Your Pie Franchising LLC

Leah DiStefano

Brand Experience Strategist

Innovation that Feels True to the Brand

I think you have to start with something your brand already does well and connect it with what guests are curious about. Sometimes that inspiration comes from a food trend, but it can also come from other categories. From our teams in the field or just how people’s routines are changing. The judgment is in knowing which ideas fit your brand and which ones to let pass because guests and teams will immediately register when it’s not a right fit. For me, the strongest innovation feels like a natural extension of the brand while giving guests something they may not have expected from us. You want to give people a new reason to choose you while reinforcing what makes your brand worth choosing in the first place.

Every Order is a Marketing Promise

You have to meet guests where they are, which starts with understanding what they need in that moment and making Your Pie an obvious answer. To me, off premise has really expanded the reach we have and gives restaurants the opportunity to fit into so many more scenarios that may have been previously closed to them without off premise. But the experience has to deliver on whatever we’re promising. I believe the experience a restaurant provides is the strongest local marketing it has, and that extends to every order leaving the building. The hard part is delivering that consistently: getting orders right every time and paying attention to the details that make someone willing to trust us again with their time and their money. Exposure and convenience through off premise channels get us considered; following through helps us earn the next order.

“You want to give people a new reason to choose you while reinforcing what makes your brand worth choosing in the first place.”

Let Data Challenge the Gut Feeling

I want data to help us ask better questions and leave us with a clear next step. If sales are growing, is that because more people are visiting or because the average check is higher? If a promotion performs well in one restaurant, what can we learn before assuming it will work everywhere? Why does this restaurant do well at dinner vs this restaurant in a similar market? It’s so easy to have a gut feeling and want to go with that but being able to validate that gut feeling against true data is incredibly valuable. Guest feedback also adds another layer. We should be looking at recurring complaints and working to address them, but also paying attention to what people praise. That helps us understand both what needs to improve from an operations standpoint and what deserves to be talked about more from a marketing standpoint.

One Brand Direction, Many Local Expressions

We talked about this recently at our annual franchise conference: we should all be working toward a common goal, with shared priorities that reflect the season our guests are in. The tactics may change, but the overarching priority doesn't. Take the holiday season: we at the brand level can agree that feeding groups and promoting gathering is going to be the overarching priority, but how that comes to life in each market can look different. Some may use this priority as a chance to focus on catering to retail spaces or office parties nearby; some may take it as a chance to rent out their restaurant or host a meal for the community. The brand’s role is to establish the direction and provide useful tools, then help owners apply them in ways that make sense locally. That gives us a consistent purpose across the system while making room for the local knowledge and relationships that help a restaurant become part of its community, which is ultimately our goal.

Great Ideas Must Work on the Restaurant Floor

Cutting my teeth in the restaurant industry through operations and training shaped how I evaluate a marketing campaign right out of the gate. I naturally think like “okay, how is this idea going to look on a busy shift when you're short-staffed or training new team members? How can a manager teach it effectively and how can I make sure the team is going to be able to delivery it confidently?” You can have the most elaborate or coolest campaign idea out there, but if it adds so much complexity that the team can’t continue to do other little things right, it needs more work.

Honestly, now I see it as a part of the creative challenge: how can we develop something that guests are excited about, but that also works for the teams actually bringing it to life? My experience has taught me that the ease of execution needs to be built into the idea from the beginning. That’s what gives a program staying power and a chance to succeed in the long term.