiring fast meals, preferably collected by car on the way home from work), income (moderately affluent), and occupation (middle class). Education and dietary awareness also tend to be interlinked: the more educated an individual is, the more likely he or she is to be concerned about diet and physical activity. This correlation reinforces the franchise's appeal to its target demographic.

Geographic location is a particularly important consideration. The intimate character of Simon Says Burgers requires that the chain expand carefully, rather than rapidly, in order to maintain quality. As is common with emerging chains, suburban locations — characterized by car traffic rather than foot traffic — are likely to be more receptive than dense urban areas, where consumers already have access to a wide variety of ethnic and health-conscious dining options. The franchise's early growth strategy will therefore concentrate on suburban communities along the Eastern seaboard.

Employment strategy is equally central to success. Because Simon Says Burgers prepares food in a less prefabricated manner than most fast food establishments, staff must be reliable, skilled, and motivated. Attracting and retaining higher-quality employees will require a slightly higher — though still competitive — wage compared to chains such as McDonald's and Wendy's. Investing in staff quality is viewed as inseparable from investing in food quality.

Positioning will place Simon Says Burgers between sit-down casual restaurants such as TGI Friday's and Applebee's in terms of cost, offering more speed — and ultimately more family and community value, since meals are intended to be eaten at home — while delivering far greater quality than McDonald's or Wendy's at a slightly higher price point.

This positioning reflects a genuine gap in the current market. Consumers who want something better than conventional fast food but cannot afford the time or expense of a full sit-down dining experience currently have few satisfying options. Simon Says Burgers is designed to fill that gap with a product that is fresh, transparent, and priced within reach of its target demographic. According to Thorson (1989), effective positioning requires that a brand's place in the consumer's mind be both distinctive and credible — conditions that the Simon Says model is built to satisfy.

Conclusion

Harrell, Gilbert. Marketing: Connecting with Customers.

Thorson, Esther. "Products, Positioning, and Market Segmentation." Advertising Age: The Principles of Advertising at Work. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Business Books, 1989.