Clicks 2 Bricks

With billions of active users worldwide and counting, social media remains one of the most influential marketing tools available. But how can multi-location brands harness the power of these digital channels to reach both local and national audiences? To help us answer this question, we are joined by our first return guest on Clicks 2 Bricks, Brandon Rhoten! When we first sat down with him in Episode 19, Brandon was the CMO for Potbelly Sandwich Works. He has since moved on and now serves in several advisory roles, the most recent of which is with SOCi, considered the marketing platform for multi-location brands. Brandon is the first to join the company’s new Industry Advisory Board and, in this episode, he shares what this new role entails. Tuning in, you’ll also get Brandon’s unique point of view on how social media marketing has evolved since his pioneering work with Wendy’s, which includes how restaurant brands should be thinking about localization and giving local franchisees, managers, and employees a voice on these digital channels, plus so much more! Make sure not to miss this insightful conversation with the marketer who builds impossible-to-ignore brands, Brandon Rhoten!

It often falls on the CEO to come up with a strategy to increase the growth and profitability of a company, but today’s guest believes that a strategist is vitally important when it comes to identifying new opportunities, channels, and product lines. Beto Guajardo is currently the President of Focus Brands International, which includes brands such as Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, and Schlotzsky's. Throughout most of his career, Beto led strategy for iconic brands such as Levi’s and Starbucks after getting his start in the consulting world with McKinsey and Company. In this episode, Beto explains what career strategy is, what this job entails, and what the KPIs and the performance metrics are for this role, before providing an example of the success he generated when he shifted investment into an opportunity he identified in the Starbucks app. He also talks about the strategy he used to turn Schlotzsky’s around, help them survive the pandemic, and ultimately achieve success. To find out about the interplay between strategy and execution, the marketing challenges of operating across so many different markets internationally, and Beto’s advice to anyone who wants to pursue a career in strategy, tune in today!

Welcome to a brand-new episode of Clicks 2 Bricks. Today we are joined by Phil Crawford, the Chief Technology Officer for CKE Restaurants. Our conversation centers around building a modern restaurant tech stack, touching on the need for integrations and what Phil looks for in great technology partners before diving into location data management and the importance of precise, long data in the era of ordering ahead and off-premise dining. Join us to hear his thoughts on leadership and relationship-building, owning your mistakes, and prioritizing partnership. You’ll also hear about his opinion on the role of roadmaps in a long sales cycle, before we touch on location data management, workflow, and systems. Phil believes in making mistakes in order to learn and shares wisdom from his own story today. Thanks for tuning in.

Welcome to another exciting and informative episode of Clicks 2 Bricks, a podcast about marketing strategies for multi-location businesses and organizations. The marketing landscape has changed dramatically since the advent of social media and has forced businesses to think differently about marketing strategies. In today’s episode, we discuss multi-location marketing strategies with Melanie Babcock. Melanie is responsible for The Home Depot personalization strategy, including various other strategies such as The Home Depot Retail Media Network and The Home Depot app. Melanie was originally in social media but transitioned to the marketing space where she brings a unique skillset and perspective. In today’s show, we learn about the status of the workforce post-pandemic, challenges associated with The Home Depot, her transition from social media to marketing, the transferrable skills she brought with her, details about The Home Depot's marketing strategy, how social media and marketing has evolved in recent years, and so much more! Tune in to hear some more from expert and marketing mogul Melanie Babcock!

The pandemic sent so many businesses spiraling, but our guest today is one of the admirable few who managed to turn it into a unique opportunity for growth and creativity! Brandon Coleman is the Chief Marketing Officer for Dave & Buster’s, and he took the helm of this iconic entertainment brand a mere two weeks before the pandemic struck. Brandon successfully reset and rebuilt an entire marketing tech stack through the thick of it and pivoted to a significant off-premise component, complete with virtual brands. In this episode, we learn about Brandon’s journey of keeping Dave & Buster’s afloat, the brand’s unique model for driving profitability, and their goal to achieve a one-to-one customer relationship at scale. We also take a deep dive into how Brandon filters, vets, and chooses his tech partners. Tune in to hear all this and so much more, including Brandon’s take on the implementation of new tech and information about a new MarTech job opening at Dave & Buster’s!

So much is constantly changing in the world of marketing, and this is not only down to the tumult of the last two years. On the show today, we have a fascinating chat with Tana Davila, the CMO of P.F. Chang's, in which she shares her reflections on her career thus far and the most important progressive steps she has witnessed in her time in the industry. P.F. Chang's is a brand that has evolved immensely during its lifetime, starting as a sit-down Chinese restaurant chain, and now positioning itself as an omnichannel Asian culinary brand. Tana explains the idea of polished casual and how their digital transformation has led their forward motion. We also get some insight from our guest about how she worked her way up in the company, and what she believes has served her best on this journey. Other important topics covered in our conversation include the most recent Olo Beyond4 Conference, technology partnerships, and advice for young marketers, so be sure not to miss this great episode!

Doug Zarkin is the Chief Marketing Officer for Pearle Vision, a title he's held for an impressive ten years! In this episode, we pick his brain about his marketing philosophies and find out how he is bringing sexy to optical retail marketing. Doug fills us in on Pearle Vision’s current undertakings and how the pandemic was bizarrely a time of exponential growth for the brand! We learn how their digital marketing plan has matured over the last few years and are reminded of the importance of offline marketing. We also find out why Doug considers himself to be a brand positioning snob and why humility is critical in the marketing world. Tune in to hear more about the relationship between brand and performance and for some astute advice for young marketers and aspiring CMOs! 

“Every moment is a brand moment. Good or bad, you're making a statement one way or the other in everything that you do.” These are the words of today’s guest, Dwayne Chambers, who is currently the Chief Marketing Officer of Checkers and Rally’s Drive-In Restaurants, while also running his own consultancy, Brand Moments. Over the years, he has held leadership positions with some amazing brands, including PF Chang’s, Krispy Kreme, Fuddruckers, Noodles & Company, Red Robin, and Sonic Drive-In. Dwayne believes strongly in the power of capturing moments and, today, he joins us to explain how he does this through his role at Checkers and Rally’s. Tuning in, you’ll hear how the company differentiates itself in the highly competitive burgers and fries category, how they were perfectly positioned to handle the pandemic as a drive-thru establishment, and how they have adapted throughout this time in terms of both marketing and other forms of innovation. Dwayne also provides some insight into what it has been like to build and manage a fully remote team. To find out about Checkers and Rally’s innovative AI drive-thru technology, the amazing benefits Dwayne has derived from remote working, and why he believes modern marketing is really about consumer moments, as well as so much more, make sure to tune in today! 

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a well-established Los Angeles-based coffee brand that lost its way but is in the process of turning itself around, currently seeing considerable growth. Today’s guest, Sanjiv Razdan, has a lot to do with its recent success. Sanjiv is the president of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for the Americas and India. He also gained experience working for Pizza Hut, Yum Brands, and Applebee’s before he became the COO for the restaurant juggernaut that is Sweetgreen. In this episode, he sheds light on how he came to his current role at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, how the company lost its way and was impacted by the pandemic, and how they are turning things around. He also discusses the integral role of technology in the restaurant business, what he learned from his time at Sweetgreen, and how he’s applying this insight in his current role. Finally, Sanjiv introduces us to the GLEAM Network, which is a nonprofit organization he founded that is dedicated to mentorship in the restaurant and foodservice industry. To hear Sanjiv break down his six pillars for transforming the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf business, as well as many other fascinating insights, tune in today!

Founded in 1972, Cousins Subs is a Wisconsin-based family business where each location operates like a mom-and-pop business. While a company like this could easily fall behind in terms of digital transformation and staying abreast of current marketing trends, today’s guest has played a vital role in staying ahead of the digital curve and growing the company despite the pandemic. Today we are joined by Justin McCoy, the Vice-President of Marketing for Cousins Subs, who has been with the company for 16 years. He explains the history of the company as well as its current footprint in terms of corporate locations and franchises. We then discuss how Justin has grown into his current role from his early days of guerilla marketing at the store level, how he has repositioned and contemporized the brand for sustainable growth, and how he witnessed the digital transformation of the restaurant business play out at Cousins Subs. We cover what we love and hate about third-party online ordering partners, what local store marketing efforts look like, how the digital team is structured, which social media platforms they’re focussing their efforts towards, and so much more! To hear what’s next for Cousins Subs as it celebrates its 50th birthday as well as Justin's advice to anyone aspiring towards the executive level of an organization, tune in today!