|
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
|
11:00am
- 11:10am
|
|
|
11:10am
- 11:40am
|
STAYING CULTURALLY RELEVANT WITHOUT LOSING YOUR ROOTS: THE FARMER BOYS PLAYBOOK FOR THE MODERN QSR
Legacy brands don't have to choose between modernization and authenticity. In this session, Farmer Boys CMO Mark Hardison and Keith Bendes, Chief Strategy Officer at Linqia share how a 45+ year-old regional chain is using modern tools and channels to reinforce, not replace, the values that have always defined it. Topics include how to balance brand-building media with performance channels, how to think about LTOs without diluting what makes a brand special, and how creator content done right can earn the kind of consumer trust no paid ad can manufacture. The session culminates in a case study showing how a single influencer video became a full CTV campaign, and what that tells us about the future of content at every funnel stage.
-
Mark Hardison
-
CMO
Farmer Boys
Keith Bendes
Chief Strategy Officer
Linqia
|
|
11:40am
- 12:10pm
|
USING AI FOR MARKETING INVESTMENT INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence is the new currency. And marketers need a way to follow the money.
We're living in an era of abundant intelligence, where marketers have access to sophisticated platforms and budgets are larger than ever. Yet a striking paradox persists across the ecosystem: marketer's lack true transparency and granular visibility across their investments. Marketers are seeking new AI tools to capture, categorize, and visualize marketing spend intelligence to justify decisions and prove ROI. Prodigy CEO John J. Lipuma and FUKU CEO Claudia Lezcano will discuss the challenges, pain points and new solutions being developed to solve this industry-wide issue.
-
Claudia Lezcano
-
CEO
FUKU
John J. Lipuma
Co-Founder & CEO
PostAds Group, Inc.
|
|
12:10pm
- 12:40pm
|
QSR’S NEXT GROWTH ENGINE ISN’T BIGGER BUDGETS. IT’S FASTER MEASUREMENT.
In QSR, speed matters. Consumers are making dining decisions in real time based on what their day looks like, what they can afford, and what is nearby. For brands, that means growth is no longer just about reaching more people. It is about understanding what is working quickly enough to act on it.
In this presentation, Molly McDermott, GM of Business Development at The Trade Desk, will share how restaurant marketers can use measurement to better understand what is driving incremental visits, shift spend while campaigns are still live, and make smarter decisions with the budgets they already have.
As consumers become more selective and brands continue to navigate pressure on pricing, costs, and demand, this session will look at how QSR marketers can move faster, prove what works, and plan for the customer of tomorrow.
-
Molly McDermott
-
General Manager of Business Development
The Trade Desk
|
|
12:40pm
- 1:10pm
|
HOW SHAKE SHACK IS THINKING ABOUT BRAND GROWTH AND INVESTMENT
Michael Fanuele is the Chief Brand Officer of Shake Shack, the first such position in the restaurant chain’s history. In this role, he oversees advertising, paid media, and insights and analytics. He has also supported the brand as a consultant since early 2025, playing a key role in strategic brand positioning and the selection of a new creative agency partner. Drawing on experience from companies including Arby’s, Cadillac, Charles Schwab, and Volvo, Fanuele brings a perspective on how brand, investment, and strategy come together to drive growth in the QSR category.
-
Michael Fanuele
-
Chief Brand Officer
Shake Shack
|
|
1:10pm
- 1:40pm
|
FROM LEGACY TO LIFT: HOW VICKY BAKERY IS USING AI AND FIRST-PARTY DATA TO FUEL FRANCHISE GROWTH
As a 54-year-old, family-rooted brand rapidly scaling from 12 to 44 locations — with ambitions to reach 150 — Vicky Bakery sits at the intersection of legacy and acceleration. This session explores how the team is transforming a fragmented first-party data ecosystem into a strategic asset, using AI and agentic workflows to uncover insights, improve performance, and better understand customer behavior across a largely franchise-driven system. The conversation highlights the realities of modernizing data infrastructure at the mid-market level — and how doing so is unlocking smarter growth across operations and marketing.
-
Michael Berberich
-
VP of Content Strategy & Special Programming
ANA
Benjamin Linero
CMO
Vicky Bakery
|
|
1:40pm
- 2:10pm
|
HOW CHURCH’S CHICKEN TURNED A CONSUMER PERSONA INTO A BRAND WIDE GROWTH ENGINE
Church’s Chicken has gained momentum by doing more than defining its core consumer — it immersed the entire organization in that consumer’s world. After a deep brand positioning exercise helped the team name and understand its target persona, “Alex,” the work was socialized across marketing, operations, development, finance, and restaurant teams. The result was a shared decision-making lens that reshaped everything from brand strategy to in-restaurant execution. In this session, Georgia Margeson, Senior Director of Brand Strategy and Content at Church's Chicken, will share how a more human, actionable understanding of the customer helped align the organization, strengthen brand relevance, and drive sales and transaction growth that is outpacing the category.
-
Georgia Margeson
-
Senior Director of Brand Strategy and Content
Church’s Chicken
|
|
2:10pm
- 2:20pm
|
|
|
