Latest / Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360 / #518: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | Reigniting the Experience: How P.F. Chang’s Is Redefining Loyalty Through Status, Access, and Experience

Transcript

#518: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | Reigniting the Experience: How P.F. Chang’s Is Redefining Loyalty Through Status, Access, and Experience · Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to our Leaders in Customer Multi Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Today is the Brand Stories Edition.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's a Thursday, so it's great having you with us.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to be taking a journey across China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, not actually, but through the lens of a restaurant brand that pays homage to these cuisines and cultures, through its culinary approach and guest experiences.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about PF Chanks, the casual dining restaurant channel, known for its American, Chinese, and Asian-inspired cuisine.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: The brand has recently welcomed a new chief marketing officer, and today we're going to be hearing her perspectives on how she plans to enhance the customer experience and evolve the customer loyalty program to better resonate with today's guest as well as those in the future.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Wanted to welcome to the Leaders in Customer Loyalty Podcast Holly Smith, the new chief marketing officer at PF Chang's.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Holly, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, good.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Happy St.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick's Day.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, it was St.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Patrick's Day.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, yes.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Did you uh do anything fun for St.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Patrick's Day?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: I wore green, so I guess that that counts.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's good, that's good.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um so uh PF Chang's, one of my favorite restaurants.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I know we talked about that in uh the introduction.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of a picky eater, so that I only have a list of uh six or seven restaurants I eat at, and PF Chang's is one of them.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Love uh love the food.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but the the the spicy chicken uh spicy uh green beans, those are my favorite, and they still make them, even though they're not on the menu.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: For those who may not be familiar, can you give us a brief background on PF Chang's, you know, what you do, how you do it, and a little bit about the customers you serve?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So PF Chang's, you know, it's a legacy brand.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I think where PF Chang's was so interesting to me when I was presented with the opportunity is it really fills the market space for um pan-Asian uh polished casual food.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's really not another kind of major national competitor that kind of fills that market space.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that was what was really exciting to me.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So the brand started in Scottsdale, Arizona, is now national with um two a little more than 200 units across uh the country.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have an additional uh hundred uh units globally and growing.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, just a really exciting proposition.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, it was really exciting for me to kind of to to jump into a new a new cuisine uh type.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh as we prep for this, you mentioned that it you've been on the job about 100 days, uh, recently appointed chief marketing officer.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell us a little about that role, what you're in charge of from a day-to-day perspective, and maybe some of the priorities that you're focused on uh within the organization?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: So my team consists of um menu insights, consumer insights.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that's everything from you know innovation, culinary.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I also have the brand team, so that's the creative team, all of our engine, um, you know, and everything that we take from consumer insights, and then how do we like bring that to life?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um then we have the digital side of things, which would be um OPD, which is our off-premise delivery, and our what we call 3PD, which is uh our third-party delivery partners.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, and so that kind of kind of rounds out the team.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course, there's like always uh, you know, a local store marketing aspect to that as well.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when you look at uh the chief marketing role, uh chief marketing officer role, it's definitely very dynamic, changing uh pretty significantly, uh more focused on you mentioned the customer, uh, insight, uh, actionability.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just branding.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, what are some of the biggest opportunities and or challenges you face in your role as a chief marketing officer?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think you know, really it's about telling the story of the brand and then how do we, you know, take take the work that the team does and you know, really stay true to our foundation, stay true to our core of being, you know, a pan-Asian restaurant, and then really pull that through uh through storytelling.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then how do we get that out in an omnichannel kind of way?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so whether it's TikTok or whether it's Meta or whether it's our own kind of you know website, how do we tell that story?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then how does that story appeal to the various different demographics that we serve?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So how we tell that story to a Gen Z consumer is very different than how we're gonna tell that story um, you know, to other demographics.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: So how can we um, you know, be compelling compelling storytellers and do it in a way in which appeals to a broad, you know, demographic set.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, the restaurant, uh, quick service, fast casual, uh, they're all kind of evolving right now.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh a lot of disruption in the industry.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you've been known for your distinctive dining experiences, the atmosphere, the big uh kind of the Chinese uh dragons and warriors, and just uh, you know, obviously very unique cuisine.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: When you when you look at the evolution of your kind of uh kind of the dining experience, the brand, you know, how do you preserve some of that identity while continuing to evolve for you know potentially new guests uh who come into the you know the restaurants?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's a great question because you know, one thing that we've talked about a lot is how do we preserve the core of what our guests really love?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So Mongolian beef, the fried rice, you know, things that we were known for, uh, you know, table side sauces, and how do we preserve that core of things that people really love about PF Chang's, but then also innovate to kind of draw in, you know, the new discovery of consumers.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, what can we do to A, preserve the core, keep our classics classic, and then also drive innovation in ways in which are compelling to get the that guest to come back into the restaurant?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, it's interesting when I first took the job, I was like talking to friends and family members, and the one common theme that I heard was I used to love to go to PF Chang's and it started to really kind of um like irritate me because I was like, why don't why don't you like why did you love to go to PF Chang's and what's gonna get that consumer to come come back in?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I think we all have a similar sentiment.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I used to love to go there.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: What did you used to love about it?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, how can I preserve, you know, those sort of feelings, but then also uh find new and innovative ways to drive that consumer back in?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think when you think about the dichotomy between off-premise delivery, we have a very strong um, you know, off-premise, off-premise um percentage of customers, but how do we get them to come back into the restaurant?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: What is unique to coming into the restaurant?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: How can we have theatrical dining?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: How can we have these crapable experiences that you could only get tableside sharing those memories with friends and family?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, really, you know, I think our job in the last kind of hundred days has been, you know, to kind of figure, figure out what's our kind of path forward.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll start to see some really cool things um for the balance of the year coming from PF Chang's.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing, um, we're launching a campaign this summer with sushi boats.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, bringing the sushi boats out with dry ice and having multiple different roles on a big boat that's on the table, um, you know, kind of these big shareable experiences um for celebratory events.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, putting a big focus on holidays and birthdays and celebrations and um, you know, remembering why you used to come to PF Chang's and and how we can help you celebrate those milestone events.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: We just finished a uh a paper on Gen Z, kind of their expectations around brands.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, they're changing.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And a number of the members of Wolfie 360 uh restaurants uh have kind of changed their approach.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Some have done it with uh in a plum and some have had some challenges, right?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Where they may have gone too far uh and kind of alienated the core.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a delicate balance, and it seems like you you have a great approach to that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: But when you look at the guest expectations, uh coming when you look at restaurant expectations, experiences, you know, how how are you uh evolving, adapting to meet some of those changes in in your customer base?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's important to have a barbell strategy.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to have that strategy where you have the value proposition, maybe it's a lunch proposition, you know, the lower price points to kind of drive people in.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But then once they get you know inside your four walls, also giving them um the ability to have that adaptation to maybe I want to have a better experience, so I want to have a more elevated experience, and also offering them those kind of higher end, more polished casual um, you know, kind of options so that they can use you in a various different types of ways, whether it's a quick lunch, I want to come in and grab a lunch special at a good price point, an everyday value, or I want to come in for a big night out and also being able to offer them, you know, that kind of experience as well.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, absolutely.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And and you mentioned a little bit uh a big push for value right now.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's kind of that uh the K-shaped economy everyone's hearing about, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: The people that uh are maybe a little more well off, they they are dining out maybe more so, and some may be uh dining out less.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: But it sounds like you with kind of the value menu or kind of the the from a lunch perspective, it it really helps address or assuage some of the concerns that some of the customers may have, I would assume, correct?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think the the value proposition, you know, can be addressed in kind of multiple different ways, you know, from the ambiance in the building to the service that you receive, you know, from you know, from your from your server at the table, you know, the all those theatrical kind of elements to the price point.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think they all kind of play into the value proposition in in different kinds of ways.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: When you look at uh your rewards program uh and the role it plays in kind of strengthening relationships with the guests, you know, how important is that?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we were talking when we uh kind of uh came on again to one of my top five or six restaurants, I'm there at least once a month.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the one in Atlanta Airport I hit quite often, I think it's in B terminal, up above.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so hit that quite often.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but you know, how does the loyalty program you know strengthen relationships and how how do you bring more of a focus to the program?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think that loyalty programs, I mean, we all know loyalty programs are so inherent and important to any organization, not just, you know, kind of restaurants.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and what we've really taken a step back and to look at our loyalty program is, you know, I think that it used to be very kind of transactional, buy something, get a point, you know, kind of uh this kind of old school thinking.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we're really trying to take a new approach to how can we make our loyalty program more about changing the behaviors of our guests?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: So how can we look at it from a different lens of status, access, experience?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not just getting point for point on your transactions.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how can you how can we make um a feeling of exclusivity for our loyalty club members?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: How can we make them really a part of a PF Chang's community, whether that's you know, special early access to events or um, you know, priority seating, you know, we're still kind of um figuring out like the details of what that looks like.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that where PF Chang sits today with loyalty is not where you will see us sit in the next, you know, six months.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you talked about status, access, and experience.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Personalization is a big uh, you know, a big push for many brands, and getting it right can be a challenge, uh, especially for like we look in the the Gen Z paper we just did, and many people in that audience they expect you to know them at a deeper level after one transaction, right?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: They want that exclusive access, they want those uh experiences.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, how how do you kind of blend some of that?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it sounds like you're changing the program to be focused more on access uh experiences.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how how are you going about evolving the program?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think that you know, really it boils down to looking at the technology that we have, looking at the technology that is available and like figuring out, because to your point, a Gen Z consumer expects you to be at the top of the technology game, right?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: They expect the automations, they expect the personalizations.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're honestly, you know, not at that point yet.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I think we we ultimately kind of want to get to, where you really feel like that experience is customized to you.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and through technology that's available today, we can absolutely get there.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that the challenge ahead of us is how do we how do we make the technology work?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: How do we make our tech stack work?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And is our current tech stack correct?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, what does that look like into the future?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's a big challenge many brands face, right?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Especially last year when budgets were a little bit restrained.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, we do a survey every year on state of customer loyalty, and there was more of a focus on optimization on on different platforms, technologies to get what you have right.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of you know ripping and replacing three or four things, we're gonna take one or two and replace them.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I think that that uh the optimization and it sounds like you're doing it, understanding what's working from a technology perspective and what management.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think the optimization, your point to optimization is really key because you know a lot of these systems have all the capabilities.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's really about asking questions and you know, being, you know, pushing back and making changes.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we really kind of started with looking at our automations and where do those sit.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And when you join like your the whole customer journey, like when you join the loyalty program, you know, what are the next steps?
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then what does that whole kind of customer journey look like using our kind of existing systems?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: So uh insights are very important too as you evolve a program, you have some very ambitious goals, it sounds like, to take the program to kind of a higher level, you know, listening to the customers uh can be a big challenge for brands, right?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Listening to them, understanding what they actually want, taking yourself outside of your purview and your perspective to truly action on it.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, how how do you look at insights from the guests, um, whether they're behavior or frequency or even just feedback to make the program stronger?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think that, you know, really working cross-functionally with all of our teams, not just the marketing team.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think you know that's um, you know, sometimes a mistake that people make kind of working in a silo, but really holistically working with all of our teams, including uh, you know, our operations teams, our even our like purchasing teams, um, and really we have so much data at our fingertips.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: How can we aggregate all that data and really use it to our benefit?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it comes from you know multiple different places.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can get it from POS data, you can get it from tokenization data, you can get it from um, you know, so many different places.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: But then how do we take that data at our fingertips and really um you know analyze it and make it um you know tangible in a way in which we can get the ultimate result of that true personalization and the true um you know point of point of loyalty?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you talked about personalization, uh, using the data, make sure you're the right technology, um, offers communications experiences.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um how are you how is that working now?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Are you seeing some success uh kind of in the early days with uh you know the first hundred days about making more personalization, maybe even from an in-store experience, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Making sure that the the the front front of house staff know about the program and know about the vision.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Is is is you know, how are how are you looking at that so far?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think we I think we know where we ideally ideally want to be, right?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: In the first world, we know like where we'd want to be where you come in and the um the first point of contact knows who you are and they knows where where you like to sit and they know what you like to eat.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think all of those things are possible into the future.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: We're you know, not not there yet, but I think we've got a good kind of course forward to kind of hit those milestones.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think you hit the nail on your head.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: The guests expect a certain level of personalization.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's and it's possible with technology these days.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think the biggest challenge ahead uh for myself and my team is figuring out how do we bring that to life.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: So you beyond points and rewards, you uh you kind of talked that they want to take the program to a different level.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Emotional loyalty is very important as well.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how else do you think about creating a sense of connection or emotional loyalty with your customers?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think it goes back to that experience piece.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how can we, you know, make people um you know give that sense of exclusivity?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're a part of the community, you're a part of the club, you're an insider, um, you know, giving them them those sort of kind of status levels.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I kind of hate to use the word gamification.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's like a bit overused at this point.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, it does, it that is a driver for people, you know.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think that um, you know, if we could create status and tiers and everyone kind of want to work to work, wants to work towards that next goal.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, really figuring out what's um what's a motivator for people to want to come back in and how do we, you know, again, go back going back to how do we change behaviors through loyalty and not make it transactional.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so you know, going forward as you look uh forward to the program, you know, what do you see as the biggest opportunity to you know evolve the customer loyalty program and the loyalty experience at PF Chang's?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think I think kind of a similar answer.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest point uh to evolve the loyalty program is how do we, you know, really convey to the customer that it's not just about points, but it's how you make that guest feel.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how is that that feeling of the feeling of loyalty to PF Jangs because you know they're a good partner to me and I'm a good partner to them?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, not just I come in, I get five points for purchasing something, you know, it's not it's not transactional, but it's more of a relationship between um the consumer, you know, and and PF Changs.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And you touched on this a little bit, uh, kind of the next generation customer, next generation kind of uh brand offering.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how how are you looking to account for that?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Is it digital experiences, maybe social platforms, more experience or rewards?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how are you thinking about engaging that next generation of guests uh you know through uh brand loyalty and experience?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think that you know, from a starting point, we're really leaning heavily into influencer culture, not just, you know, uh, I think people don't want to be advertised to anymore.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: They want it to feel more organic, you know.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, how can we do that through um uh micro influencers?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, our media strategy um you know is behavior is based on behavior uh driven insights.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, kind of what are people's behaviors online, what are they shopping for?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: What are where are they going?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Where do they work?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Where do they live?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then how can we then in turn understand who the guest is that's coming into the restaurant and how can we more effectively um advertise to that individual with more precision?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then in turn, I think when you can drive that guest into the restaurant, then you can gain their loyalty.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: When you look at uh the competitive landscape, many brands have uh customer multi-programs that they're working on in in QSR, Fast Casual, uh quick, you know, all throughout the restaurant industry.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Are there things that you see in other programs, you don't necessarily have to name them that that you think would work well in your program and you want to bring into all the four at PF Chance?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we just had um a pretty big brainstorm around this.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought there were some interesting ideas that came, you know, out of um from the team.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, kind of it revolved around, you know, does our like if if we were to start all over again, like from ground zero, like how would we build our loyalty program?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: And people had some really good like cool ideas around like uh status space.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: So the more, the more, the more you spend, the more you earn.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can earn a gold tier that gets you XYZ or a silver tier or you know a platinum tier.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I think that that kind of was really interesting.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's a lot of companies out there, and and I encourage people to look outside of just restaurants, you know, also like there's some really strong retail programs that do this really well.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and then again, going back to like the whole access.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: So uh join the loyalty program, get access to priority seating, uh especially around like special holidays.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we um recently had Valentine's Day and um, you know, several restaurants were sold out on reservations.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, is that a priority to a guest to be able to, you know, be part of the gold loyalty tier level and be able to have uh access to a reservation when they might not be able to get one um elsewhise, you know, and I think again to that final piece of like just the experiences.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, whether it's um, you know, access to the chef's table inside the kitchen or access to special wine dinners or you know, kind of what did those experiences look like.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I, you know, I think that uh going back to that kind of core strategy of um status, access, and experience.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then again, you know, just being transparent, like, you know, kind of being in this this stage in which we know we we have a loyalty program, but we know we want to kind of evolve into what that next step looks like.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that those three pillars are kind of where we've landed on um trying to kind of formulate what that looks like.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, then that that I think I think those three pillars are are gonna be a good foundation for you based on kind of what we see and what we know in the market and and kind of you know, kind of your direction is you know spot on, I think.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: When when you look at um the program currently, uh you know, what are two or three things that you're most proud of of the program as it exists today?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think you know, I've got um a woman, Christine, that works for me, and she's so extremely talented and she's got a ton of experience in the industry.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really proud of the work that she's been able to come in initially and do and really, you know, analyzing our current program and identifying where um there are immediate opportunities for improvement.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I think like in the last like 90 days, she's been able to really take the program from where it was and make um some kind of very immediate actionable changes um that the guests will kind of see.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, changes in our changes in our automations, changes in our initial offering, changes, changes in the timing in which we send out emails, um, changes in, you know, kind of the infiltration of uh, you know, what that looks like into your email box.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no one wants to really get um an email from any organization, you know, 14 times a week, you know.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that, you know, sh her experience has um really helped um the program evolve to a place where it was, to a place, you know, where we are kind of today in the last 90 days.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: And she's done she's done a lot of good work with a lot of urgency.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'm excited to see where she kind of is able to take that program, you know, in the in the balance of the year.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Are are partnerships something that are important to you potentially from a brand partnership or a product partnership?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is that something you guys are looking at or have potentially on the roadmap going forward?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, uh absolutely like we have I would I I wish I could tell you about some of the um collabs that we have coming up, but I will say I think that they're very exciting.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, for for this year, we've kind of focused our menu innovation around the tour of Japan.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got a lot of fun stuff uh planned this summer.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then next year for the year of Korea, we've got some really exciting um collabs that are, I think, um kind of unexpected.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I think that um doing kind of those fun, unexpected things are ways in which, you know, again, going back to like Gen Z, that we can kind of reach new demographics, reach different kinds of customers, and um really get that discovery piece from people.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so we're we're we've got a lot of fun kind of collabs uh in the in the works.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to hearing more about them as they come to bear.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and last question, you know, what can Loyalty 360 do as a trade association for industry to help you and your program?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that loyalty 360 is, you know, uh when I was talking to my team before this podcast before you know you and I spoke today, you know, uh several of them were like, I listened to this in on in the car on my way to work.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's great to get like insights and hear from other leaders and just get different perspectives.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I've worked at several different um, you know, large enterprise restaurant companies.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really, you know, as I look back on my career, really thankful because it's really given me a wide perspective.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's so important for people to kind of hear from other industry professionals, get different perspectives and be able to kind of analyze that information, internalize it, and then take it back and um you know deploy it into what you kind of do every day.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that being able to, you know, have access to listen to people and get perspectives that you wouldn't otherwise have is just so important.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that's really unique about the community.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we have a growing brand membership and the sharing kind of across verticals is is very open.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and you know, partnerships seem to abound as well.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, I think anything from organizational alignment to metrics to new technologies, uh, the community really is very focused on elevating others.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's uh it sounds like some things that we can continue to do and help you as well.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: And now we have our wonderful quickfire question round.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'd keep these two uh uh a few words or a short phrase.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, what what what loyalty programs do you belong to?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: I belong to a ton.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I belong to most restaurant loyalty uh programs.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: I belong to United, I belong to Ulta, I belong to Sephora.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um those are probably some of my favorites.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: What brand other than PF Chang's are are you most loyal to, potentially and why?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um well probably United Airlines just because I travel quite a bit.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh not that I'm endorsing their loyalty program, but you know, I definitely I definitely do use do use them.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then also probably um some of the other brand I mentioned, Ulta Sephora, uh occasionally Chick-fil-A, not so much.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a book that you have read or like to read often that you recommend to colleagues?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: There, yeah, there actually is.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I um I love Peter Drucker managing oneself.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a very small, um, it's like it's like this big, but I I like to read that uh at least once a year.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a good like level set.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I always um I always recommend people um reading that book at least once a year and just kind of um you know, centering.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: I like to center myself around that.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh it's it's not a new book.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's I think it's like 1997 or something like that.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: But um I I I love Peter Drucker, I like Good to Great.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think the Jim Collins.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think just think um that that phrase always sticks with me.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I want to be, I want to be great.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Not don't want to be just good, I want to be great.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's another impactful, impactful read.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've read good to great in a number of other uh books uh but by the that author, but uh the Peter Drucker managed up, I haven't, so I'm gonna check it out.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh is there a profession other than being a chief marketing officer you may like to try?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I I have never really thought about it.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um I did at one time uh several years ago, have an Etsy side hustle.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I do like to be creative, and I think that if I did do anything else, it would probably be in some kind of creative space.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, clearly it didn't work out, so maybe um uh I should stick to just restaurant marketing.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: But um well, it's good, it's good to have a side hustle uh and something you have passion about, uh and obviously marketing.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was a lot of fun.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, good.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, who inspired you to become the person you are today?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I definitely think I would say my mom.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, she was just so inspiring to me, my biggest fan, you know, always taught me to be kind to others, believe in yourself.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, she she was a teacher, and so I think she, you know, was big into affirmations, you know, just to wake up and look yourself in the mirror and say, you know, you're kind, you are smart, you are important.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, that kind of sticks with me every day.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, she's definitely um my biggest inspiration.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, excellent.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And last question, how do you want to be remembered by your friends and family?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I want to be remembered as someone that people can count on, someone that, you know, that will always answer the phone when you call, someone there to kind of uh listen and and give advice, and you know, hopefully someone that um you know can can give you inspiration and encouragement and um you know always just just lend a hand when someone needs it or even you know, if it's and always be there to kind of listen.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Holly, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was a pleasure speaking with you and learning more about how PF Chang's is thinking about customer experience and customer loyalty moving forward.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out over the next year or so.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you very much.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you so much.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And also thank you everyone for tuning in today.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to join us every Thursday for a new episode of our Brand Stories podcast in the Leaders in Customer Loyalty series, where we sit down with industry leaders shaping a future of customer loyalty.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Subscribe to the podcast and follow us on YouTube and across our social media channels listed below so you never miss an episode.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Until next Thursday, have a wonderful day.