Founded in Guatemala, Pollo Campero’s special brand of chicken became a national treasure of sorts, with the common tale being that visitors would board outbound flights carrying numerous sacks of Campero chicken to take back to wherever. It was during the brand’s early expansion, specifically from the mid-70s to early 90s, that global per capita poultry consumption increased over 60 percent. The brand began franchising in 1994 and never looked back. Pollo Campero now has a foothold in a number of large and small markets from China to Spain to the US to Indonesia and Mexico and reports annual revenues of about US$ 300 million (2006).

There are more than 200 Pollo Campero restaurants worldwide and in the neighborhood of 25 locations in the United States. But that number is going to change soon; the goal is to have 500 restaurants in the US by 2012 (1,000 worldwide). If the chain’s reception so far is anything to go by, Pollo Campero has good reason to be optimistic. According to industry data, the first Pollo Campero opened in 2002 in Los Angeles broke records by serving 30,000 customers in one week despite no drive-thru service.

Pollo Campero’s aims for poultriac domination are immediately evident on the brand’s website entry page, where users are prompted to choose English, Spanish or Chinese—three languages that account for a massive percentage of the globe’s chicken eating population. And despite hiccups from bird flu scares in 2006, global poultry consumption is expected to continue to rise through 2007 and beyond. Campero is clearly focused on taking a share of the annual global demand for chicken, which is estimated at 80 million tons. But to do this the brand is going to need to do more than just make tasty chicken; the brand is going to need to make “Campero chicken.”

To date, Pollo Campero’s success has really come thanks to a loyal consumer base in love with the unique flavor of the brand’s chicken and other offerings. But in terms of brand differentiation outside of its product, Campero really hasn’t done a great deal to set itself apart. With brutal competition in the US and global fast food chicken markets, where profits are hard won on tiny margins, Pollo Campero will need to expand on its brand promise so as not to come across as just another cheap, and replicable, chicken joint.

Unfortunately, first impressions of Pollo Campero’s overall brand could be better. The brand’s look was overhauled in 2006 to keep it as “fresh and appealing as its unique and delicious chicken.” But, in following a long tradition of chicken fast food outlets with “suicidal” mascots (see suicide food for more info: www.suicidefood.blogspot.com), the logo does little to set the brand apart and even less to dispel a sense of the lowbrow; one needn’t look further than the “cartoon corollary,” which states that there is an inverse relationship between the cartoonishness of a brand’s mascot and the respectability afforded the brand and its food.

When it comes to the US market, the Pollo Campero’s weak brand logo is further weakened by what one might call the chicken chain’s “pollo” problem. As defined as a Spanish-identifying, franchised, low-cost, informal chicken restaurant, Campero competes directly with several other players with not only similar brand characteristics (including the aforementioned cartoonish chickens in their logos) but also names so similar as to lead to confusion amongst consumers. Just a few of these brands include Pollo Tropical, Juan Pollo, and El Pollo Loco. It is not difficult to imagine non-Spanish-speaking consumers thinking about Campero as that “pollo” place, which in the glutted market could mean anything. It would serve the success of Campero to keep all of these brand identifiers in mind when it comes time to move heavily into markets such as China, where choosing a name does not necessitate maintaining the familiar and understandable.

Of course, in the end, the audience’s opinion of the food will be what makes Campero’s future. With word of mouth already being the brand’s strongest recommender, any peripheral brand problems or shortcomings won’t matter. In fact, those shortcomings may even add a quaint quirkiness to the brand’s image. But as they say, when it comes to cooking chicken, don’t take a chance and make sure it’s completely done.

Abram D. Sauer has written about brands and branding trends since 2001. Visit www.abesauer.com for more of his work on branding and product placement.