Speaker 1: Welcome to Chopping It Up. I'm your host, Mike Hanlon,
Speaker 1: the senior Restaurant and Food Service Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Speaker 1: Our research and that a bi's five hundred analysts around
Speaker 1: the globe can be found exclusively on the Bloomberg terminal. Today,
Speaker 1: we're joined by George Felix, chief marketing officer of Chili's
Speaker 1: Grill and Bar. So in my research, I noticed you're
Speaker 1: a Notre Dame guy. That was a tough loss last week, George.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Mike, I wish we would have talked maybe a
Speaker 2: week before. That was a far far better time for
Speaker 2: the fighting Irish.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. It was pretty rough.
Speaker 2: My family and I went to the text A and
Speaker 2: M game. We were riding high and then obviously major
Speaker 2: letdown last week. So we'll see if they can they
Speaker 2: can rally the troops and uh and recover. But still
Speaker 2: still can't believe it.
Speaker 1: Well, the good thing about the extended playoff scenario is
Speaker 1: that you know you're not finished after one loss, so
Speaker 1: so they're still in it.
Speaker 3: That's right, Still still still some hope.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I'll be in South Bend next week for the
Speaker 1: game against Miami of Ohio. It's going to be my
Speaker 1: first time over there.
Speaker 2: Oh nice, we'll have to we'll catch up offline on
Speaker 2: on on all the spots you got to hit.
Speaker 3: I'm going to be there the week after for the
Speaker 3: Louisville game.
Speaker 1: Okay, awesome. Yeah, you read my mind about the spots,
Speaker 1: all right, good stuff, So I'll definitely pick your brain.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: So for those of you that aren't familiar with George,
Speaker 1: he's worked on some of the most iconic campaigns I
Speaker 1: can remember Old Spices, Smell like a Man Man KFC's
Speaker 1: Colonel campaign, you know. Jim Gaffikin was was phenomenal. He
Speaker 1: was so funny. But the extra crispy Colonel I think
Speaker 1: was my favorite. Oh yeah, so good at George Hamilton.
Speaker 1: But do you do any of those hold a soft
Speaker 1: spot in your heart?
Speaker 2: They all do, to be honest with you, like, I
Speaker 2: learned a ton from from getting to be a part
Speaker 2: of great brands. Uh, you know, the Old Spice work,
Speaker 2: you know, definitely holds a special spot in my heart,
Speaker 2: just because it's the It's literally the first thing I
Speaker 2: worked on, you know, when I when I got into
Speaker 2: marketing and at a business school and and so getting
Speaker 2: to work with the people I did. We had a
Speaker 2: great team at Old Spice, an amazing agency, Widen and Kennedy.
Speaker 2: It was it was probably the best, the best way
Speaker 2: to start a career. I was worried that like that
Speaker 2: was going to be the only thing I ever I
Speaker 2: ever did, But thankfully I've been able to work with
Speaker 2: some great brands and some great people along the way.
Speaker 2: But that thing happened. It was wild because like it
Speaker 2: was not planned. It was all kind of in response
Speaker 2: to a competitive launch in market, and it happened in
Speaker 2: the matter of months. And so it taught me a
Speaker 2: few things. One like, sometimes when you don't have as
Speaker 2: much time you make, you can make better decisions because
Speaker 2: you don't overthink things and you kind of go, you
Speaker 2: go with your gut and uh, and we did that
Speaker 2: a lot on that. And then the second part was, Uh,
Speaker 2: creativity can really be a way to solve business problems.
Speaker 2: And I think that's something that I've tried to carry
Speaker 2: through through my career since then. So certainly that one
Speaker 2: has a has a special place for me, just because
Speaker 2: it was it was the first one and really kind
Speaker 2: of got me hooked on on on brand, brand building
Speaker 2: and and and trying to make breakthrough creative.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was phenomenal. And Andre, are are you like
Speaker 1: a parent and you're not allowed to admit it? Or
Speaker 1: do you have a favorite kernel.
Speaker 2: Let's see now that i'm you know, now that I'm
Speaker 2: off KFC, I guess I could probably answer that. I mean,
Speaker 2: they were there were so many great ones, so uh,
Speaker 2: you know, there's there's something fun on each one, but
Speaker 2: probably Norm MacDonald, I would say, And you know, rest
Speaker 2: in peace, Norm, But he really kind of got that
Speaker 2: thing moving for us, so that you know, that holds
Speaker 2: a special place for me. But man, just getting to
Speaker 2: you know, he was he was one of our longer
Speaker 2: running kernels, so we had several several shoots with him,
Speaker 2: and he was phenomenal to be with on set. He
Speaker 2: had us just dying laughing, you know, offset and just
Speaker 2: the stories and just such a such a nice guy.
Speaker 3: So I think I.
Speaker 2: Think Norm Norm would probably be my number one. His
Speaker 2: Twitter account, I don't know if you ever followed Norm
Speaker 2: on Twitter, it was unbelievable. He just just randomly on
Speaker 2: a Sunday afternoon, just live tweet like a really super
Speaker 2: random golf tournament, like for no reason.
Speaker 1: I mean, and it's amazing too, how how his like
Speaker 1: old like late night TV clips are all over Instagram
Speaker 1: and TikTok killed it forever.
Speaker 3: Man. Oh yeah, he had this great he had this
Speaker 3: great story.
Speaker 2: H He was telling us like he was like his
Speaker 2: son came up to him and was like, oh, man, Dad,
Speaker 2: have you seen Seth Myers on Weekend Update on SNL.
Speaker 2: He's so funny. And Norm just looked at him and said,
Speaker 2: do you even know how time works?
Speaker 1: I did that.
Speaker 3: I was way better than him, like twenty years before.
Speaker 1: That's fantastic.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I didn't realize that you work for Kevin
Speaker 1: Hawkman CEO Kevin Hackman at P and G as well
Speaker 1: as Young Brand. So he must be a great boss.
Speaker 3: He sure is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, he He and I have been together since
Speaker 2: I guess two thousand and eight. The summer of two
Speaker 2: thousand and eight, I was in a business school intern
Speaker 2: at Procter and Gamble working on the Old Spice brand,
Speaker 2: and he was the marketing director there, and so I
Speaker 2: worked for James Morehead was our brand manager, and James
Speaker 2: worked for Kevin, and those two guys really, you know,
Speaker 2: really responsible for me getting into marketing, and they taught
Speaker 2: me a ton and so Yeah, Kevin. Kevin hired me
Speaker 2: there and we worked together at P and G and
Speaker 2: then I follow him to a few more stops. So
Speaker 2: I think this is our our fourth brand that we've
Speaker 2: worked on together.
Speaker 1: Very cool. So what is it about the CpG marketing
Speaker 1: guys tend to do pretty well in restaurants?
Speaker 3: What is it that's That's a good question.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I totally have the answer, but
Speaker 2: you know, I think CpG is Personally, I think it's uh,
Speaker 2: there isn't a better place to learn about brand building
Speaker 2: and marketing than the CpG and certainly Procter and Gamble.
Speaker 2: You know, for me, it was it was almost like
Speaker 2: getting another MBA, to be honest, like the training you
Speaker 2: get I still reference to this day so many of
Speaker 2: the things that I learned there in my first few
Speaker 2: years there. And so I think, I think there's just
Speaker 2: a really strong foundation. So I don't know if it's
Speaker 2: just in the food industry, to be honest, I'm guessing
Speaker 2: CpG marketers probably do well in a in a host
Speaker 2: of industries. And then you know, I think I think
Speaker 2: the big change for a CpG marketer moving into food
Speaker 2: is the is the pace And that was the biggest change.
Speaker 2: And Kevin told me that when when when I joined
Speaker 2: him at Young and uh, you know, I don't know
Speaker 2: if that's for everybody, but you know, I think CpG
Speaker 2: has a very slow pace, right, like just by nature
Speaker 2: of the product development life cycle and selling it into
Speaker 2: the retailers and and all that. Whereas you know, food,
Speaker 2: you know, you get results every single day, right, you
Speaker 2: get a sales report every morning, and and and you're
Speaker 2: you're being judged on a much different timeframe. And so
Speaker 2: I think some people, you know, take that that base
Speaker 2: foundation they learn and CpG on how to build a brand,
Speaker 2: and then really are able to apply that into a
Speaker 2: retail business that that you can move move quickly on.
Speaker 2: And I think that that tends to be a pretty
Speaker 2: good combination.
Speaker 1: Great all right, So other than than Kevin, what attracted
Speaker 1: you to Chili's.
Speaker 2: Well, it's, uh, it's a great brand, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: there's it's one of those places where when I when
Speaker 2: I tell when I tell people I work at Chili's,
Speaker 2: like generally speaking, they all a smile kind of comes
Speaker 2: to their face. And and it's a brand that that
Speaker 2: people have fond memories of, whether it's you know, a
Speaker 2: family with friends, maybe first dates, you know, after baseball games,
Speaker 2: whatever the case may be. And uh, it's a brand
Speaker 2: that people kind of root for, I would say, like,
Speaker 2: which is not always the case with brands. And so
Speaker 2: you know, for me, you know, I've I've worked on
Speaker 2: several kind of turnaround brand brands that we've talked about, right,
Speaker 2: Old Spice, KFC, Pizza Hut kind of all all similar
Speaker 2: and and you know, I've put Chili's in that same
Speaker 2: in that same group in terms of a brand that
Speaker 2: that had a had a heyday and and now maybe
Speaker 2: you know, had lost some of that momentum. And so
Speaker 2: when I'm looking at a brand, you know, I'm looking
Speaker 2: for a brand that has great bones, something to work
Speaker 2: with as as a marketer. And I felt, I felt
Speaker 2: Chilis kind of checked the check that box and then
Speaker 2: the other piece that you know, you can't really know
Speaker 2: until you until you get here. But in talking to
Speaker 2: the people going through the process before joining the culture
Speaker 2: here at Brinker and at Chili seemed really unique. And
Speaker 2: I've now you know, been having been here two years,
Speaker 2: I can say it's you know, it's the best culture
Speaker 2: I've worked in, and it is it is something special,
Speaker 2: right like every other you know, seemingly every other person
Speaker 2: that I work with here in a meeting, it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: I've been here fifteen years, I've been your twenty years,
Speaker 2: I've been your twenty five years. And you don't see
Speaker 2: that very often. And you know, we've got three three
Speaker 2: members of our of our leadership team and our c suite,
Speaker 2: Our chief operating officer, chief people officer, and chief financial
Speaker 2: officer all started as hourly team members working in restaurants
Speaker 2: and are now.
Speaker 3: You know, running the company.
Speaker 2: And I don't know how many companies that's like even
Speaker 2: possible at anymore these days. So those are those are
Speaker 2: kind of the big things that that kind of drew me,
Speaker 2: drew me in obviously, in addition to to Kevin being here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, very cool. Yeah, it's interesting because I felt like
Speaker 1: for a while, Chile's kind of lost its way. It
Speaker 1: was kind of differentiated, and then it became very similar
Speaker 1: to the to a lot of other casual dining brands.
Speaker 1: A CFO that I used to work with, Larry Hyatt,
Speaker 1: he was excellent. He worked for a Cracker Barrel and
Speaker 1: this was you know, maybe ten years ago. He's you know,
Speaker 1: he used to call them, TGI, Chillibees. You know, everybody's
Speaker 1: got the same menu, serving the same things.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: You mentioned two years at Chile's. You know, the turnaround
Speaker 1: has been impressive. I'd really like to dig into maybe
Speaker 1: your first six months, you know, right Sizing the amount
Speaker 1: of transactions on deal, simplifying the menu, and identifying sales
Speaker 1: opportunities were all kind of points of emphasis on the
Speaker 1: team's very first earnings call. How did you id and
Speaker 1: prioritize the lowest hanging fruit?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, when we came in, you know, you're
Speaker 3: doing that.
Speaker 2: Kind of you're assessing the landscape to see what's going
Speaker 2: on in the business, and you know, a couple of
Speaker 2: things we noticed right away. One the brand had not
Speaker 2: been you know, from a marketer standpoint, the brand had
Speaker 2: not been advertising for three plus years at that point.
Speaker 2: And you know, part of that was COVID and a
Speaker 2: lot of brands you know, made that decision. But it
Speaker 2: wasn't all that like that. That there had been some
Speaker 2: intentional decisions to to move some of that investment that
Speaker 2: was going into advertising and paid media into you know,
Speaker 2: other other places. And so some of those places were
Speaker 2: third party you know, third party delivery virtual brands which
Speaker 2: were which were started during during COVID and then also
Speaker 2: you know, the using our my Chile's rewards database. Uh,
Speaker 2: there was a lot of discounting like being sent out
Speaker 2: and so it was basically twice per week, so once
Speaker 2: you know, on every Monday, and then that that offer
Speaker 2: was kind of good Monday to Thursday, and then another
Speaker 2: offer was sent on a Friday for the weekend and
Speaker 2: it was going out to the entire you know, the
Speaker 2: entire database. And so you start looking at that and
Speaker 2: you know, you go from nationally advertising driving awareness to
Speaker 2: not doing that anymore and talking to the same kind
Speaker 2: of group of people and kind of starting to encourage
Speaker 2: that discount deal mentality. It's it's kind of a recipe
Speaker 2: for for the brand not being as relevant and top
Speaker 2: of mind anymore. And so that was kind of where
Speaker 2: we wanted to start. And so, you know, one of
Speaker 2: the first things we did is really pull back on
Speaker 2: a lot of that discounting that we were you know,
Speaker 2: sending out and take that money to reinvest into advertising
Speaker 2: and putting Chilis back out there in a different way
Speaker 2: and reminding people about Chili's and and the and the
Speaker 2: value that we offer. And then you know, the other
Speaker 2: piece was, you know, we have we had a great
Speaker 2: a great construct here, a great everyday value construct and
Speaker 2: the three for Me. There are some tweaks that we
Speaker 2: needed to make to it. You know, I think in
Speaker 2: some ways, you know, it was it was almost you know,
Speaker 2: the three for Me, like there was almost too many
Speaker 2: things in it, right, which made it too too easy
Speaker 2: to get into that. And so we wanted that to
Speaker 2: be you know, for the people that are looking for
Speaker 2: that amazing every day value. You can find it very
Speaker 2: easily every single day, but you know, you're gonna have
Speaker 2: to make choices, right if you want that value. You know,
Speaker 2: there's going to be a select menu that you can
Speaker 2: choose from all all are going to be great options,
Speaker 2: but we didn't want to put some of our core
Speaker 2: favorites like a fajitas or things like that and into
Speaker 2: that and those need to be signature items that you know,
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's still a great value for us,
Speaker 2: but you can't find it on that three for Me menu.
Speaker 2: So we made some tweaks to you know, what was
Speaker 2: what was available in three for Me. We have the
Speaker 2: price tiers and uh, and then we start talking about
Speaker 2: it right and and tell people about it so you know,
Speaker 2: you can you can get out there. And so that
Speaker 2: was really you know, when we were diagnosing what was
Speaker 2: going on, those are some of the big, the big
Speaker 2: ticket items that we felt like we needed to address
Speaker 2: right away and get after the the other piece I
Speaker 2: would I would say that that stood out to us
Speaker 2: in that early in those first six months was just complexity,
Speaker 2: the complexity of the menu, you know, in terms like
Speaker 2: you said, I think a lot of casual dining chains
Speaker 2: fall into this habit of or this trap of trying
Speaker 2: to be everything to everybody. And so there's a balance there, right,
Speaker 2: you need a good variety so that you know everyone
Speaker 2: can find something they like, but you also want to
Speaker 2: do things in a way that you know you can
Speaker 2: make the menu manageable and execute it consistently. And so
Speaker 2: so there's a lot of low hanging fruit there in
Speaker 2: terms of ways to simplify the menu but also just
Speaker 2: simplify the job of our team members. And Kevin's really great.
Speaker 2: He brought a culture of listening to the field to
Speaker 2: Chili's and so he spent probably the first you know,
Speaker 2: six months he was here on the road most of
Speaker 2: the time just in restaurant, watching, observing, getting in there
Speaker 2: himself and really talking to team members to see what
Speaker 2: are the things that we could do here to support
Speaker 2: them and make their jobs easier so they could deliver
Speaker 2: great service to our guests. So a big focus on
Speaker 2: simplification both in terms of procedures and menu. I'd say
Speaker 2: it was the other big kind of low hanging fruit there.
Speaker 1: Great And how long did it take for the operational
Speaker 1: improvements to kind of take hold so that you felt
Speaker 1: like you could really be comfortable ramping up the marketing?
Speaker 3: You know, honestly, we were able to move fast.
Speaker 2: And I'll tell you that's one that's one nice thing,
Speaker 2: you know, for us, at least for you know, some
Speaker 2: of us that have come from other from other concepts,
Speaker 2: you know, with with Chile's being primarily company owned, we've
Speaker 2: been we've been able to make some pretty fast, fast
Speaker 2: moves and and a lot of that's a testament to
Speaker 2: Doug Cummings and he's our chief operating officer and the
Speaker 2: work that are our vice presidents of operations across the country.
Speaker 2: Do you know, we just started get after it and
Speaker 2: like you know, we're we just started making making changes
Speaker 2: implementing it.
Speaker 3: You know, we we.
Speaker 2: Were some of the things we you know, we decided
Speaker 2: not to test and just roll, and you know, we
Speaker 2: don't get everything right, but but our hit rate's pretty good.
Speaker 2: And so we started to see improvements pretty quickly, at
Speaker 2: least feedback wise from you know, from team members and
Speaker 2: terms of the impact I was having. And now i'd say,
Speaker 2: you know, so we we probably we probably started advertising.
Speaker 2: Maybe let's think about this, maybe like nine months in,
Speaker 2: like six six, six to nine months in we started,
Speaker 2: we started advertising after I joined, and at that point,
Speaker 2: we were already starting to see the the the positive
Speaker 2: feedback from our team members internally. And now what's great
Speaker 2: is we're seeing that really translate into the metrics, into
Speaker 2: into actual metrics that we're seeing from our guests, so
Speaker 2: that they're they're experiencing a you know, a better, better atmosphere,
Speaker 2: a better service at Chili's. And we're seeing that, you know,
Speaker 2: in our internal metrics as well as you know, things
Speaker 2: like Google ratings and another ways to measure the experience.
Speaker 1: All right, So we're renovating the core four. So for
Speaker 1: my fellow Yankee fans, it's not Jeter Mo, Georgie and
Speaker 1: Pettit right, But it's burgers, chicken crispers, Marks and Figita's
Speaker 1: for Chili's. You know, that was an early initiative. It's
Speaker 1: wrap up this year with Fajidas. Can you share a
Speaker 1: little bit about what's to come?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think it goes back to that
Speaker 2: point on the menu, right, like you know, well, well,
Speaker 2: we always need to offer a wide variety of things
Speaker 2: to appeal to the masses. We also felt it was
Speaker 2: important to have a strong point of view on the
Speaker 2: things that that Chili's really stands for and the and
Speaker 2: that core for really is it. And and so we've
Speaker 2: been you know, on a on a steady, steady pace here.
Speaker 2: We've got a great innovation team and culinary team that's
Speaker 2: been working on this, and so chicken Crispers were really
Speaker 2: the first piece of that that's been you know in
Speaker 2: market for over a year now and been doing great,
Speaker 2: great for our business and really making us more relevant
Speaker 2: in a category that you know, is continuing to grow
Speaker 2: every single year. We then have been tackling Margarita's, which
Speaker 2: has been really fun for me. The alcohol space is
Speaker 2: a news space for me coming to Chili's and so
Speaker 2: you know, being being a destination for Margarita's. It's a
Speaker 2: great time to be that tequila has never been more popular.
Speaker 2: I've learned a ton since, uh, since joining here in
Speaker 2: the last couple of years, and so we're really you know,
Speaker 2: we we talk about this Barbell strategy.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: You can come in and get a six dollars margria
Speaker 2: the month, every day of the year at Chile's, which
Speaker 2: has uh, you know, great flavors, great spirits in it
Speaker 2: and and is obviously a great value. But we've also
Speaker 2: innovated on the top end, which I'm really proud of.
Speaker 2: And so we've got a whole top shelf lineup that
Speaker 2: includes Cosamigos, Patron and we're gonna be We're going to
Speaker 2: be bringing on Don Julio here and uh basically next
Speaker 2: week that's going to be on our menus. So so
Speaker 2: I think, you know, being able to to innovate on
Speaker 2: both the value side of that and the premium site
Speaker 2: has been great. Burgers, the big smasher uh has been
Speaker 2: a big, a big success for us and a big
Speaker 2: driver of our success recently. And now we're hitting fajitas
Speaker 2: and and I'll tell you that's the most complex of
Speaker 2: the core four for a lot of reasons. It's just
Speaker 2: there's there's more components to it, obviously, but there's there's more,
Speaker 2: there's more parts of that experience. You know, there's the
Speaker 2: the little the literal theater of it all. And you know,
Speaker 2: so we've been looking at every piece of of the
Speaker 2: fajita experience. And so whether it's the proteins that are
Speaker 2: coming with the fijidas, the you know, the onions and
Speaker 2: the peppers that come on the skillets. We've upgraded our tortillas,
Speaker 2: We're looking at dippable fijidas as well as you know,
Speaker 2: other other things that that that can make that experience great.
Speaker 2: And so those are all in progress and so we're
Speaker 2: excited to bring those out later, you know, later in
Speaker 2: our fiscal year here, which would be the last of
Speaker 2: the core four. Now it doesn't mean we're done. There's
Speaker 2: tons of things outside of the core four that we're
Speaker 2: going to be looking at, whether it's desserts, appetizers, things
Speaker 2: of that nature. And then you know, we're going to
Speaker 2: continue to look at those core four categories and you know,
Speaker 2: what's the next thing on crispers, what's the next thing
Speaker 2: on burgers. So we've really you know we didn't really
Speaker 2: have a pipeline of innovation or a culture of innovation
Speaker 2: when I got here that the branch just hadn't been innovating.
Speaker 2: And so we've we've had great success there. Our director
Speaker 2: of culinary Brian Paquett and Mary Allan Scott, who's our
Speaker 2: director for the innovation side of things, has really kind
Speaker 2: of created a new culture and a new process here
Speaker 2: that now we do actually have a pipeline and in
Speaker 2: a formal way that we bring new new items to market.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up
Speaker 1: with the fajitas. The Caesar Milan skillet whisper campaign was
Speaker 1: a funny one, man.
Speaker 2: You know, it's so funny like that, there's such a
Speaker 2: it's just there's such a fun like I don't I'm
Speaker 2: sure you see all the things on you know, on
Speaker 2: Instagram or whatever, and like just like, uh, there's just
Speaker 2: such a fun cultural thing about being the person that
Speaker 2: orders fajitas at the table and like what what happens next?
Speaker 2: That I'm really excited to start exploring some of that space.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the sounds, the smells, it's just.
Speaker 2: It's a great experience and that's what Chili's is all
Speaker 2: about right, like like a great Chili's experience. You should
Speaker 2: be hearing that that Margarita shaker coming to your table,
Speaker 2: You should be seeing that sizzlin Fahida coming through. It
Speaker 2: should just be a you know that that atmosphere is
Speaker 2: what we want to get back to. And so so
Speaker 2: we're definitely excited. And Fajidas is in our DNA. We
Speaker 2: we introduced uh, you know, the country to Fijidas.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I went, yeah, and even the team members singing
Speaker 1: happy birthday, right, oh yeah, I got some crispers and
Speaker 1: wings with my son last night. They were both great.
Speaker 1: Oh awesome, awesome, that's great, very good experience. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I saw you had renovated the sauces, which is so big.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I mean just sauces in general are yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean yeah, like you can see it across the industry,
Speaker 2: like it. I think people consumers are really craving that
Speaker 2: that experience, but also just that flavor exploration. So we
Speaker 2: we we did revamp our sauces. You know, I think
Speaker 2: there's still tons of room to grow there. And I
Speaker 2: think at Chili's, like we it's part of the Chili's
Speaker 2: experience too, Like there's so many so many of our things,
Speaker 2: whether it's chips and salso, whether it's you know, Caso's, Crisper's.
Speaker 2: You know, there's so many things that are that are
Speaker 2: kind of dipped at Chili's. It's just becoming part of
Speaker 2: part of that experience as well.
Speaker 1: So at the twenty twenty three investor Day you mentioned
Speaker 1: red marketing, you know, those surprize coming from young brands
Speaker 1: that represents relevant, easy and distinctive for the for the listeners,
Speaker 1: Chili Shore feels culturally relevant again. Right tied into Jenna
Speaker 1: and Angela from the office, you brought some nineties nostalgia
Speaker 1: back that you know, I told you before I'm a
Speaker 1: huge fan of the Brian McKnight three for Me commercial.
Speaker 1: And so if you could talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: how important it is just making you know, Chili's culturally
Speaker 1: relevant again and how that ends up bringing it into
Speaker 1: the consideration set for all consumers, and I just i'd
Speaker 1: imagine younger consumers too. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know, I'm I'm a big believer in that
Speaker 2: that read philosophy. The folks that Collider Labs kind of
Speaker 2: coined that and and learned that when I was at
Speaker 2: young and.
Speaker 3: You know, relevance.
Speaker 2: I think cultural relevance I think is just absolutely imperative
Speaker 2: for if you're building a brand, and especially in the
Speaker 2: situation we're in with Chili's, where we're a brand that
Speaker 2: lost you know, we had it and we've lost it, right,
Speaker 2: And so I think when when you look back when
Speaker 2: Chili's was at its best, you know, we were a
Speaker 2: brand in culture, you know, whether it's uh, you know,
Speaker 2: the Office, whether it's Austin Powers, you know, whatever, like
Speaker 2: in sync, Like, it was a brand that was in culture,
Speaker 2: and so we wanted to get We're we're pretty adamant
Speaker 2: we want to get back to that. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: I think I think that's uh, I think that's part
Speaker 2: of you know, a signal that that you're back in
Speaker 2: the mind space right, because in restaurants particularly, I think
Speaker 2: it's such a battle for for being top of mind
Speaker 2: right because you have so many choices. It's easier than ever.
Speaker 2: You don't even have to leave your house anymore. You
Speaker 2: can get everything brought right to you. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, beyond just kind of the tactical kind of
Speaker 2: advertising that we that we all need to do, I
Speaker 2: think cultural relevance can really be that thing that kicks,
Speaker 2: you know, kicks you up a notch on top. And
Speaker 2: so we've been you know, I'm a big believer and
Speaker 2: just taking taking swings and you got to take a
Speaker 2: lot of swings. They're not all going to hit, but
Speaker 2: the more swings you take them, you know, the more
Speaker 2: odds you have of being able to to do that.
Speaker 2: And so it's something that we did back on the
Speaker 2: KFC days and you know, trying to bring that same
Speaker 2: philosophy here so you know, the office ladies, I think
Speaker 2: it was a fun way just to dip back into nostalgia.
Speaker 3: And you know, we don't we also don't want you
Speaker 3: got to be careful.
Speaker 2: I think working on a on a heritage brand that
Speaker 2: you don't just kind of go back for nostalgic sake,
Speaker 2: but you want to do things that you know are relevant.
Speaker 2: You know, you know you're taking the things that are
Speaker 2: great about the brand, but you're making them relevant today.
Speaker 2: And so you know, when we do things is like
Speaker 2: with the you know, Jenna and Angela or Brian McKnight
Speaker 2: or Boys to Men, we want to still you know,
Speaker 2: do it with a little bit of a self awareness
Speaker 2: and a wink, but we also want to make sure
Speaker 2: we do it in a way that's that's relevant today.
Speaker 2: And I think our creative partners have really done a
Speaker 2: nice job with that. I think more recently some things
Speaker 2: we tried to do, you know, just in the past years.
Speaker 2: Is also like reaching different types of audiences that we
Speaker 2: think overlap with casual dining. So NASCAR is a big one, right,
Speaker 2: Like the NASCAR audience loves casual dining, loves Chili's and
Speaker 2: so you know, we we partnered with Spire Motorsports to
Speaker 2: sponsor a car this past year in the Daytona five hundred.
Speaker 2: It was all about catcher Rita. We had all these
Speaker 2: QR codes on the car, and you know, we wanted
Speaker 2: to do something that was felt felt fun for the
Speaker 2: NASCAR fans, but do it do it in an authentic
Speaker 2: way for Chili's. Another audience that we think needs to
Speaker 2: be you know, more more prevalent at Chili's is the
Speaker 2: Bravo audience. I don't know, Mike, if you're a you're
Speaker 2: a Bravo fan at all, but but a lot of
Speaker 2: people are a lot of a lot of a lot
Speaker 2: of women in particular, and so you know, the number
Speaker 2: one show on cable is Vanderpump Rules. And so when
Speaker 2: we when we launched our take on an espresso martini,
Speaker 2: who better than you know, Katie and Sheena from vander
Speaker 2: Pump China happened to be a former chili head working
Speaker 2: at Chili's. So yeah, so that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: And then you know, gaming, we we had some fun
Speaker 2: with bringing back Burger Time, which was a game I
Speaker 2: used to play on an Apple twoey, but we made
Speaker 2: it all about the big Smasher and defeating the evil
Speaker 2: Fast Food syndicate. And so, you know, there's there's lots
Speaker 2: of different ways. You know, my goal is for people
Speaker 2: to kind of come across Chili's in an unexpected way
Speaker 2: and and kind of say, hey, do you see what
Speaker 2: Chilis just did? And and kind of you know, show
Speaker 2: up in unexpected places. And so we're going to continue
Speaker 2: to to surprise people hopefully and and and put Chili's
Speaker 2: into that cultural conversation.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned you like to take a lot of swings.
Speaker 1: Took some swings at fast Food this year. You got
Speaker 1: any you have any bullets left?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I'll here's what I'll say on that
Speaker 2: the conversation was happening. You know before we kind of
Speaker 2: we got in and that's as a marketer, you know,
Speaker 2: it's always better to tap into an existing conversation than
Speaker 2: try and start, you know, something brand new. And you know,
Speaker 2: we just saw it online. I'm sure you saw it too.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of frustration with people in the drive through,
Speaker 2: like sticker shock, frankly, like how in the world did
Speaker 2: I just spend this much money? And so I think
Speaker 2: just with the rising cost of fast food, it kind
Speaker 2: of brought us into the conversation because when you talk
Speaker 2: about you know, the Chili's three for me, it's it's
Speaker 2: a nearly half cound burger, fries, bottomless chips and sauce,
Speaker 2: a bottomless drink for ten ninety nine. That's that's going
Speaker 2: to beat most most drive throughs, both in terms of
Speaker 2: not just price point, but also the quality of the
Speaker 2: food you're getting. You're getting full service. So, you know,
Speaker 2: we started to see the groundswall of like you know,
Speaker 2: popping up on social media. Our social teams start jumping
Speaker 2: in a little bit, having some fun with that, and
Speaker 2: then you know, really we just wanted to you know,
Speaker 2: capitalize on that insight. And so when we launched the
Speaker 2: Big smasher, which obviously is a is a take on
Speaker 2: a familiar fast food burger, but on a chili's burger.
Speaker 2: We really saw that as an opportunity to go squarely,
Speaker 2: you know, right at it and and really just kind
Speaker 2: of address the thing that that people were already talking about.
Speaker 2: And so you know, we're going to keep We're going
Speaker 2: to keep at it just because you know, I think
Speaker 2: it's it's not it's not something that's going away if
Speaker 2: you turn on the news or morning shows. You know,
Speaker 2: I feel like it's a it's a pretty common topic
Speaker 2: of conversation, and and we were really proud of the
Speaker 2: fact that we can deliver every day value that is
Speaker 2: that is really you know, we believe the best in
Speaker 2: the industry, and you know, we we believe it's it's
Speaker 2: not just about the lowest price point.
Speaker 3: It's it's what you get for what you pay.
Speaker 2: And we don't think we can be beat both on
Speaker 2: the price and the quality and abundance of the food
Speaker 2: that offer.
Speaker 1: Everyday value is where it's at. Man. Yeah, absolutely, the discounting,
Speaker 1: you know, you're just training your customers that the food's
Speaker 1: not worth the menu price, right.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I think you're I mean, frankly right now,
Speaker 2: I mean you see this same way I do. Like
Speaker 2: there's a lot of brands throwing a lot of stuff
Speaker 2: out there right now that you know they're they're kind
Speaker 2: of scrambling and throwing some some low prices out there.
Speaker 2: But you know, I just I don't know. To me,
Speaker 2: it doesn't look like it's going to be sustainable. And
Speaker 2: you know, I feel really confident about where we are
Speaker 2: because the thing we've been talking about the three for
Speaker 2: me for eighteen months now, it's built into our it's
Speaker 2: built into our business model, and we feel really good
Speaker 2: about the way it's constructed. So you know, we're we're
Speaker 2: really excited about where we are. And it seems like
Speaker 2: there's a lot of a lot of concepts out there
Speaker 2: that are kind of, you know, scrambling right now.
Speaker 3: For sure.
Speaker 1: Can you talk about your investments in TikTok and influencer
Speaker 1: marketing and what is doing for your business?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it comes down to relevance again, like
Speaker 2: this is you know, you got to you got to
Speaker 2: adapt to where people are and where where they're spending time.
Speaker 2: And my god, increasingly TikTok is is where people are,
Speaker 2: right It's uh it's it's it's unavoidable. It's not even
Speaker 2: you can't even just say it's where younger, younger consumers are.
Speaker 2: It's it's where everybody is now. And so I buckled.
Speaker 1: I buckled and downloaded about a month or two ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's crazy, right that that for you page like
Speaker 2: it's it's it's wild how they know exactly the content
Speaker 2: you're looking for. And so for us, we've got an
Speaker 2: amazing social team. Louse bickert Uh heads that up with
Speaker 2: with Jack Hayley, and they they do a great job
Speaker 2: of really helping us understand what's going on trend wise,
Speaker 2: what are people talking about, and and it goes beyond TikTok,
Speaker 2: it's across all these platforms and and that's that's something
Speaker 2: they've they've really honed in on, is like we have
Speaker 2: to have a different presence on each platform because it's
Speaker 2: got you got to you know, each each one has
Speaker 2: its own nuance. I think the thing that we found
Speaker 2: on TikTok is there is a real power there like
Speaker 2: unlike any other platform. I think TikTok showing the ability
Speaker 2: and other concepts of seeing it as well to really
Speaker 2: move the needle when you have something that.
Speaker 3: Takes hold and takes off.
Speaker 2: And so what we saw happening, you know, probably back
Speaker 2: in May, was a big fascination on TikTok with with
Speaker 2: our triple Dipper, which is this you know, amazing appetizer
Speaker 2: platter where you get to choose three items, and in
Speaker 2: particular our fried mozzarella, which I don't know if you
Speaker 2: had with your son last night, but it's it's phenomenal.
Speaker 2: It's not you can't even call it a cheese stick.
Speaker 2: It's like a plank of fried mozzarella. It's really it's
Speaker 2: really great. And the thing that took off was people
Speaker 2: eating it and then doing this like cheese pull to
Speaker 2: see how far they could pull the mozzarella cheese. And
Speaker 2: so we started seeing these, you know, just they start
Speaker 2: picking up each day, more and more coming out, and
Speaker 2: a lot of it was happening organically, and so then
Speaker 2: our social team really kind of jumped on that and said,
Speaker 2: how do we pour gas on the fire and so
Speaker 2: how do we work with influencers to to kind of
Speaker 2: there this further this trend and you know, we saw
Speaker 2: probably in that timeframe, you know, over fifty million views
Speaker 2: you know, between paid and organic on TikTok of people
Speaker 2: cheese pulls in their cars, in the restaurant wherever, and
Speaker 2: we could see it. We could see that, you know,
Speaker 2: play out in sales, you know, whether you know Triple
Speaker 2: Dipper and in our Frid Mozzrella, which was which was
Speaker 2: great and really correlate, you know, when you started to
Speaker 2: see the TikTok spikes, you could start to see it
Speaker 2: in our in our sales. And then then we decided,
Speaker 2: you know, like, hey, how can we how can we
Speaker 2: capitalize on this, And so at the beginning of August,
Speaker 2: we we released a new version of the Frid Mozzrella
Speaker 2: which was in our toss in our natural hot sauce,
Speaker 2: so it was Nashville Hot Mots. And we did that
Speaker 2: as a secret menu item because we want to move fast.
Speaker 2: So just in a matter of weeks we kind of
Speaker 2: got that from our test kitchen out into our restaurants.
Speaker 2: But you know, we didn't have a menu to reprint
Speaker 2: or anything like that, so we just kind of put
Speaker 2: it out on on on TikTok with with again you know,
Speaker 2: some influencer work to help get that started, and man,
Speaker 2: it took off again and and you know, some of
Speaker 2: it was certainly from from the paid work that our
Speaker 2: social team did with influencers, but a lot of it,
Speaker 2: again was organic, and we probably had another fifty million views,
Speaker 2: you know, just over the last you know, four to
Speaker 2: six weeks on that.
Speaker 3: On that as well.
Speaker 2: So it's really just kind of kept that conversation going
Speaker 2: and kept that that experiential part of what makes Chili
Speaker 2: so fun in the forefront. So, you know, we really
Speaker 2: see influencer marketing as being a pretty you know, like
Speaker 2: pretty solid channel for us going forward, if you want
Speaker 2: to think of it that way, as as a media channel.
Speaker 2: And you know, we're honestly learning as we go to
Speaker 2: be to be totally honest, but we're starting to codify
Speaker 2: the things that work and how we can you know,
Speaker 2: we can supplement some of the organic work with with
Speaker 2: some some paid influencer work as well.
Speaker 1: Great, and I fumbled, you know, I hadn't remember reading
Speaker 1: and seeing some stuff about the Nashville Hot Lutz and
Speaker 1: I fumbled. I didn't order it last night.
Speaker 3: But next time, well next time, now you've got a
Speaker 3: reason to go back.
Speaker 1: How's the loyalty program revamp coming.
Speaker 3: It's coming along really well. So we brought in we're
Speaker 3: around Steve Kelly.
Speaker 2: Who's a VP on my team to really lead that work,
Speaker 2: and uh, we're we brought on Gail as our agency
Speaker 2: partner there and so you know, it's, uh, it's one
Speaker 2: of those things that is easier said than done, I
Speaker 2: would say, And so having the right people and the
Speaker 2: right strategy is is critical. And I think what I
Speaker 2: appreciate about what they did is it wasn't a race
Speaker 2: to say we're going to go you know, this is
Speaker 2: this is the change we're going to make, or this
Speaker 2: is what we're gonna do.
Speaker 3: It's like, hey, what do we need to do?
Speaker 2: Really, we got to get our data data strategy in
Speaker 2: order first, and so we've been working on that. We're
Speaker 2: we're getting you know what we call it, you know,
Speaker 2: token data, so we can have a better understanding of
Speaker 2: you know, our first party data to underst and what's
Speaker 2: going on with our consumers, you know what what's uh
Speaker 2: you know frequency, what are they buying all of those things?
Speaker 2: Because we did we just didn't have a great handle
Speaker 2: on that. That is progressing really well. The other piece
Speaker 2: we're working on now is how do we how do
Speaker 2: we move our our CRM focus from that kind of
Speaker 2: shotgun blast that we used to do, which was not
Speaker 2: very strategic to now taking that data and the understanding
Speaker 2: we have of our consumers, segmenting them to know, you know,
Speaker 2: whether it's frequency bands or the types of food they
Speaker 2: like to eat, and being able to now be smarter
Speaker 2: about the communications we're sending them. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: Steve uses the term surgical CRM, which is, you know,
Speaker 2: still you're talking about large groups of large audience groups,
Speaker 2: but hey, you know, like great example, you know, Crispers.
Speaker 2: We we we now know you know, people that have
Speaker 2: not ordered Crispers. They've been to Chile's, but they haven't
Speaker 2: ordered Crispers. Great, great opportunity for us to send them something.
Speaker 2: And that's an offer that I'd be happy with, right
Speaker 2: because if it's getting them back into a Chili's and
Speaker 2: getting them into one of the products that we're really
Speaker 2: proud of and we think is something that I'll keep
Speaker 2: them coming back, that's a that's a great way to
Speaker 2: incentivize a visit to Chili's. So we're starting to get
Speaker 2: more into that surgical CRM. I think that the last
Speaker 2: piece of this, you know, when you talk about like
Speaker 2: true like loyalty programs, I think one of the things
Speaker 2: we're we're still working on, to be honest, is, you know,
Speaker 2: what does the loyalty program at Chili's look like? You know,
Speaker 2: we know that, you know we offer free chips and
Speaker 2: so also when you join my Chili's Rewards, which we
Speaker 2: think is you know, a great way to get people
Speaker 2: into the program. You know, We're not as certain is
Speaker 2: I don't think we're leaning towards like a points based
Speaker 2: program like you might see in a lot of QSRs
Speaker 2: or things like that. I think just the frequency of
Speaker 2: casual dining, you know, it doesn't necessarily lend itself to that.
Speaker 2: And I think you're seeing a ton I'm sure you
Speaker 2: know you probably know this better than me, but like
Speaker 2: it feels like every few weeks you see another program
Speaker 2: that's announcing a re vamp of the points and what
Speaker 2: the value is and all that. Right, So I don't
Speaker 2: think that's the direction we want to go. I don't
Speaker 2: think that's probably right for our business model. But I
Speaker 2: think with the with the improvements in our data understanding
Speaker 2: and the improvements and our ability to segment that audience,
Speaker 2: I think we're going to be able to do some
Speaker 2: pretty interesting things in terms of how we reach out
Speaker 2: to how we how we interact with with those guests.
Speaker 3: In a smarter way. Yeah.
Speaker 1: We had a whole podcast episode a couple of months
Speaker 1: back about you know, loyalty two point oh, you know,
Speaker 1: and the headline is that everybody's doing it over because
Speaker 1: it didn't work the first time.
Speaker 3: I kind of deal exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, we don't want to we don't want to
Speaker 2: follow that. We don't want to be on on the
Speaker 2: next episode that Loyalty three point oh. So, so I think,
Speaker 2: thankfully we've got we've got great you know, the partners
Speaker 2: we have a gale are really experts in that space.
Speaker 3: And and so we got the right people thinking on that.
Speaker 1: Ten years later, ziosks are back of back, baby, Well
Speaker 1: I didn't they work the first time? I'm and why
Speaker 1: why are customers adopting them now?
Speaker 2: Well, I don't have all the you know, all the
Speaker 2: previous knowledge obviously, because you know, I wasn't here, you know,
Speaker 2: my my hunches. You know, it might have been a
Speaker 2: little little cutting edge, you know, ten years ago, a
Speaker 2: little bit early. You know, in my experience on tech,
Speaker 2: I don't particularly want to be on the bleeding edge.
Speaker 2: I like to be more you know, once it's proven
Speaker 2: out and then you're able to to to jump on
Speaker 2: jump on that. I'll tell you now though, like you know,
Speaker 2: with with the Ziasque, we've just rolled out into our restaurants.
Speaker 2: You know, we see a couple a couple of big advantages. One,
Speaker 2: I think just the the device itself, I think feels
Speaker 2: you know, very very modern, very you know, intuitive for
Speaker 2: our guests to use. You know, the big advantage that
Speaker 2: we think those tabletop devices give us is payment. For sure,
Speaker 2: it's a great experience for the guests. It's also great
Speaker 2: for our team members. It you know, it takes some
Speaker 2: of that friction out. You know, I don't know about you,
Speaker 2: but when I'm out dining with my family, there's a
Speaker 2: point of there's a point where it's like it's time
Speaker 2: to go. You don't want to be you know, waiting
Speaker 2: for you know, waiting for the server who might be
Speaker 2: working with you know, a few other tables. You can
Speaker 2: kind of control then that last part of the meal
Speaker 2: and kind of go on your own terms. We obviously
Speaker 2: also get you know, a ton of great feedback from
Speaker 2: our guests just through the surveys that that that device offers.
Speaker 2: Through the payment process, and so you know, I was
Speaker 2: shocked at how many services we get millions and millions
Speaker 2: of surveys, which are far more than you'd get on
Speaker 2: like in my past world, where you know you'd ask
Speaker 2: people to fill out a survey on a receipt, you
Speaker 2: just don't.
Speaker 3: You just don't get as much engagement on that.
Speaker 2: So that data is really valuable for us just to
Speaker 2: make sure we're we're staying on top of the experience
Speaker 2: that we're delivering. And so you know, we we we
Speaker 2: think there's there's exciting opportunities there. I think right now
Speaker 2: we're focused on just getting the fundamentals right and making
Speaker 2: sure that experience is really good. But you know, in
Speaker 2: the future there could be some more things we do
Speaker 2: in terms of the interaction with the guests and the devices.
Speaker 1: Great, all right, last question, Well, the chicken fried steak
Speaker 1: ever make it back on the menu?
Speaker 2: Wow, chicken fried steak fans. It is not currently on
Speaker 2: our innovation pipeline. I'll just put it that way, but
Speaker 2: since you brought it up, it might have to be
Speaker 2: something we take a look at. But I can't, I can't,
Speaker 2: I can't make anything.
Speaker 1: The chicken fried steak was really good. Back in the day,
Speaker 1: you know. But when I ate it, you know, I
Speaker 1: was in my late teens, early twenties, and anything I
Speaker 1: ate turned into lean muscle. I'm not quite you know.
Speaker 1: Forty seven year olds aren't really the you know, chicken
Speaker 1: fried steak crowd, I don't think.
Speaker 3: But that's right, that's right. But I'll put it on
Speaker 3: the list. We'll take a look at it.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, George. Thank you so much for doing this.
Speaker 1: Brinker's been so much fun to cover for the last
Speaker 1: couple of years. And yeah, I look look forward to
Speaker 1: continuing work with you and following the story, and I'll
Speaker 1: look forward to following your marketing campaigns.
Speaker 3: Especially.
Speaker 2: Hey, thanks a lot. It's awesome to be on. I
Speaker 2: appreciate the work you do to cover the industry, and
Speaker 2: you're interested in what's going on at Chili's.
Speaker 1: Great and thanks to the audience for tuning in. If
Speaker 1: you liked the episode, please share it with your friends
Speaker 1: and colleagues. Check back soon for a conversation about the
Speaker 1: election and its impact on consumer spending with Nathan Dean,
Speaker 1: bi's litigation and policy analyst,