The QSR Experience Show

Dog Haus’ Justin Bartek on The Crucial Role of Aligning Marketing and Operations in Restaurant Brands

In our recent episode of The QSR Experience Show, Justin Bartek shares his journey from the fry station at Burger King to his current role as Vice President of Marketing at Dog Haus. 
Justin explores the challenges and strategies of scaling a restaurant brand, emphasizing the importance of aligning marketing initiatives with operational goals. Justin also shares his insights on leveraging technology for growth and enhancing the guest experience. 
Topics discussed:
Strategies for maintaining a consistent guest experience across different locations within an expanding restaurant chain.
Dog Haus’ unique positioning in the industry, focusing on menu diversity and culinary innovation.
Insights into the future of the restaurant industry, including the impact of technology on changing customer preferences.
Lessons learned about the importance of aligning marketing and operations within a restaurant brand for success.
Leveraging technology, such as loyalty programs and digital advertising, to drive growth and enhance customer engagement.
The role of regional differences and operator input in tailoring marketing strategies and guest experiences.
Justin's perspective on scaling restaurant chains effectively, considering goals, market niches, and operational strategies for growth. 

Penn Station East Coast Subs' Craig Dunaway on How Customers Have Embraced Hybrid Ordering Sytems

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Craig Dunaway, Chief Operating Officer at Penn Station East Coast Subs, about how Craig and his team maximize a franchisee's return on investment using in-person evaluations of each location. 
They also discuss how quickly the restaurant industry has had to shift to a hybrid ordering model and how that has affected Penn State East Coast Subs specifically.
Topics discussed:
What distinguishes Penn State East Coast Subs from other restaurants and brands.
How to maximize a franchisee's return using regular, in-person evaluations.
Ensuring that a customer's experience is high quality and consistent not only across locations, but across ordering platforms.
How a traditionally dine-in restaurant accommodates hybrid ordering while maintaining customer experience across the board.
How customers have leaned into the hybrid ordering model: they have fully embraced it.
Craig's philosophy on new store locations and growth.
What Craig foresees in the future of the restaurant industry and how Penn State East Coast Subs will fit into it.

Elevating the Burger Experience with MOOYAH's Doug Willmarth

In this episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby sits down with Doug Willmarth, President of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes. Doug shares his journey from the packaged goods industry to leading a top franchise in the QSR sector, emphasizing the importance of quality food, brand love, and the unique role of franchisees in community building.
Topics discussed:
Doug's Path to MOOYAH: Starting with a passion for MOOYAH's product quality, Doug outlines his career progression from Kraft Foods and PepsiCo to Wingstop and eventually MOOYAH, driven by a commitment to delivering the best-tasting cheeseburgers in America.
Brand Attraction and Philosophy: Doug details what drew him to MOOYAH, highlighting the brand's focus on great food, customer service, and the sense of family among franchisees, which serves as the cornerstone for the brand's hospitality approach.
Growth Strategy and Customer Focus: With 75 locations, MOOYAH targets a broad customer base, from burger enthusiasts to health-conscious individuals, emphasizing a quality experience over speedy service. Doug discusses refining the brand's focus to ensure a consistent, high-quality customer experience across all locations.
Challenges and Adaptations: Addressing the balance between speed and quality, Doug explains MOOYAH's commitment to quality, the impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior, and the importance of digital engagement in today's fast-casual landscape.
Future Outlook and Advice for Growth: Looking towards expansion, Doug shares insights on scaling up while maintaining brand identity and quality. He advises emerging chains on the importance of understanding their unique value proposition to ensure sustainable growth.

CAVA's Andrew Rebhun on Getting to Know Your Customers and Community

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Andrew Rebhun, Chief Experience Officer at CAVA, a growing Mediterranean culinary brand. They discuss the ways in which CAVA engages and welcomes customers through menu customization, offering different ways to order, and locally-focused Community Days. They also talk about changing customer trends, how CAVA invests in developing leaders, and why it's key to tell a great brand story.
Topics discussed:
How CAVA sets itself apart through its customizable experiences and high-quality ingredients.
How they engage customers in local markets through Community Days and by supporting non-profits.
CAVA's approach to personalization through mobile ordering and its new app.
Changing customer trends and why QSRs need to nail the experience each time.
How CAVA empowers its employees and invests in their long-term training with a GM academy.
The process CAVA uses to choose where their next location will be.
Advice to QSR leaders on the importance of understanding decision impacts and telling a great brand story.

Kolache Factory’s Dawn Nielsen on Creating Unique Products, Satisfied Employees, and Successful Franchises

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Dawn Nielsen, COO at Kolache Factory, a bakery and cafe serving Eastern European pastry. They discuss how operations have evolved over the past 40 years, what technology they're using to streamline the customer experience, and why consistency across locations begins with communication. They also talk about strategies to increase employee satisfaction, how they're improving their menu, and what the future of QSRs will look like.
Topics discussed:
How Kolache Factory has evolved its operations and technology from the 1980s.
Why creating consistent customer experiences across locations begins with frequent and timely communication.
The technology they're leveraging to handle backend management and provide seamless payment experiences to customers.
How they're evolving their menu to be "bold and unique."
The strategies they use to increase employee satisfaction, including gamification, flexible schedules, and holiday bonuses.
Advice for QSR owners and franchisees to rely on others and not do it all alone.
What the future of the restaurant industry may look like in terms of footprint, focus, and equipment.

Roy Rogers’ Adam Klaers on How to Drive the Growth of an ”Emerging Legacy Brand”

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Adam Klaers, Executive Vice President at Roy Rogers Restaurants, founded in 1968. They discuss how Roy Rogers is an "emerging legacy brand" and what experiences they deliver to differentiate themselves from competition — like offering a "fixin's bar," staffing dining room attendants, and serving multiple proteins. They also talk about how Roy Rogers creates consistency through app-based training, how they're leveraging AI to help with administrative tasks, and advice on how to build your career in QSR.
Topics discussed:
The history of Roy Rogers, why they consider themselves an "emerging legacy brand" today, and how they're focused on corporate and franchise growth in the future.
The in-location experiences that differentiate Roy Rogers from competitors and how they make it a "home away from home."
The tactics they take to ensure a great customer experience, like having a dining room attendant present.
How Roy Rogers is leaning into technology, like using AI and ML to handle administrative tasks and create one-to-one marketing opportunities.
How Roy Rogers creates consistent in-location experiences through app-based staff training.
The challenges that arise when serving multiple proteins, like food costs and kitchen complexities.
The three attributes that will get you far in the restaurant industry.

Donatos Pizza’s Jodie Conrad on Creating Consistent, Digital-Forward Customer Experiences at a Legacy Brand

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Jodie Conrad, Chief Marketing Officer at Donatos Pizza, a family-owned pizza company with more than 150 locations. They discuss the ways in which digital channels have transformed the customer experience, how they’re optimizing their menu to create more consistency across locations, and why QSRs need initiatives to help their frontline employees be more successful. They also talk about why a great marketing strategy is staying true to the brand, "no gimmicks," and prioritizing solving problems.
Topics discussed:
What Jodie's marketing philosophy is and why it centers around solving problems and "no gimmicks."
How the rising role of IT and technology in QSRs provides better customer experiences.
How digital channels and in-store experiences converge to reduce friction and give customers more control.
How Donatos is creating consistency across locations by optimizing its menu to ensure the same pizza wherever you are.
How Donatos is thinking about food trends, and how customers enjoy basics with a twist.
Why QSRs need to invest in initiatives that bring more value and success to their employees.
Why a great strategy is to stay true to what makes the brand “the brand” and to find your unique offering.

Cicis Pizza’s Stephanie Hoppe on Creating Great Customer Experiences Through an Ops-First Mindset

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Stephanie Hoppe, Chief Marketing Officer at Cicis Pizza, a restaurant chain offering all-you-can-eat pizza buffets. They discuss how to create consistent experiences for customers across locations, and why simplifying operations plays a key role in bringing more value to customers. They also talk about how data can help drive customer initiatives like loyalty programs, why focusing on one concept is what leads to success, and how AI and automation will play a role in the future of the QSR industry.
Topics discussed:
How Cicis Pizza grew to 280 locations and what sets the brand apart in terms of service and value.
How to create consistent experiences for customers across locations, and why taking an ops-first mindset for marketing will help achieve that goal.
Why sometimes doing a deep dive into the data may hold you back from launching new marketing efforts and experiments.
How the QSR industry is evolving, and how independent businesses, challenges to consistency, and concept focus are key trends.
How technology can help you learn more about your customers and drive new initiatives like loyalty programs.
Advice for QSRs that want to scale, including being wise about choosing your franchisees and why location is key.
The role AI and automation will play in the future of QSR.

Del Taco’s Tim Hackbardt on How to Change the Face of a 60-Year-Old Brand

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Tim Hackbardt, CMO at Del Taco Restaurants Inc., a fast food restaurant chain that specializes in American-style Mexican cuisine. They discuss how the sixty-year-old restaurant is continuing to grow through product innovation, using technology to scale, and by modernizing its locations through its Fresh Flex approach. They also talk about why the most successful brands focus on customer service, what to look for when turning a brand around, and advice for marketers who want to grow in the restaurant industry.
 
Topics discussed:
 
How Del Taco has increased its unit volume by staying current with trends, product innovation, remodels, social media engagement, and more.
What a day in the life of a CMO looks like, and how the schedule includes strategy, creative, analytics, and lots of food.
How brands are evolving in today's world and using technology like geotargeting and in-app AI to scale.
Why a common theme across successful businesses is their focus on customer service and experiences.
What to look for when turning around a brand and positioning it for success, including operations, morale, and the business model.
How Del Taco is creating consistent experiences across locations and modernizing for the future.
Advice for new marketers who want to grow their career in the restaurant industry. 

El Pollo Loco’s Gabe Alonso on Building New QSR Brand Strategies to Engage with Younger Customers

On today’s episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby speaks with Gabe Alonso, VP - Digital Marketing at El Pollo Loco, a restaurant chain that specializes in Mexican-style grilled chicken. They discuss how Gabe landed at El Pollo Loco after an extensive career in marketing, the ways in which his team has been revamping the loyal program and app, and why it's important to treat digital products as "living and breathing" things. They also discuss how El Pollo Loco is making the customer experience consistent across digital and physical channels, how trends like AI and ML are helping improve customer messaging, and why you need to have people to scale technology.
Topics discussed:
An overview of Gabe's extensive career that's brought him from MTV, to Nike, to Activision, to Pepsi, and to his current role as VP of Digital Marketing at El Pollo Loco.
How Gabe has worked on relaunching El Pollo Loco's loyal program and app over the past year, and how they're focused on engaging younger consumers.
Why a digital product should be treated as a "living and breathing" thing that needs to be developed and shaped through customer feedback and use.
How El Pollo Loco is working to create consistent brand experiences across its channels, including the app, digital ordering, and physical locations.
Top trends impacting QSR marketing today, including how brands are playing more into culture, working with influencers on content creation, and how AI and ML can help create better offers and messaging.
Advice to QSR marketers that includes a reminder to understand your audience and why you need to invest in people in order to scale your technology. 
Guest Quotes: 
"I would say that we have a big opportunity for us to storytell our origin story, where we're from, who we are. I would argue that despite being around for 40 years, people still don't really know us. And I think we have a new generation in Latino Gen Z, multicultural Gen Z that we can really identify with and resonate with if we just start to tell our story a bit more." (21:17-21:42)
"When you unleash a program or a digital product, that you should treat it as a living, breathing thing. ... You have to continue to take in insights and testimonials from consumers and continue to feed that into your development process to make it better, more efficient, and easier for the consumer." (8:32)
"We leverage machine learning to create propensity models for purchase, product propensity. ... We're getting smarter and smarter, it feels like, every month with our partner and more efficient on our offer strategy and bringing back that ROI with driving discount efficiency." (15:01)
"Understand who your audience is. That's key because that then informs everything else that you're doing, whether it's the spend that you're putting into your local marketing opportunities, or the creators that you want to connect with." (17:48)
"Just having the platform isn't going to solve your problem. You need human resource, people resource to be able to connect dots, to be able to then create content or strategies off of those insights that can then impact your business." (18:59)