From a Roadside Stall to Chain Stores
King Duck was established in 1981 by Tien Cheng-te. Thanks to his leadership and hard work, King Duck quickly grew from one tiny roadside stall selling ginger duck  to a national enterprise, with over over a hunded chain stores across Taiwan and annual revenues of several billion NT dollars. In 2005, to prepare for its twenty-fifth anniversary, top management at King Duck turned to DDG. The goal? To enhance awareness of the King Duck brand and to take steps toward becoming an international brand.

Finding a Core Value
King Duck faced several long-term challenges. Over the years, it had focused only on sales and neglected building brand awareness. Decoration of its stores had been inconsistent. And King Duck’s own brand message had often been unclear. To  develop a strategy to assist King Duck, DDG conducted detailed market research, including analyzing the industry, visiting King Duck stores, and interviewing managers and customers. From this research, DDG identified King Duck’s core value—Taiwanese-style hospitality, as seen in the family- or group-style dining environment. From this core value, a series of brand management strategies were developed to strengthen both internal and external brand communications.

DDG proposed that King Duck adopt Taiwanese-style hospitality as its core brand spirit and develop its brand vision, culture, and values accordingly. Doing so would also help King Duck better understand its own identity and build up unity within the organization. At the same time, DDG recommended that the brand focus on King Duck instead of just ginger duck and adopt a visual style and visual elements that featured Taiwanese-style hospitality as the main brand experience. For long-term development, DDG again stressed the importance of building up the brand value of King Duck, since ginger duck on its own is something that can be replicated by others in the the market. By taking these steps, King Duck has been able to connect with its customers on a deeper level and provide them with a consistent brand experience.

Leading with Brand Management
By understanding the market, developing brand strategy, and visualizing the brand,  DDG has helped King Duck stand out and become a leader in the traditional dining industry. King Duck has opened five model stores, all of which have been decorated according to its new brand identity. These five stories have succeeded in attracting younger customers, and business at these locations has been steadier than at other branches, even during summertime, which is considered the slow season. Today, King Duck continues to work with DDG on a variety of projects, including internal brand training and corporate marketing communications.