In-N-Out Burger celebrated 60 years of their unique burger-joint brand in 2008. On April 14, 2009, a book on the company arrives at a bookstore near you. Here is an excerpt of the Amazon review by Brad Thomas Parsons:

With In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules, BusinessWeek writer Stacy Perman presents a chronicle of how a family-run California hamburger joint went on to become an American pop culture icon. Founded in 1948 by Harry Snyder and his wife Esther in Baldwin Park, CA, In-N-Out Burger attracted a cult-like fanbase of cruising teens, surfers, and celebrities alike (who developed a secret shorthand for custom orders). As they expanded slowly over the years across California and into Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, they never sacrificed their core customer-service values and commitment to quality.

While I’m not a regular customer, I do enjoy a Double-Double with grilled onions (special order) on occasion. I was at our local Mill Valley location this past weekend with the family in the mid-afternoon for a late lunch. My oldest daughter and I on our Vespa 150 after a nice ride. I’m always amazed at how busy it is with lines usually out the door almost anytime of the day. A late Saturday afternoon was no exception.

From my perspective, In-N-Out is a great example of a sustainable business through great brand practices. Their founder, Harry Snyder, had a motto that continues to be the focus of the brand , “Do one thing and do it the best you can.” They have never had to change their conversation over time because, they changed the conversation 60 years ago and continue to have that same, unique and compelling conversation with their customers day after day. The burgers have never been frozen. The fries are hand-cut fresh throughout the day. The buns are baked using old-fashioned, slow-rising sponge dough. The menu is as basic as it gets—burgers, fries and drinks. And that is where the story and conversation gets interesting.

If you are a regular, a loyalist, you become aware of the “secret menu”, with the most popular variations now published by the company on the website, as the “not-so-secret menu.” (You still won’t find them on the menu board.) The best part is that no one knows how the secret menu ,or more correctly, the insiders code came into existence. It’s been passed on entirely by word-of-mouth through the years. By letting the customer take “ownership” of the secret menu, In-N-Out established a stronger bond with them. No menu additions to confuse the customer or employees, no more complexity to the original business formula. Just plain old-fashion conversation between friends.

As you look at your brand communications, does your customer own part of the conversation? Are you listening to them and supporting them? If you are not having the conversations you would like with your customer, maybe it’s time to stop talking, sit back, and listen.

This entry was posted by Will Burke on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Branding, Change the Conversation, Consumer, Culture, Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.