NOBLE CHICKEN
Cincinnati
Chicken restaurants might be commonplace but Noble Chicken stands out with its design. This single-location spinoff from Wings & Rings will open its first franchised location in California next year.
Noble Chicken’s design is intended to be a little rebellious as evidenced by the logo of a chicken with a shaved head and a mohawk. Noble is a play on “no bull,” and that’s what the design’s intended to communicate — robust portions, Americana, punk rock, and anti-establishment.
“We’re confident in our chicken,” says Dan Sweatt, senior marketing manager. “We’re also confident in our portion sizes. We wanted a brand to match that confidence. We don’t mind that we’re loud and bright.”
Sweatt worked closely with Mike Ruehlman, principal, Goodfire Design, Indian Hill, Ohio, to create the design and they started by looking at their poultry competitors.
They found lots of red and lots of southern influence, so they avoided both. “We want to be more modern, more original, [and] more American than pigeonholed into the south,” Sweatt explains.
Noble chicken’s design is intended to reflect confidence and be rebellious.“Color was important; we’re very distinctive,” says Ruehlman. But so was the chicken head graphic, which he says helps audiences connect with the concept, because it’s almost personified.
There’s an element of fun to the interior design. Along with the chicken with attitude, there’s a sign showing a shield and B and S (for Birds and Sauce) that some people might read as BS, says Ruehlman.
Another sign, for the queue area, states “Pecking Order.”
The chicken motif carries into ceiling panels featuring more chickens. “We wanted a focal part on the ceiling and we wanted something fun, and this is where you’d expect to find birds,” Sweatt says.
“I look for those thought provocative points in a store,” says Ruehlman. “I like to surprise and delight wherever you can.”
A unique element of future Noble Chicken stores is a pickup door. So far, 70% of the business is off-premises, so on the side of the building is a “fly thru pickup.” Customers pull up to a sliding door where they receive their digital orders. The entire side of the building is branded with an awning and the brand colors.
