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How to light up your brand: 4 innovative execs tell all

This four-part series looks into the successes behind Toppers, Mooyah Burger, Slim Chickens and Which wich.

June 29, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

You could call them upstarts — only sans the trademark arrogance that typically accompanies those of that description — but Toppers pizza, Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, Slim Chickens and Which Wich are leading their segments, according to Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. In that annual industry synopsis, for instance, these four facts were highlighted:

In the sandwich category: Which Wich, a brand born in 2003, showed faster growth last year than either Subway, Arby's or Jimmy John's, with an increase of nearly 18 percent in 2015 sales and more than 14 percent in new units that same year.
In the pizza category: 25-old Toppers pizza is ahead of older more iconic brands like Domino's, Pizza Hut and Papa John's in sales, which grew nearly 23 percent last year over the previous year. The number of Topper's new units grew 9 percent over the same period.
In the hotly contested chicken category: Thirteen-year-old Slim Chickens leapt forward in 2015 with 50 percent more sales than the previous year, yielding them the honored "Up and Comer" award from Technomic this year.
In the burger category: Nine-year-old Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes reports sales increased more than 31 percent last year over 2014, well ahead of the numbers reported by venerable old burger chains like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's.

Clearly, these brands are doing something right. To discover their secrets, we interviewed the leaders of each concept Over the next four days, we'll feature responses from:

Which Wich CEO Jeff Sinelli.
Slim Chickens COO Sam Rothschild
Toppers Pizza CEO ScottGittrich and
Mooyah COO Michael Mabry

After reviewing their responses, it was clear that although each chain had salient distinguishing features that give each a distinct "personality," the stories behind the brands showed five trademark characteristics, which we can't help thinking were likely key in their success. They included:

Customer-focus: A primary focus on defining their customers along with their needs and wants. Additionally, this focus was not a one-and-done thing, rather it requires constant monitoring to stay abreast of what customers want at any given moment.
Community-mindedness: All these brands have a keen awareness of the world they live in and their role in it. In short, they look for ways to connect with the community of each location, as well as the wider global community through products, services and social media.
A desire to learn from competitors: Other players in the categories each of these brands occupy were considered less to be "enemies" or businesses to "beat out" than living examples to learn from, respective to their successes and failures.
Passion for service and product: Every leader we interviewed embodied an intense passion for the food they serve, the people they employ and cater to, and the story behind their brand. They see their businesses more as community connection spots that feature great food, than mere "restaurants."
And a focus on the details: All four leaders made it clear that although they are in business to make a profit, they still refuse to compromise the quality of what they serve, where they serve it and how their employees deal with customers. That always seemed to entail a level of attention to detail of the kind that can make the difference between the so-so and the spectacular.

Check with us over the next four days to hear how these successful brands approach their businesses. We'll begin tomorrow with our interview with Which Wich CEO Jeff Sinelli.

About S.A. Whitehead

Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.