Rebranding - French Fries with Sea Salt

I recently stopped at a Wendy’s.  I like Wendy’s French fries, but now I was faced with a big sign staring me in the face telling me that the fries now have sea salt. First off, I think most guys like me don’t really know what that means and how it compares to table salt.  Secondly, my exposure to sea salt is probably limited to when I accidentally gulped ocean water and nearly gagged on the salt. 

Yet nevertheless I was intrigued by trying the fries with the sea salt.  So the little slick branding worked.  I wasn’t going to get the fries because it is usually a choice between the Frosty and the fries and I usually go with the Frosty.  But the allure of sea salt sucked me in.  It was a real coup to rebrand their fries.  Rebranding commodities to differentiate them in business sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.  Where it doesn’t work is when it sidetracks an already good thing.  When you have a dominant position in a brand, why change?  You simply end up diluting your brand.  I think marketers are an antsy bunch and they have to change something just to prove a point.   However, commodities that are hard to differentiate?  Brilliant!  Whether it is real chicken breast vs. the chicken parts McDonalds uses.  Or the value of sea salt, making the brand stand out can be really effective. 

Ultimately, I could not tell the different between the sea salt and the table salted version, but it got me thinking that these fries have to be better.  After all, they have sea salt.