Clicks 2 Bricks

The food and beverage industry is overflowing with restaurants, diners, and takeaway stores, all competing for their piece of the market share. That’s why, in order to be successful, you have to differentiate your business and provide your customers with a unique, memorable, WOW-worthy experience. That is exactly what Mark Mears has done as CMO of WOWorks, a holding company that encompasses Saladworks, Frutta Bowls, Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, and Simple Greek. By catering to the desires of the “for me” generation, creating a culture of collaboration that supersedes organizational hierarchy, and utilizing an integrated marketing and communications plan, Mark and his team are continually WOW’ing the world. Mark has 36 years of experience in marketing and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about building a brand and we are very lucky to have had the chance to pick his brain on the topic! Tune in to hear it all! 

In today’s episode of Clicks 2 Bricks, we speak with Stephanie Perdue, Vice President of Brand Marketing for Chipotle. In 2020 the COVID 19 pandemic dealt a massive blow to restaurants across the US. Seemingly overnight businesses were severed from their primary source of income and were left scrambling to adapt. Luckily for Chipotle, when the crisis hit they already had a robust digital framework and an off-premises strategy in place, which they were able to fast track to adapt to the new normal. In our conversation with Stephanie, we talk to her about her career in marketing, her love of fast-casual, and what she learned from her time at Taco Bell which spans over a decade in various positions. She describes being hired at Chipotle during a trying period where the brand was experiencing an onslaught of competition, while also recovering from a food safety incident that had lost some customer trust. She expands on how they approached the marketing challenge by centering their efforts on communicating what Chipotle was all about and hiring Oscar award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris to direct their marketing video content.

Top multi-location brands have an impossible challenge in the form of managing their digital presence across hundreds or thousands of locations. This is a pain point that SOCi solves and today we have its CMO, Monica Ho, on the show as our guest. SOCi is a leading all-in-one marketing platform built specifically for next-level multi-location marketers. For the last three years, SOCi has been conducting a report called the Localized Marketing Benchmark Report whose focus is to measure the success of local marketing for multi-location brands. Monica joins us today to share the methodology behind the report and explore ways that brands can not only improve their scores but more importantly, how these insights can translate into quantifiable business results.

Digital marketing requires a high level of cohesion in order to be effective. If there is a lack of seamless integration, different silos will be working towards different goals. Alan Magee is at the helm of digital transformation at Church’s Chicken. He arrived at the brand two years ago and currently works as the VP of digital marketing and tech. In today’s episode, Alan sheds light on Church’s three-phased digital transformation, how they have moved through the connect and calibrate phase, and the work they are currently doing around activation.

Luckily for 7-Eleven, Marissa Jarratt’s childhood dreams of becoming President of the United States or a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader didn’t come true. As the head of marketing for 7-Eleven since 2019, Marissa has played a hugely important role in figuring out the purpose of the brand and using that purpose to inform the way that the company responds to the needs and wants of its customers. In today’s episode, Marissa lets us in on the thinking behind 7-Eleven’s new campaign, Take it to Eleven, and why she is so excited about the direction that the company is heading.

Trailblazing is as much a part of Patty Trevino’s DNA as it is a part of the DNA of the brands she works for. You have one guess as to who was responsible for rolling out the first Beyond Burger line in any fast food restaurant in America, and who came up with the idea of a CBD burger! Our guest today is skilled at understanding the culture of the times and is not afraid to break the rules. She also knows how important it is to have the right structures set up before pushing out innovative ideas. This combination of attributes means that she is able to give customers what they want time and time again.

Today’s guest is Kristin Gallucci, Chief Marketing Strategist for United Franchise Group. United Franchise Group controls a variety of brands in the B2B and B2C space with the signage brand Signarama as its flagship. Our conversation with Kristin today is all about the marketing channels and organizational structure at United Franchise Group and Signarama more specifically. Our discussion begins with Kristin introducing United Franchise Group, the brands affiliated under its umbrella, the history of the company, and its strategies for acquiring new brands. From there, we get into the marketing strategies Signarama used during the pandemic and Kristin talks about their decision to leverage national television as well as a sponsorship deal with the World Axe Throwing Championship.

As a company that generates income from ups and downs, Sky Zone, like its competitors, wasn’t expecting 2020 to unfold in the way that it did. In March 2020, the trampoline park chain was forced to close its doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, Sky Zone has been opening its doors slowly and safely. Today we speak with Sky Zone CMO, Josh Cole, about why the chain is feeling so confident about its reopening and why they remain in a strong position as the pandemic gently eases. To kick things off, Josh shares Sky Zone’s origin story before diving into the chain’s revenue streams. More on this topic, Josh talks about how Sky Zone’s end-goal is to convert daily users into monthly subscribers.

If you're part of Generation X, thinking of Pizza Hut will likely invoke vivid memories from your childhood of sharing a signature pan pizza at your local branch under its iconic red roof. It is memories like this that Pizza Hut has tapped into to build its recent ‘Newstalgia’ campaign. Today’s guest is George Felix, CMO for Pizza Hut, and he joins us to talk about the process of revitalizing Pizza Hut by taking it way back to its roots, even as the business shifts completely to a delivery and takeout model. George discusses how he and some of Pizza Hut’s most longstanding franchisees came upon the idea of tapping into nostalgia as the North Star of the new campaign.

Did you know that there are over 400 Honey Baked Ham stores across the country? We were surprised when we heard this too! Today, we are joined by the CMO of this iconic, family-owned brand, Jo Ann Herold. Jo Ann shares how her first job, as a 16-year-old working at McDonald’s, sparked her interest in the foodservice industry. Except for a brief stint at a sustainable flooring company, she has been working in the sector ever since, with an unwavering passion. We discuss the services that Honey Baked Ham provides for its customers, how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the company, the way they balance the presence of their national brand with the individuality of their local stores, and their commitment to their core value of authenticity.