If there's one theme that emerges from this year's Food on Demand Conference's “Get the Most Out of Multichannel Marketing” panel, it's to listen to your customers thoroughly. And be willing to kill your beloved. Including Becky.
Becky was a phone answering bot introduced by Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza, a brand part of BurgerFi International, which acquired the company in November 2021. Cindy Syracuse, the brand's chief marketing officer, said Becky was used in 60 locations to answer the 500,000 phone orders received each year. The rationale was to save labor and achieve a more stable process. One thing: customers hated Becky.
“We've actually heard customers say, 'Kill Becky,'” Syracuse said during the panel discussion. “That's why we kicked Becky out. It was a simple phone call. Our customers missed talking to a human being.”
Molly Catalano of Five Guys also believes in the value of human interaction. For a long time, she resisted using marketing strategies that relied on her word of mouth. During her time at Five Guys, she helped grow the company from her 30 restaurants on the East Coast to her 1,800 stores in 24 countries. Only recently has she started experimenting with strategies such as email marketing and loyalty programs. Her philosophy is to keep things simple. We make ordering on our platform as easy as ordering in-store. And we must not overlook the power of basic human civility. “We value listening to our customers,” she said. “They'll tell you what they want.”
Personalization is important to Daniel Porto Parra, senior vice president of marketing at GoTo Foods, which owns concepts like Moe's Southwest Grill and Jamba. Jamba uses its technology to attract and reward repeat customers. “10% of our loyal customer base visits more than 11 times a year. So what do we do for them? We created a gold tier: Jam Fam. They get extra perks, special offers and points. We want them to feel like they're part of the club.”
Syracuse wants the same thing, but doesn't want to be overbearing. “We never offer discounts contingent on app downloads,” she said. “We never ask questions like that. But here's the thing: Just because we don't do it, they often do. We need to use a little reverse psychology. there is.”
One thing all three panelists agreed on was the power of real content marketing. A brand's voice on the platform is critical to driving volume.
“Content is king,” Syracuse said. “And I'm the queen of organic media. It only takes one post going viral to really build a brand. But you also have to keep hitting singles. Your number one channel is your own. It's your website's channel. Try blogging and podcasts as well. All of this helps with SEO and optimization on the backend.”
Porto Para is going one step further. She was so taken with the value of original content and messaging that she created her own in-house creative agency for GoTo Foods. “It's called Devar. Its slogan is World Class Creative for Insatiable Brands. We found the economy and quality to be much better.”
