FMN 038: How Wendy's Rallied the World Around Free Nuggets with Brandon Rhoten

Food Marketing Nerds Restaurant and CPG Marketing Podcast

It’s episode number 38, and definitely one of my favorite interviews we’ve done, and I don’t say that often.

We have Brandon Rhoten on the show, who get ready for this title, is the VP, Advertising, Social Media, Media, and Digital Marketing for Wendy’s. It’s a mouthful, and I don’t know how he does it, but everything you see with a Wendy’s logo on it, is the work of Brandon and his team.

This episode is all about how Wendy's went from middle of the pack, to a front runner with one of the strongest brands in the industry. Of course, we discuss the insane amount of publicity they've received from Carter's quest to 18 million Retweets - and more importantly, how to create a culture where partners and employees can do work that gets those kinds of results.

Brandon has a history of transforming brands, and since joining the company in 2011, he’s done the same for Wendy’s in an industry that’s notorious for commoditizing it’s products.

To give you a little more context, since Brandon joined Wendy’s, their stock price has increased nearly 200%, not to mention the 15 consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales they’ve had – which is unreal in that industry.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Why leaving silos between marketing teams is a big mistake
• How to sell a brand when your competitors are selling a commodity
• Why consistency is crucial across every customer facing platform
• And so much more.

Yes, this is a food marketing podcast, and yes, we talk about food marketing, but the a lot of the advice in this episode is universal to building a great brand in any industry. So grab a pen a paper, and get ready to jot down some notes, because Brandon is about to lay down some knowledge on you.