Welcome And Sponsor Message

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to another edition of Give and Ovation, the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast. I'm your host, Zach Ghost, and each week I get to chat with an industry expert to uncover their strategies and tactics to help you create a five-star guest experience. This podcast is powered by ovation, the feedback and operations platform built for multi-unit restaurants. Learn what's actually happening in your restaurants and exactly how to improve while driving revenue. Learn more at ovationup.com. And today we have Jessica Serrano on, and I am really excited to have Jessica on because I've seen her from afar. I've followed her on LinkedIn. She has great content. She's had such an interesting career. I actually had her on another podcast that I do and was so impressed. I was like, we got to have a one-on-one, Jessica. And so she was kind enough to oblige. And so she is the CMO of Bagel Brands, which, if you're unfamiliar, that's Brugger's Bagels, Einstein, Manhattan, Noah's. And not only that, but she was the former CMO of Dig In. She was also the senior director of marketing strategy at Burger King and the director of brand marketing at Taco Bell. So she has had the experience of being at just the massive brands, a growing brand, and now kind of in that middle of the road. And so I'm just really excited, Jessica, to have you on and really dig in. I mean, pun intended, but to the guest experience. So welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Thanks for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. I'm impressed that you got all the bagel brands right. That was great.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Yeah. I grew up in Jersey, which is, you know, where bagels were invented. I'm a big bagel guy. And that is the thing. Like every time I go home to Jersey, I'm like, number one, I want to see my family. Number two, I want some bagels and pizza, right? Those are like my things. So moving from Florida, which is pretty much South Jersey, to Colorado, how has the food scene been in Colorado for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Actually, the food scene is great in Denver. So we've been having a blast between getting out, trying new restaurants, skiing on the weekends. It's been a fantastic. And the weather has been really mild. So everybody's telling me not to get used to it. But so far, so good.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yeah. Well, from a fellow Rocky Mountainer, welcome to the Rockies. It's a wonderful place to be. And it's especially coming from Florida, it's like you're still, you're like what less than a year in Denver, right? Mm-hmm. So every day at this point, because when I moved out here, it was like for the first few years, I would wake up and I'd be like, are those mountains real? Like I didn't exactly know where you're at. Do you have like good views of the mountains?

Jessica’s Career Across Major Brands

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Yeah, our office has a beautiful view of the mountains, and it's just fantastic. You know, isn't that wild? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

So we could talk mountains all day, but I want to talk bagels and guests. And so let's talk a little bit about bagels of because what I would love to hear is your experience at working with these giant brands. And then again, like a growing brand, like very, very strong brand of dig in. And now uh the bagel brands, what has been some common threads that you have found from a marketing and branding lens across all those different sizes of brands?

Finding What Makes A Brand Unique

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Oh, that's an interesting question. Well, as a marketer, you're always looking for what is the thing that makes this brand distinctly unique? And when you find that and really leverage it, that's when a brand really sings. And so I'm very I'm about eight months into this role. So I'm very much still in the discovery phase. But what I love about this, which is different from my other experiences, which have been more kind of balance of day occasions, is we get to start your morning with you. And that's such a fun energy to bring from a marketing perspective. So yeah, it's been fun getting to know the bagel business, the breakfast occasion, and thinking about how to get people to wake up and make that stop and choose us.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

And as you're looking at your formula for kind of understanding what makes brands unique, how would you go about what advice would you give to someone who's like, hey, I'm not quite sure what makes my brand unique? What advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

I often feel that people think that you need all these robust and uh crazy bells and whistles and focus groups and all of that. And and all of that is great. You know, I've worked at the billion dollar brands that have ridiculous resources. But even when you're working on a 10, 20, 30 units, you have more data than you realize. And sometimes it's as simple as sitting in your restaurant and observing and chatting with the guests at the table next to you, or it is tapping into your listening tools to really get a sense for what is working and what is not from your get all of your guest experience research and insight. So I encourage people all the time like you can get really scrappy with just spending time with your customers both in real life and in the data that you have at your fingertips.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

How do you schedule that? Because obviously, especially when you've got four brands under your portfolio, like you've got so much on your plate. How does the marketer go about scheduling time to connect with the guests? Like, do you have to be more deliberate, or is that just part of like your, hey, I'm gonna go to the bagel shop and actually like have lunch here? Like, what do you do?

SPEAKER_01 5:07

It's a combination of both. I mean, for busy folks, you know, if you don't make time for it, you'll look up and you'll have missed the moment. And so sometimes it is really about scheduling and saying, okay, I'm gonna dedicate this hour to social listening. You know, that's another one that I didn't mention, just reading through comments and seeing what are the themes, what are the observations, looking at hashtag the bagel hashtag across social and listening. What are people saying about other brands? What are they saying about those brands that they're not about mine and vice versa?

SPEAKER_00 5:35

They're barving out that time.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

But then, yeah, just spending time enjoying and eating the brands that you represent. So we had grand opening on Saturday. I brought my kids and we sat in the bakery for a couple of hours and I was observing what is the guest flow? It was in a university area, noticed that the flow was kind of later in the day. And that's the kind of stuff that you don't get from sitting behind a desk. You do just have to spend time out where people are actually experiencing your brand and yeah, schedule time for it.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

And you've got twins, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

I do, yeah. They just turned six.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

I am impressed that you made any observations with uh twin six-year-olds because when I go to a restaurant with my family, I'm like just trying to get them just trying to like survive less uh not so much observing the traffic flow of guests. So maybe that's like mom power there that you could do both, because I am I cannot.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

I definitely recommend doing it solo from time to time. But yeah, I can do gum, walk. I've learned how to multitask and juggle it all somehow.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Yeah, well, good for you. And could use some tips about that after this, because I think that's a challenge. But as you look at the guest experience, what do you think are some of the most important aspects of guest experience nowadays?

Get Scrappy With Guest Insight

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Well, Zach, I'm sure you know, like the table stakes, right? We all know there's the things about speed and consistency. There are absolutely things that you must get right. What I think is interesting as I observe brands that are really taking it to the next level, is the evolution getting to a place where you've got this golden record of your guests so that they are only hearing from you in a very consistent experience, such that you're not. If I email you and complain about a rude experience in one of your restaurants, and then the next thing I get back from you is an email about how I should try your chicken sandwich, but you haven't already recovered me from that first interaction, that's amiss. And so tone deaf, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

I love that. And that's honestly one of the reasons why I just shout out to Bicki and Abhinov over there because I love that a guest can take a survey and then what Bicki does with that data, we have a great integration, they pull that data in, and then they're able to tailor communications based on the most recent guest experience because you're totally right. I could have 11 great experiences, and my 12th is terrible. And you better have my marketing message be different after that 12th than before that 12th, because I'm a different guest at that point. I've entered a different demographic, and I need to be recovered and be treated with that like, hey, I know you, I see you, right? Totally. Because you know, one of the things we always talk about is that restaurants are this is hand-to-hand combat, right? This is one-to-one. You gotta get the one back in. And if you just send out these mass blasts, it doesn't land in today's consumer. They want that authenticity. So when you when you're looking at that authenticity, I think so much of it is about scaling that authenticity, right? Because I'm assuming that you don't approve every single social post across the brands, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:47

I like not to, no. I and I think the key to that is making sure that you have an aligning strategy so that your team knows that the work that they're doing would be approved. And also, I believe in creating a culture that is like we feel fast. I mean, we're selling bagels and and in your audience, you're selling pizza, right? Like we're not sending anybody to the moon. So with social move so quickly that you gotta take some risks, beyond follow the trend. So, yes, so last thing I want to do is review every piece of social content going out the door. Cause also, like, that's just my taste, right? Like, I'm I may not be the customer. So yeah, not my jam.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

How thick of a brand guideline do you need? What would you recommend for marketers?

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, again, it doesn't need to be overcomplicated. I mean, for us, what we from as we think about our brand tone, we've kind of just created a few different pillars. And that helps the team to think through the lens of does this touch on one of our pillars, right? So one of our values is that we help others own the morning. So is everything that we're doing through from a social lens really ladder up to that? And if it doesn't, then like it hits the cutting room floor. So it should fit on a page, really. You know, it shouldn't be more complicated than that. If you canceled it to your grandma or to your dad, then it's probably overly complicated.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

I love that. By the way, own the morning, how did that come about? Like that's such a great, just rallying cry there. What's the process of coming up with something like own the morning?

SPEAKER_01 10:15

I can't take credit for it. It predated me, but what I will tell you is that we have, as a leadership team, gone through a journey to really articulate what our mission, vision, and values are. And so it really was a leadership team kind of coming together. And they did a bunch of table stakes interviews with different stakeholders, so field members, the support team, to really understand what people believe makes the culture special about bagel brands as a corporation, but also each of our distinct brands. And through all of that discovery work, they came to that very simple conclusion, which is we have others on the morning. And I was grateful enough to inherit that. And it was very strong nod for me as I was evaluating this opportunity. And so as a marketer, I think there's a there's this great articulation that helps us to then think about not only should that be how our team members are experiencing our guests every single day, but how do we bring that story to life through email, paid, social, et cetera?

SPEAKER_00 11:14

I love that. And it's something that I think leading a company and leading the messaging and the brandage of a company, I think it one thing that's critical to remember is that we think about our company and our brand a lot more than anyone else does. And so it may be for a lot of the people out there, it's like, hey, this is just like a tool that our restaurant company uses, or this is just a, I just need a bagel and coffee. I'm not like in it for the brand. But the fact is that when you have that consistency that allows everything to just be really positioned of you to harp in on the exact demographic that you have. But I don't know if you've read this book.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Yeah, that one's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

And also this one right behind my head called The Bottomless Cup.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

No, I haven't read that one. I gotta write that down.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Yeah, Kevin Bainey, he's the uh Boca restaurant group. One of the things that he says is just like coming to terms with the fact, like you said, and I know Kelly McPherson has talked about it, is that the restaurant industry, like we're not sending people to the moon. Kelly McPherson, she says, it's not rocket surgery what we're doing. Yeah, but what it is, is like we still have those moments, and maybe for 95% of people, we're just a check the box. But there's certain people that when we connect with them, it literally can change their entire day, their entire week. It helps them feel something, and that's what we do it for. The other 95% fuel that opportunity that we get to like be a life changer for the 5%.

Personalization And The Golden Record

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Again, bringing it back to this balance of data versus experience of being where the guest is, you know, I was doing this whole deep dive on our coffee performance, what percentage of sales and blah blah blah, right? Spreadsheets, et cetera. And then I went out to Phoenix with my ops partners and I met a couple of guys that were like drinking coffee and just like have a conversation with them. And they had this mug, an Einstein Brothers mug that you could tell it's been through the dishwasher dozens and dozens of times. And he's like, I've been coming to this bakery for the last 10 years and just understanding his relationship with the brand in terms of the role that coffee plays is something that you don't get from an Excel spreadsheet. And the other thing on the note about the, you know, capturing a vision statement or values mantra for your organization, if my ops partner were here, he would tell you, we actually did a rollout where every single team, so the marketing team, but also every single bakery, had a mission, vision, and value session where we said, okay, we've told you top down what we think it is, but now we want you to make it your own bottom up. Like, what does this mean to you? How are each of you going to show up in your bakery or marketing team and really live these values? And we saw a correlation after that in terms of our OSAT ratings as a result of teens going through that exercise. So I absolutely believe that there is value in helping people to see how I mean, these are hard jobs. We're talking in our business, it's a single shift, but these are our bakers are in there three, four in the morning. So it's really important that they feel like they're tied to something bigger than getting up before the roosters do.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

I love that. And when we think about the importance of that, it's like the making it their own, I think is so key because it's easy just to like kind of drop something down on them. And I think it's powerful to be like, what does that mean for you? I love that idea. What a great tactic. Any other tactics you'd recommend to improve the guest experience? I think I mean you've been sharing a whole bunch of them, but I love that one.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

I would encourage people to not get overwhelmed by, oh my gosh, we have to like do all the things and make all the changes. My one of my big mantras is like, just do the next thing. And so if you see a nugget in some guest feedback, you don't have to overhaul your entire program. Find a GM that is comfortable with change and like have them try it for a couple of days and then use that as a case study to build it out. So I always encourage people to just start somewhere. Don't get overwhelmed by like, we've got to overhaul everything. Sometimes if you are looking too far out, you don't know where to start. It's like just pick one thing, one restaurant, and see where it goes from there.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

I love that. Jessica, so powerful. Who is someone that deserves an ovation in the restaurant industry? Who's someone that we should be following?

SPEAKER_01 15:38

What about Otto Offman? The co-founder founder of PJ down in uh Florida.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Love, love, love Otto.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah, you know Otto. Otto's great. And why I love him and think he deserves his flowers is because he's not a gatekeeper. I mean, there's just like so much business to go around in this industry. And I'm love and I'm drawn to other leaders who are down to get on a congo like, what's going on in your world? And how can we compare notes? And what are you trying? What are you stuck on? What are you frustrated by? And I love that he shares a lot on LinkedIn. He's a build in public kind of guy. And one of the things that I've been keeping my eye on is doing a lot with the eye. And so I love people that are sharing in public because there's a lot we can learn from each other.

unknown 16:24

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Otto is such a cool guy. Love him, love his brand and what he's built and who he is. So yeah, love that. And then Jessica, how do people find and follow you and bagel brands?

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Well, depending on which of our bagel brands is in your backyard, you can follow us on any of the socials. Einstein Brothers Bagels is national, but we've also got Manhattan in the Northeast, Noah's in the West, and Brugger's um throughout the Midwest as well. If you want to connect with me personally on LinkedIn, Jessica Serrano, you can buy my profile to drop me a line. Always happy to connect with other restaurant marketers.

Brand Tone That Fits On One Page

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Love that. Well, Jessica, for helping us remember that we don't need to do everything tomorrow, just the next thing today. Today's ovation goes to you. Thank you for joining us in Givingovation.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Thank you, Got.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Thanks for joining us today. If you like this episode, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen. We're all about feedback here. Again, this episode was sponsored by Ovation, a two-question estimate-based, actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants. If you'd like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience, visit us at ovationup.com.