Qu - Restaurants Reinvented - Barry Westrum - Transcript
Jen Kern: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. And welcome back to restaurants reinvented. This is Jen Kern. You're a hostess for the show. And today I have a very special guest who's continuing on my tacos series, which has been so much fun talking about all things, tacos, particularly crunchy tacos. So today I'm joined with Barry Westrom.
[00:00:43] Who's the CMO at taco John's. Hello, Barry. And welcome to the show.
[00:00:47] BBarry Westrum: [00:00:47] Thank you very much, Jennifer. It's great to be here.
[00:00:50] Jen Kern: [00:00:50] I'm so excited to dig in. I mean for our listeners, your background is extremely impressive. I know you started while ago at taco bell. your start there. And then you've been at some really, as you call them mega brands, KFC a and w long John silver dairy queen. I'm probably missing a couple in there.
[00:01:08] but the thing that I really want to dive into. First for our listeners is this notion of chaos as an instigator. And so you started at taco John's, was it April of 2019?
[00:01:21] BBarry Westrum: [00:01:21] In 2020. Yeah. So just, yeah.
[00:01:24] Jen Kern: [00:01:24] Okay.
[00:01:25] BBarry Westrum: [00:01:25] Yeah, I tell people that you know, I started with the company where the company was in chaos, the brand was in chaos. The industry was in chaos and the consumer was in chaos. Right. As we all think about April of 2020. And by that, I mean from company perspective taco John's this wonderful 50 year old brand.
[00:01:41] based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but frankly, over the last decade or so had become stagnant in terms of same-store sales growth, stagnant in terms of new unit growth. And really wanting to break out and break out of its shell, no pun intended and to really set a new trajectory for growth.
[00:01:58] And one of the decisions the brand made with the board of directors was an entirely new C-suite of executives. and chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chairman of the board. myself and also kind of break out of our location. We were founded in Cheyenne, Wyoming, wonderful city, could not have been more supportive to our brand, but acknowledging that as we grew and as we grew eastward we had the opportunity to, base ourselves in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
[00:02:25] 40% of our locations are within a four-hour drive. Of Minneapolis, we consider the upper Midwest, the brand's heart and soul an Oh, by the way, Minneapolis has the opportunity to attract perhaps different talent than perhaps nothing against Cheyenne, Wyoming, but the metropolitan twin cities, home to fortune 500 companies and great marketers and great operators.
[00:02:46] Great finances. And so, we made the move to Minneapolis. Oh, actually opened the office on March 4th, 20 20th. And we all know what happened on March 18th, 2020. And for many of the employees that were moving from Cheyenne to Minneapolis, they were literally on the road somewhere in Nebraska with all of their belongings to find out that you know, we were in shutdown mode.
[00:03:06] And for everybody in restaurants, we know that April period was a time of, are we going to be open? how are we going to open, how are we going to do so safely? Are we going to be around in six months? will my job still be here in six months? So a real time of chaos for the brand and the industry.
[00:03:20] And that was really our task as an organization was to get the brand on the right footing. Get our marketing organization on the right footing. And then of course grow through the rest of the year. And I'm happy to report that. as the year progressed we began to outperform the category I E quick serve restaurants with the drive-through.
[00:03:39] and so we feel like we're in a great place. through it all to thrive both during the pandemic and post pandemic. And we're excited about the future for the brand.
[00:03:48] Jen Kern: [00:03:48] Oh , so exciting. And yeah, April 20, 20. I got my years mixed up, but like you said, we all know what that was like at that time. And you had just joined the brand coming from you were at dairy queen before, right?
[00:04:02] BBarry Westrum: [00:04:02] dairy queen and then at Del taco in Southern California, I may be the only marketer that has worked at the, you know, the big three taco bell Del taco and taco John's. So one might say I have taco sauce in my veins.
[00:04:15] Jen Kern: [00:04:15] go. And so it also makes you the quintessential tacos series podcast guest, by the way.
[00:04:23] BBarry Westrum: [00:04:23] Yeah, no, I'm happy to, Hey share the taco love. Oh my God.
[00:04:27] that is the beautiful thing about tacos is that it is such a and part of the reason why I continue my stint in these taco chains is that the taco is perhaps the most perfect vessel. to carry modern flavors to the consumer.
[00:04:40] And there is a whole subculture of taco love that I'm sure all of our brands are tapping into that really make it, why it's one of the fastest growing cuisines throughout the world, much less the United States. And so it was a very big business opportunity as well. Aside from.
[00:04:55] Jen Kern: [00:04:55] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, gosh, we've had Wars on our Slack channel here about soft versus hard taco shell.
[00:05:03] BBarry Westrum: [00:05:03] Right,
[00:05:04] Jen Kern: [00:05:04] It was a theme we had going at one point, and I just couldn't believe that someone would prefer a soft taco shell over a crispy taco shell. Like why? Anyway. So I'm curious what it was like for you.
[00:05:17] Having just joined a new company. And we talked about this concept of like, the company, as you mentioned had been somewhat stagnant. a 50 year old brand. Right. you joined to, bring life into the brand. And then we've got on top of the company that's, in crisis, you've got a country in crisis.
[00:05:34] You've got an industry in crisis. What was that like for you? And what did you do? What was your response?
[00:05:40] BBarry Westrum: [00:05:40] Yeah. I've been in turnaround six situations as a marketer before where you are doing the classic brand turnaround things let's get the brand positioning. Right. Let's make sure we've got the brand strategy. Right. let's make sure are we structured properly or do we have the right culture for our brand?
[00:05:56] You know, you have those, that foundational work, right. But on the flip side at the exact same time you are trying to keep up with the different, municipalities and their ordinances as it related to who can open where, when and under what circumstances. And in many instances, as everybody knows, that was at the County by County level, city by city level.
[00:06:16] And so I mean, we were implementing, testing procedures in the morning that we would launch chain-wide in the afternoon. I mean, it was. everybody's uses the word, but so true unprecedented in terms of the way that we were, in triaged mode. but came from that from my perspective was clarity and focus.
[00:06:32] You know, the answer in situations like that. It's not, let's just work seven days a week. Although plenty of that went on. It was really around, okay, let us get to the heart. of these issues, both from a crew safety, consumer safety, operational facilitation. How do we make sure as you know, we move, all of our business, went into the drive-thru and as a brand, we weren't necessarily a great drive-thru brand.
[00:06:53] And so we needed to get good at the drive-through improve. Our speed of service improves our throughput, all of those different procedures we had to rethink and reevaluate and relaunch. And so. It provided from my perspective, a crystal clear view of what we needed to do both as a brand and as a company and as an operating entity.
[00:07:12] And that I think led to, although it was a lot of work and, great effort on behalf of the entire team. As we went through the rest of the year, we were very clear on who we were on, what our role was the communities. We do business, how we can keep ourselves and our crew members safe and what were the aspects of the business we needed to focus on in order to grow.
[00:07:31] And I think that's what has benefited us as we've headed into the new year. And as we plan for. The post pandemic era. We are a very focused organization and it came from, that triage that we had in the early stages of the pandemic.
[00:07:45] Jen Kern: [00:07:45] Okay. So you've mentioned you have outperformed the category. can you help our listeners understand how you did that? I mean, you and I shared a little bit about the drive-through and the changes you made there. So what have you done specifically, in the drive-through and then how are you outperforming today?
[00:08:01] BBarry Westrum: [00:08:01] I mean little things. if you think about most of our restaurants have essentially two production lines and one that would go, you'd be used for the dining room customers and one that we'd use for the drive-through customers. now all of that flow has to go through the drive-through section.
[00:08:17] And so through focus comes expertise, right? And so what we found with our crew members is by the focus that each station had to, depend upon in order to increase the volume that we saw each skillset got better you know, if you were on the toppings rail, you got really good at doing toppings.
[00:08:35] If you were in op monitoring, the, what we call the heat. Well at that started the production line. You got really good and focused as opposed to slide deployment that we might've seen earlier. Now you had focus at each station of the process and through focus and repetition becomes speed.
[00:08:49] And so we are exactly where we want to be, but we are faster today in the drive-through than we were one year ago. and the other big thing that we did was. Look through it all. Americans are facing very difficult times from an economic perspective and value is you know, one of the primary reasons consumers use quick serve restaurants, and we were not a value oriented brand.
[00:09:09] We have a better product and a higher quality product. Versus our number one competitor, taco bell. but we were also higher prices and consumers told us flat out we would do qualitative research and you would get some very basic feedback. I don't come to you because you are too expensive. That's about as direct as a consumer can be.
[00:09:29] And so We implemented a host of different value initiatives that were still profitable for our franchisees, but they were from a consumer perspective, made the brand accessible. A great example is we have a product we affectionately call six pack and a pound. You can get a six pack of crispy tacos and a pound of our world famous potato Oles.
[00:09:48] And they are a perfect way to, feed larger party sizes that we were seeing in the drive-through the whole industry has seen in the drive-thru since the pandemic and this six pack and a pound has been huge reason why we've been able to outperform the category we offer at a slight discount, $2 off.
[00:10:03] Which allows for ample profit for the franchisee, but also a very accessible price to the consumer. And, between us getting really sharp on value, us getting really sharp on drive-through operations. I think we've become a better version of ourselves than perhaps we might've been before the pandemic.
[00:10:18] Jen Kern: [00:10:18] that's fantastic. I saw that six pack and a pound. I mean, I saw it on, I was looking at app and your website and I'm like, that is such great branding. I mean, it just draws you right in, it's like six pack down. What is that? Oh my God. I got to get one of those. But like that is so fun. and so can you share how much you've performed the category?
[00:10:36] And I would love to know, are you up over pre pandemic numbers or is your performance, are you talking about just versus your competitors in the pandemic?
[00:10:46]BBarry Westrum: [00:10:46] our same-store sales growth, was positive to the tune of about four points in 2020, what we are able to see from, competitors is that as a category QSR specialty, I think was up a point and I E talk about KFC and the like, and QS are sandwich IE McDonald's and the like up about 0.7.
[00:11:05] That's what, NPD crest is telling us. So we outperformed by about three points. And so again, part of that is. value focused that I spoke of in the drive-through focus. part of that is our upper Midwest locations. but I just think in general, we had an organization that really rallied around.
[00:11:20] the opportunities that we saw once we got the brand back on solid footing. and we also, you know, I think in some of our marketing efforts, took the liberties of stating why our brand was a better alternative. So we all know that pizza has fared really well during the pandemic and for obvious reasons, easy to feed a multiunit, family, great price point.
[00:11:40] Some of that marketing work that we did around six pack and a pound. We actually positioned ourselves against pizza and said in emails and app offers and things like that saying, aren't you tired of pizza? And isn't, we were world famous for our being the home of taco Tuesday. but there's no reason there can't be taco Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
[00:11:57] And by juxtaposing us against pizza, we saw some traction as well. So part of it has just been acknowledging that We have to be aggressive versus our competitors and in doing so we believe will continue to outperform them.
[00:12:10] Jen Kern: [00:12:10] Yeah, that's fantastic. And you had mentioned a stat in our pre-show call that stuck with me because it was a little bit surprising to me and it was somewhere along the lines of. it was at 75% of Americans eat out at fast food restaurants. And I'm venturing to guests that has increased during the pandemic.
[00:12:29] I mean, I'm a little bit of a snobby, eater in the sense that I go mostly to fast casual when I eat out, you know, I like my bowls and my salads and things like that. but I also have my tacos and. Guacamole and Oh, by the way, does your guacamole have tomatoes? Yes.
[00:12:46] BBarry Westrum: [00:12:46] Our guacamole does have tomatoes. Yes.
[00:12:49] Jen Kern: [00:12:49] Okay. I'm a little bit more on the side of no tomatoes, but I'm still going to try it. And I saw by the way, like, so you're mostly a Midwest or West coast brand, but I saw you have a location in JFK airport was the closest one I'm in DC.
[00:13:02] BBarry Westrum: [00:13:02] Right? yeah.
[00:13:04] Jen Kern: [00:13:04] Okay. Next up New York, we mapped over the airport.
[00:13:07] BBarry Westrum: [00:13:07] Well, it's definitely a part of our Eastern expansion. Right? part of our strategy is that every city in America has a taco bell on one side and Chipotle or a Moe's on the other side, and I, talk about obviously a. behemoth in a wildly successful brand, but they have an Achilles heel and that is quality.
[00:13:25] And we fancy ourselves as a higher quality brand. That's what our consumers tell us. And then on the other side, you've got your pulley and Moe's and those guys, again, wonderful behemoth brands, wildly successful, but Chipola has an Achilles heel in the sense that they're expensive and they are.
[00:13:40] time-consuming you got to get out of your car. and we believe we can be right there in the middle, you know, to be a higher quality taco bell and a cheaper and faster Chipotle. And so that's why we launched products. Like we launched a product last year called the boss burrito, where for $6.
[00:13:54] You can get a very filling made with all white meat, chicken or a hand cut sirloin steak that we cut in restaurant every morning. cilantro, lime
[00:14:04] Jen Kern: [00:14:04] I haven't had my lunch yet.
[00:14:06] BBarry Westrum: [00:14:06] I know you can make a quick flight to that JFK so that you can enjoy your boss burrito today. But we can do that for $6 versus nine or $10 at Chipotle.
[00:14:16] And frankly, a lot of our marketing really called that out. I say, why would you pay more when you can get the same quality through the speed or the cost and pace of a drive-through and our consumers really responded to that, in there. Set of visits. Chipotle will still be there.
[00:14:30] Taco bell will still be there, but if we can squeeze out one more visit a month because of the way we position ourselves against our two primary competitors, that's how we're going to grow frequency. And that's how we're going to grow in the long run. And that's why we're going to grow as we move East because our brand will thrive.
[00:14:44] we believe in any city in America and we can break out of our, what has historically been our solely upper Midwest roots.
[00:14:52] Jen Kern: [00:14:52] So what is your growth strategy for this year? Your expansion strategy. How are you trying to open like X number of locations a month or what's your goal? And when will you be on the East coast?
[00:15:01] BBarry Westrum: [00:15:01] Yeah, we are, multiunit developers and folks who have. looked at the restaurant industry have identified that the drive-through has thrived and, drive-thru Mexican has thrived and we believe, and I think a lot of these developers that we talked to see too, is that some of the things that these habits that have stuck during the pandemic will continue, the notion that the drive-through experience is and can be.
[00:15:24] Safer perceptually because of contactless and it, we provide a great value and great tastes and, it's a fun way for the family to get out for the evening. And mom doesn't have to cook. these things we believe will continue. And I think these multiunit operators are seeing that.
[00:15:38] And so. We are in 22 States today, we have a bigger footprint than, another competitor that we have Del taco on the West coast. And so for multiunit operators who want to capitalize on the growth in drive-through brands for multiunit operators that want to capitalize on the growth of Mexican food in the United States and acknowledge that the footprint that we have in the brand awareness that we have.
[00:16:01] we can grow into Ohio and Indiana. We just opened up a new location in Indiana in the last month. we're talking to developers in as far East, as New Jersey continue to grow in Tennessee and Kentucky and such. And so, we're getting a lot of attraction from folks because they recognize our we're nationally recognized brand with a lot of white space.
[00:16:22] to capitalize on the trends in the industry right now. And we're excited about that.
[00:16:26] Jen Kern: [00:16:26] Yeah, so growth strategy for 2021.
[00:16:28]BBarry Westrum: [00:16:28] we will add anywhere between 10 and 15 units, depending on how, last year, of course you know, the pandemic kind of slowed the pipeline down, but we're seeing that increased significantly now. And now it's about getting buildings and restaurants, and we believe that there is no reason we can't be, 20 units or more a year.
[00:16:45] and really allow us to kind of achieve you know, exponential growth. And so we're really excited about, we have a really aggressive, incentive program for franchisees with royalty rebates in the first few years for those who signed multiunit deals. Now we have a very aggressive remodel program.
[00:17:00] you know, we have a wonderful new. design of restaurants by Adrian Weiss out of Chicago. And it's a very bold contemporary. look on the brand proudly displaying our new brand tagline, bigger, better, bolder that we think visually represents the direction that the brand is headed. And there's no greater billboard in our community than when these new restaurants go up and how the consumers respond to it.
[00:17:23] And it says that, this is not that 50 year old brand that has been here for some time. This is a. Modern contemporary and relevant brand for the way consumers eat today. And we're excited about that.
[00:17:32]Jen Kern: [00:17:32] Yeah. I saw the prototype that you posted on LinkedIn, the image, and I've been seeing a lot of these in the past couple months, and really exciting to see how QSR is like embracing the change and. Thinking through that remodel and ordering process, whether it's, you know, off prem or on prem and how people are going to get their food.
[00:17:52] I think one of the things that's interesting is that there really is an opportunity here on the East coast for the taco brands. Like a lot of the ones I've talked to don't have a presence here because of some of what you're talking about. Like the real estate is more limited, like getting an actual drive through.
[00:18:09] In the DC Metro area it's pretty tough. Like site that's going to have a drive-through capability yet, as you mentioned. And as we all know, the drive-through is going to be vital, not just this year and next year, but probably for sometime to come. So, I mean, you really have to go out a little bit to the excerpts or the suburbs to get like, you know, into the strip malls to get that space.
[00:18:28] And sure it's quite expensive. I'm sure it's quite expensive, but.
[00:18:33]BBarry Westrum: [00:18:33] you know, we believe that traditional freestanding units are the way to go and our highest volume units in the country, we have some malls. we have some travel centers and we've been very successful. partnering with the wonderful at Love's in travel centers. And that actually might be an easier path as we make our way East, that allows us to grow our brand presence.
[00:18:55] But our primary focus is going to be with free-standing development. doing some interesting work with, modular pods, which essentially take. imagine if you will like box car, rail car, framework and you built a restaurant around that and it significantly reduces the capital investment.
[00:19:13] And we think it's an interesting idea for. some of the smaller, more rural locations that we do business in, and we're going to do some testing on that. you know, we can put patio up top, so there's a dine-in option. And it's really exciting. And, again, but it's part of the way that, you know, we believe we need to be innovative as a brand and look at all the different building types that can help us on our expansion plans that are aggressive expansion plans that we've laid out.
[00:19:38]Jen Kern: [00:19:38] That's so cool. love the pod idea. I've seen it around. I don't know too much about it. I know there's a few companies doing that. that's cool. Like I wanna see where that goes and if that takes off, like,
[00:19:49] BBarry Westrum: [00:19:49] Yeah.
[00:19:49] Jen Kern: [00:19:49] makes no sense.
[00:19:51] BBarry Westrum: [00:19:51] Yeah. Design work is really cool because even though you, and I know it's at a lower expense. From a consumer perspective, it looks very modern. It's it looks very hip, especially if it's in surrounding neighborhood that it's in, blends in quite nicely to some of these urban locations that have a lot of, hip things going around, other very modern, retail businesses.
[00:20:11] And so it fits quite nicely. So we're excited to see the results as we get those builds. And as we. You know, it's one of the things we're considering for as we out our Minneapolis office, now that we are based here building out the Minneapolis market with some of our new and inventive prototypes, the flagship store here in Minneapolis, that's going to have the most modern equipment, that we believe will be a real showpiece for potential franchisees is gonna be really exciting.
[00:20:35] And we plan to that'll be one of the other restaurants we open in 2021.
[00:20:39]Jen Kern: [00:20:39] That's so neat. I love it. I was thinking a lot about your role within technology, your role, working with operations teams with technology teams. This theme has come up a lot on the podcast, marketing ops and tech, like we all need to be in lock step. And I think, one of the things for me starting this podcast was me coming from B2B SAS.
[00:20:59] Tech background, always, being involved with the technology as a decision maker and then coming into this industry and realizing that marketing and tech was pretty far apart. so what is your role with technology? And what's your role working with technology in the organization and how are decisions made around that?
[00:21:17] BBarry Westrum: [00:21:17] Yeah. we have, very aggressive digital transformation strategy. it's a very classic framework around consumer acquisition and engagement. And retention, you know, and then of course monetizing we're very much at our, in our infancy on that. and to your point, working very closely with our operations group, our it group to really build the infrastructure.
[00:21:38] give you an example. we have a wonderful app that consumers can access and download deals and such. but not every restaurant in our chain has a barcode scanner that makes that, redemption of that offer smooth in a restaurant. So we've got a clean little things like that and make sure every restaurant can process that transaction really efficiently.
[00:21:58] And then once we do that, we actually made a big investment last year in app download campaign through social media. we were able to add a hundred thousand app users in a little over four months just by targeted spending order to get folks into the app. We know that app users come more frequently and spend more.
[00:22:16] And so a clear opportunity, once we get to critical mass, there we'll move into the, segmentation strategy around, different campaigns that optimize. The visit with the lowest, redemption cost, if you will, for this, the different segments of consumers in our database.
[00:22:33] and then really blowing out our delivery and our online ordering we're making good progress on an online ordering. We had our highest online ordering month ever in January of this year. So. We're making good progress there delivery. we're a little bit behind the times. We are a little bit our brand is very rural.
[00:22:51] I mean we are in like small town, upper Midwest America, and while driver coverage is there for many of our restaurants, in some instances the bigger brands haven't necessarily moved in. And so we've got a long way to go on delivery. but again, we have products that travel really well.
[00:23:05] Again, that six pack and a pound. And whatever comes from that you know, 12 pack and a sack or whatever other ideas that are born from that, travel really well. And no reason we shouldn't do well in delivery. but we're playing a little bit of catch up there, but that's the infrastructure we're building working very closely with ops and it to bring the life and adding staff.
[00:23:25] I added a full-time, digital engagement manager that we were able to. steal from bagel brands in Denver, and she's doing a fabulous job. And now we're just building the team around them to, really take us from infancy to, adolescents here very quickly.
[00:23:39]Jen Kern: [00:23:39] so it sounds like the decisions are made very collaboratively around, not just the app, but technology in general in the organization you're working closely with ops and with your tech team. Yeah.
[00:23:49] BBarry Westrum: [00:23:49] Yeah. Yeah, you have to. I mean just yesterday we had an interesting hiccup where some of our. products were entered in at a zero price. And so, consumers could get free food when we weren't intending for them to get free food. We cleaned it up quickly and got it resolved, but, right hand and left hand has to know what each other's doing.
[00:24:07] We can have the most advanced algorithms on consumer engagement. If we can't execute the restaurant level. So, we have a wonderful tech team who's right there with us in lock step, but we've got to make sure that, you know, marketing can't move faster than it. It can't move faster than marketing if we're not moving at the same pace, the consumer is, you know, going to have a bad experience.
[00:24:26] We can't have that.
[00:24:27] Jen Kern: [00:24:27] Yeah. And then in terms of the app, I mean, apps have been. A big focus. Yeah. Through the pandemic. And while as before the pandemic, a lot of operators were kind of embarrassed on apps, like saying no, like, people don't use apps that much. now everyone's rushing to get an app. Right.
[00:24:43] We've seen in our business while like everyone like, wants to know about the app right away. But long-term, I have to wonder about, every brand having an app and needing an app because there is data out there and I'm actually going to be doing a loyalty. podcasts with someone from punch and Olga consultant.
[00:24:57] Who's an expert in loyalty around that cause some of the data shows that, people only use like their top one to three apps. So how do you see the app performing for you? is it driving a ton of your orders right now?
[00:25:10]BBarry Westrum: [00:25:10] Yeah. you know, I think we have a unique place in our consumer's heart being in many instances, again, these smaller upper Midwest towns. There may or may not be a taco bell in that town. There may or may not be a McDonald's in that town. And so we have this wonderful cult following and so we are lucky.
[00:25:26] Cause you're absolutely right. consumers only have so many apps on their phone, but they are willing and able and love having our app on their phone because we are have such a passionate cold following. And so we have not seen that as a barrier just yet. And frankly through all of our efforts on, acquisition and engagement and retention, we've seen nothing but positive response from the consumer.
[00:25:48] And I will say one of the challenges we have is a bit of a frequency problem. our average user. visits us, once every 77 days. And we need to cut that in half. And part of that is the value equation, making sure our price is right for that everyday occasion. But the app is a wonderful way to close the gap on the number of occasions.
[00:26:07] And so. have not hit any barriers just yet. We are full speed ahead. And we believe that, the app is the great equalizer for us. There is no question that you know, we're competing against behemoths that have much larger advertising budgets. But the wonderful thing about the app is that once we have that, you know, in our cost model, Using it is relatively low expense.
[00:26:26] And so building that one-on-one engagement, making sure that our communications, capitalize on that cult, like following in those one-on-one engagements, so that if I'm a consumer in Cheyenne, Wyoming, And I feel like taco John's knows me because they know just when to tell me, George remind me that tomorrow is taco Tuesday, or just when to remind me that I haven't been back for breakfast in a week or that maybe tonight's the right night for a six pack and a pound.
[00:26:51] If we hit them with the right message at the right time. We think this can really level the playing field for us relative to our competitors, if we do it better than them. And that's, the thing I tell my guys all the time is we're not gonna outspend anyone, but we can certainly out-think everyone and that's what we aim to do.
[00:27:07] Jen Kern: [00:27:07] love that. So do you know what percentage of your loyal customers are using the app?
[00:27:13]BBarry Westrum: [00:27:13] we have about 600,000 followers. You know what? I don't have the answer to that one. My apologies. I'll let you, yeah. Yeah.
[00:27:20] Jen Kern: [00:27:20] That's okay.
[00:27:21] BBarry Westrum: [00:27:21] I can answer it this way. like we have about 3% of our transactions right now that are digitally enabled and we want to double that in 2021. And as we look at some of our competitors that have. like the public company competitors that have quoted those numbers, we feel like we're in the ballpark, but we have a long way to go.
[00:27:38] we know that Chipola is by far, leading in that regard and they might be close to 50%, but other drive through competitors are in those low single digits. And so, and again, we did a lot of work with the consumer and while the app is a huge opportunity for us.
[00:27:53] For some consumers who say, you know what, I love your app and everything. I like the idea of online ordering, in some of our better locations, our speed of service is, three minutes and 30 seconds, four minutes. And that's actually fairly, quick. And I may not need the convenience of ordering through the app if I can get through your drive-through in four minutes.
[00:28:10] And so while the app is. A great way to try frequency. It may not necessarily be through ordering. It may just be getting them to the restaurant and accessing a deal, but they may order that conventional way. And if we're on our game from a drive-through perspective, that's perfectly fine with us,
[00:28:25] Jen Kern: [00:28:25] Yeah. So you have that integrated with your loyalty
[00:28:28] BBarry Westrum: [00:28:28] correct? Yep.
[00:28:30] Jen Kern: [00:28:30] do you use for that?
[00:28:31] BBarry Westrum: [00:28:31] We use punch.
[00:28:32] Jen Kern: [00:28:32] Okay,
[00:28:32] BBarry Westrum: [00:28:32] you know, they're a good partner. we're using a visit based program today. we know we need to move to a point space program and we will be considering that in 20, 21 or early 20, 22. So again, crawl, walk, run. We want to make sure our infrastructure is there first.
[00:28:48] and then we can look to evolve to a points-based system, but we want to move quickly, but we want to move smart at the same time.
[00:28:56] Jen Kern: [00:28:56] Right, right. It makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense. So I'd like to shift gears a little bit and talk to you about leadership. you've been at some really well known brands. You've been a COO, you know, I think three, four or five times. what is your leadership philosophy and style?
[00:29:11] BBarry Westrum: [00:29:11] there's a great quote from an old boss of mine that I think about lot, which is the leader doesn't have to be. Right, but the leader does need to be understood. And I just felt like that's just one of those messages that's really stuck with me. And you know, as I think about how I lead my team as I lead, our franchisees and as I lead our executive team, Making sure we have real clarity around the priorities of the business.
[00:29:37] we have a five-point brand strategy that I open every meeting with franchisees reiterating the key points and every agenda item clearly ties back to those five strategic tenants of the brand. And our executive team meetings are structured around the tying back to those five tenants.
[00:29:55] So. We have real clarity and real focus as a brand and what we need to do. And we also, I think. Do a really good job about saying no to projects and saying no to initiatives that don't tie back to those five key strategies. we're a smaller brand limited resources.
[00:30:10] We do not have the people or dollars to waste time or money. And so we're incredibly focused and again, liken back to. it was Greg creed at a yum, who was my COO at taco bell. you know, it's not about being right. It's about being understood. And I think we're very understood as a leadership team about what we're focusing on.
[00:30:27] And I think that helps us as a brand.
[00:30:30] Jen Kern: [00:30:30] Yeah. that's fantastic. And so what are your five points? Would you mind sharing them?
[00:30:34]BBarry Westrum: [00:30:34] Well, some of them I've shared here today. One is our digital transformation strategy. So that's great. The the value, you know, we've talked about how. we have to be seen as a brand with a strong value options for our consumers. So that's been two three is our focus on the menu.
[00:30:52] we've got a very definitive feedback from the consumer that. Our menu is a little outdated and bland, and we want to, be more bold and adventurous and you're going to see bigger ideas coming from us. We have a wonderful product that we just put in the test market yesterday. don't tell anybody, but it's called the fried chicken taco and we boldly state.
[00:31:13] in the advertising for that, , taco John's has won the chicken sandwich Wars with a taco. And we've already gotten some really great response for our franchisees and our consumers on that point of communication.
[00:31:25] And so, but really. Transforming our menu such that we can be seen as having a bold and adventurous, modern and contemporary menu is a critical point. breakfast. we have been in the breakfast business. For quite some time, actually more so than taco bell. we have a great tool hole there with wonderful.
[00:31:42] we have a meat and potato breakfast burrito that is just a terrific product. We have a host of new items coming and we believe that we can, you know, breakfast is experiencing a Renaissance right now. In our small towns, there needs to be an alternative to the McDonald's egg McMuffin. And so we have some products in development.
[00:31:59] We call them egg McMuffin, busters that are better value, more flavor, more portable than an egg McMuffin. And tough task, but being focused on that breakfast opportunity is a critical component. And so those are the four key components. And then of course, From an operational perspective.
[00:32:17] speed, we are unfortunately seen as a whole, as one of the slower brands in our category and we have to make some significant ground. And so operations, marketing, working together to significantly improve that speed of service. Is going to unlock a lot of volume for the brand.
[00:32:33] So those are the five things that we're focused on. And, we believe if we make significant effort in those five areas, the growth will come and continue for the brand.
[00:32:42] Jen Kern: [00:32:42] Fantastic. Thank you for sharing that, because I think, you know, I've said this often, but as marketers, we can get so easily distracted and boil the ocean. I mean, we get pulled into everything. Like of my guests said, well, you know what, so what does it marketing get involved in? Like everyone thinks of marketing for this, that, and the other thing.
[00:32:58] And it's so easy for us to become tacticians. And I love how you're laying this out at a very. Strategic level in terms of what's best for the business and then how you're keeping that focus and that clarity don't boil the ocean, like stay simple, stay true to your roots. those five things are golden.
[00:33:14] I mean, they really are. it's so paramount, like you said to, for success to stay in your lane, you know, stay focused, have some really strong focus.
[00:33:22] BBarry Westrum: [00:33:22] one of the things we do, I call them big public kills, you know, every now and again, we embark on a project that makes sense at the time. And, you know, you might beat your head against a wall a couple of times, and at some point you just need to kill it.
[00:33:33] You just need to say you need to say to the organization, we are stopping work on this project because it is not yielding the results that we want and the time that we want. And if you are working on this in any way, shape or form stop. And that is just so critical because I'm sure all of us, at some point in our career, You know, we'll come across somebody that, you need them to be working on something for you.
[00:33:51] And they'll say, well, God, I'm kind of tied up in this thing right now. And you're like, Oh my God, we're still working on that. And like, frankly, as a leader, I think that's criminal. that we don't know That, each one of the folks on our team we aren't sure that they are working on those five things that I alluded to earlier, those, you know, if they're not what they're working on, doesn't tie back to that.
[00:34:08] Then we have failed them as a leader by not making sure our organization is focused. So I love the notion of the big public Hills. We do it all the time when we have a lot of fun with it.
[00:34:16] Jen Kern: [00:34:16] That's awesome. That's great. Wow. Love it. so back to this, topic of leadership and You've been, you know, at these brands. and I'm curious if you've seen a change, particularly in the last year of how marketing is viewed within the organization and even across your career. how has that changed?
[00:34:34] I mean, been a CMO for quite a long time has there changes that you've seen in the industry and yourself as a contributor of value within the organization?
[00:34:42] BBarry Westrum: [00:34:42] Yeah, I definitely have. and I've heard folks on your podcast talk about this as well. I think there was a time where the marketing departments were seen as ad creators and nothing more. And now think in the last decade leading brands have realized that marketing has to be at the center of discussion in many instances, leading it in terms of owning everything about the customer experience and the consumer insights function having a seat at the table so that every.
[00:35:08] Decision the executive team and franchisees make is grounded in consumer insight. the digital transformation specialist has a seat at the table because more and more consumers are going to access us via digital channels. And all of that is, emanates from the marketing and the marketing leader.
[00:35:24] So I think that trend is very much in place. And I think it's helping marketing centric organizations are the ones that are, we see leading the industry in terms of performance and in terms of return on shareholder value. I think the big opportunity now is for that same thing to be seen at the board of directors level board of directors have a tendency to, gravitate toward.
[00:35:43] Financial and operational leaders and more and more, we're starting to see marketing leaders. have a role at the board level and at the chairman level. And I think that's the next frontier for marketers is to be able to consistently beyond that board of directors level to have real meaningful impact around how organizations are led.
[00:36:01] And if are they being led truly, by the consumer, because that's what the marketer brings to the table.
[00:36:05]Jen Kern: [00:36:05] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. To all of that. and yes, a hundred percent. Are you on any boards?
[00:36:12] BBarry Westrum: [00:36:12] I'm on some nonprofit boards here in the twin cities. there's a great group here called the brand lab, which is all about exposing careers in advertising and marketing to underserved communities within the twin cities. and for a lot of folks, you may not realize as you're growing up through high school, if you had, especially if you have creative tendencies that you know, there are jobs for you as copywriters, there are jobs for you as graphic designers.
[00:36:37] There are jobs for you as marketing leaders. but you may not be aware of those you may not be aware of the classes you can take in high school that might get you there. how how a college path can get you there. And, it's really a wonderful organization that I'm happy to, support here.
[00:36:51] and I've been approached on some board work from a corporate perspective and just looking for that right match. But, these are the, getting involved in helping individuals and companies achieve their greatest potential is a passion of mine. And I'm excited about these opportunities.
[00:37:05] Jen Kern: [00:37:05] That's great. that's so great. And I wish you all the best with that. I really agree. I think a to see more, not just more women on boards, cause that's one of the things too, but also more marketers, like you said, all the boards that I participated in have been very financially driven and I think starting to see more.
[00:37:22] Marketing representation. There would be such a positive thing. And it's really exciting times for our industry right now. So lots of fun and as we wrap here, love to ask my guests, what advice do you have for those up and marketers? what's the best advice you were ever given.
[00:37:37] And what advice do you have to, to marketers today? Rising up in the profession?
[00:37:41]BBarry Westrum: [00:37:41] Great. Yeah, thank you. And I, love this question and thank you for asking it. probably the best advice I ever got was I think as you. Grow up in marketing organizations, you have a tendency to want to become what I call a five tool player. it's a baseball term for somebody who can hit run with speed, play defense, all of that.
[00:37:56] Like you can do everything. And a great piece of advice I got was, yeah, that's nice. But really the way leaders achieve their full potential is by leveraging your towering strength. And making sure that your Achilles heel is not fatal. And so you know, for me I have a tendency to be a pretty energetic, positive, big personality kind of leader.
[00:38:18] And so I try to leverage that every day, and for me, I grew up on the advertising side of the business. I wasn't necessarily very. quantified in terms of my background in such. And so when I came from the client side to the, person from the agency side of the client side, I had to really dig into the numbers in terms of research methodologies, and make sure that I understood the analytics there and financially as well.
[00:38:41] And so. I've just found that, that kind of guidance, leverage those towering strengths, the things that make you great. What is your super power and leverage it. again, they're going to be some things that you're not going to be good at. Just make sure they're not Achilles heel.
[00:38:52] I'm I'm never going to be able to out analyze anyone from a quantifiable perspective, but I can hang in there. and that, I think. Just the acknowledgement of that has allowed me to recognize my weaknesses, leverage my strengths. And that's what I try to tell my folks as they come up through our organizations.
[00:39:09] Jen Kern: [00:39:09] awesome. That's such a beautiful way to end. And I just wanna thank you so much, Barry, for joining us on restaurant reinvented. I know that you have another meeting, so I don't want to make you late, but I do want to say to our listeners, shout out to taco. John's go try that six pack and a pound. The potato lays look amazing, like some sort of crunchy tater tidy thing.
[00:39:28] I don't know what it looks amazing.
[00:39:30] BBarry Westrum: [00:39:30] Absolutely.
[00:39:31] Jen Kern: [00:39:31] Yeah. And the new white CAISO. so if you have a taco John's near you go give it a visit. And for our listeners, they can reach you. I know you're on LinkedIn and other ways. but many thanks for joining us. I wish you a wonderful, blessed day and all the best of luck continue with your fantastic growth and leadership style.
[00:39:47] So thank you, Barry.
[00:39:48] BBarry Westrum: [00:39:48] Thank you so much. Jan has been a lot of fun. I appreciate it.