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

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.