Wendy’s, the famous American burger chain, is expanding rapidly worldwide. Wendy’s was founded in 1969 and has now opened restaurants in South America, Asia and Saudi Arabia. Arby’s is another quick-service restaurant chain in the US whose parent company merged with Wendy’s in September 2008.

A few months ago, the Wendy’s/Arby’s group decided to open Wendy’s restaurants in Singapore through a franchisee system like the one used in US. They partnered with Kopitiam Group, the largest food service management operator in Singapore. The group plans to open the first restaurant by the end of 2009, and then 35 more Wendy’s restaurants over the next ten years. Last week the Wendy’s group announced their movement into the Middle East and North African markets, but with a slightly different strategy. While keeping the franchisee system, the plan there is to open co-branded restaurants— Wendy’s with Arby’s. The group signed an agreement with Al Jammaz Group, a Saudi Arabian franchisee, and 135 co-branded Wendy’s and Arby’s restaurants should open over the next decade in nine countries in Middle-East and North Africa.

Why is Wendy’s applying different strategies in different regions of the globe, sometimes utilizing Wendy’s-only stores and at other times co-branding with Arby’s? This is an important question from a branding perspective as it will influence their product selection, brand image and brand identity in the countries that they operate. It must be considered whether the co-branded restaurants will bring positive associations to the Wendy’s brand or whether it will confuse consumers.

One thing’s for sure, Wendy’s will need to carefully consider their brand strategy in order to be successful when entering new markets.