Restaurants Reinvented: Putting Growth Back on the Menu

Let’s talk about this folks…. Such an important question to suss out! How do you prioritize it all and deliver awesome experiences with your brand one person at a time? Tune in, because Lauren Fernandez delivers the goods. The future of our restaurant industry is bright with Lauren Fernandez at the forefront. The recent NRN Power List maker answers the pivotal question - “What comes first, the emp...

So far our labor series has touched on the need for emphatic leadership & positive modern company culture in restaurants. However, we have yet to discuss why restaurants ALSO need to modernize how they look at their P&L → ditch looking at labor costs as a percentage of gross sales. Your focus should instead be on employee productivity , zoning in on a ratio of labor costs to guests , rathe...

Our Labor Series continues with "The Restaurant Coach" who further validates that the restaurant industry is NOT suffering from a labor crisis, but rather a leadership, culture, and self-care crisis! We explore these themes with our guest, Donald Burns, who discusses how self-care and empathetic leadership are so pivotal to improving restaurant cultures and teams -- one employee at a tim...

This week, we continue our discussion on labor with another innovative restaurant leader, the Founder & CEO of her favorite local juice shop in the DC Area, Amir Mostafavi of South Block . South Block currently has 11 locations, all in the DC Area.  Like many fast-food/quick-service brands, South Block was not immune to the COVID pandemic, however, he was able to keep all of his staff employed...

Have you recently visited your favorite coffee shop or fast food joint and it’s taking longer than usual to get your order? Unfortunately, you are not alone. Across the nation, operators are struggling to staff their restaurants and retain talent for the long term. This can lead to shortened store hours or even restaurants closing their doors altogether. To solve these dire labor challenges, we be...

Hear what these two digital restaurant savants and best-selling authors, Meredith Sandland & Carl Orsbourn, have to say about the future of the restaurant industry and what possible challenges restaurant operators may face during the digital age. Our guests had the idea to write their book, Delivering the Digital Restaurant , as they ''want the industry to survive this big omnichanne...

Join this modern and savvy restaurateur and marketer, Solomon Choi, as we explore why POS has fallen into the “uncool” category in an industry sprinting to keep up with the digital consumer.  Solomon explains how he got into the “FroYo” business and found himself on point for figuring out the technology as well. Moments to Listen For: • Omni-Channel is Not New to Consumers. The consumer has been o...

For this 40th episode of Restaurants Reinvented, we're hosting the new CMO at Krystal Restaurants, Alice Crowder.  Alice has a very distinct and innovative way of testing "new ideas" and it comes down to a detailed process hinging on research and data -- while still leaving tons of room for creativity.    Show Highlights: • Balancing Data and the Creative Process Alice's approa...

Join us as we celebrate getting back to the first in-person conference in 18 LONG months. This week's episode is with Marcus Viscidi ( Winsight Media ) & Zack Oates ( Ovation ), as they reflect on the sweeping changes and impacts to the hospitality industry and how that made this first live event even more meaningful.  Marcus , a hospitality expert and leading Winsight Media spokesperson,...

Hear from The Godfather of restaurant marketing himself, Greg Creed, former CEO at Yum! Brands and CEO/CMO of Taco Bell where he spearheaded the famous “Think Outside the Bun” campaign. Another small feather in his cap…. Running the Dove brand for Unilever.  Most recently he’s co-authored a book with Ken Muench called R.E.D. Marketing: The Three Ingredients of Leading Brands - Relevance, Ease, and...

Today's female CEO super-star, Betsy Hamm, joins Restaurants Reinvented to talk about franchise marketing, branding, community involvement, empathetic leadership, & so much more!  Betsy is the new CEO of Duck Donuts , a successful donut shop franchise with 100+ stores worldwide. She entered the restaurant industry after working at Hershey Foods for 14 years. After that, Betsy started the...

This episode is a continuation of our interview with Peter Wiley, co-founder of two fast-casual chains and a technology superstar. We drill into today’s reality of technology in restaurants - Peter provides a great modern, fresh example of how busy operators can integrate fast, scalable tech into their daily operations to streamline both internal and external processes.  If you haven’t checked out...

Creating new in-restaurant dining experiences and balancing those with growing to-go-only concepts are the meat of this episode.  What is the secret of a successful restaurant chain? According to Tana Davila, the CMO at P.F. Chang's , it is about brand distinctiveness , unique technology approaches , and being able to adapt quickly and creatively in a pandemic. Tana and her creative team of 3...

Fasten your seat belts and get ready to hear from one of the Fast Casual industry's most innovative and cool restauranteurs -- Peter Wiley, the Co-Founder at Rapid Fired Pizza & Hot Head Burritos -- and super-human Qu account rep, Sean Brennan.  These two guys are driving the restaurant tech industry forward with new ways of embracing technology, modern processes, and restaurant trends -...

Paul Macaluso, President and CEO of Another Broken Egg Cafe, talks about the importance of investing in your staff, as taking care of your employees' career growth can lead to better relationships, business, and brand results. Paul also talks about the changes he’s seen across the restaurant landscape, namely the growth of digital media and the importance of technology in current restaurants....

Meet Lidija Davidson, brand expert extraordinaire and restaurant innovator. This episode is all about the Power of Brand. If you haven’t thought about your brand in a while - start now . The post-pandemic world is rife with opportunities to engage guests and grow your business to a whole new and different level. Communicating a relatable, relevant (and fun) brand to your employees, guests, franchi...

Meet the fearless female leader behind the smokin’ barbecue pit at Dickey’s! After joining Dickey’s during the 2008 recession, to CIO and then CEO, Laura Rae Dickey shares how the technology infrastructure they built 10 years ago served to fortify the brand during the 2020 pandemic. The evidence is clear - they’ve had 11 straight months of sales growth and continue opening new locations every mont...

Season 2 kicks off with a fierce female leader in honor of Women's History Month! Join the former President of Auntie Anne's, Heather Leed Neary, on her new adventure as the EVP and General Manager at KBP Investments. KBP is a leading restaurant franchise group that operates many worldwide restaurants, including KFC and Taco Bell. Heather is overseeing  the Taco Bell portfolio -- KBP Bel...

Two top loyalty experts : Diane Le ( Punchh ) and Olga Lopategui ( OLLO Consult )  discuss how to build more meaningful relationships with your guests + all the fundamentals of a “ modern day restaurant loyalty program .”   Key Takeaways:  It all starts with the customer experience and 1:1 relationships. ( Move from a transactional to relational mindset) How to use Data & Segmentation for Smar...

It’s often said that the brightest times follow the darkest times. We see this is indeed the case for Taco John’s and its fearless Marketing leader, Barry Westrum.  On this episode of Restaurants Reinvented, we take our Taco Series to new heights (and add a side of Potato Olés® ) with 4-time CMO, Barry Westrum who’s turning up the heat for the Midwestern taco darling Taco John's, which operat...

A self-taught  digital marketing expert from his early days of crafting social for Wendy’s; to converting Papa John’s to a digital focus - Brandon Rhoten specializes in turnaround brands. After spending nearly seven years leading marketing initiatives for the two brands, Brandon has developed a strong understanding of what makes a successful restaurant marketer — which he brings to Potbelly Sandwi...

Hear what baseball, authenticity, and America’s farmers have to do with Chipotle’s continued off-prem (r)evolution, starring Jonathon Relkin, Director of Digital & Off-Premises at Chipotle.  On this episode of Restaurant Reinvented , hostess Jen Kern dives into Jonathon’s impressive eComm background with brands like Vans, Mattel, and Reebok to discover which B2C best practices translate to the...

Hear how Dog Haus has managed to increase sales and revenue during a pandemic year through a tightly aligned, symbiotic partnership between Marketing & Operations. Dubbed "Markerations", CJ Ramirez (CMO) and Raz Mahrouk (VP of Ops) of Dog Haus join Jen Kern and take listeners on a virtual journey into the inner-workings of the company's unique workplace and service culture.  The...

Scott Greenberg, franchisee expert, author, and speaker talks with Jenifer Kern, CMO at Qu and host of the Restaurants Reinvented podcast about his new book, The Wealthy Franchisee : Game-Changing Steps to Becoming a Thriving Franchisee Superstar.  Scott provides insights into the challenges franchisees face and what those mean for marketers. His perspective will help you get inside the mind and p...

Rev Ciancio, a digital hospitality and customer marketing expert, covers the crucial components of the customer journey/sales funnel and how to drive more frequency, revenue, and retention.  Passionate about “awareness, acquisition & retention marketing” -- Rev and Jen explore the increasingly important concepts of Revenue Marketing, the Sales Funnel & Customer Journey, Search Optimization...