"A Marketer's Dream" Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux CMO Laurie Curtis embraces authenticity

Laurie Curtis believes authenticity and a genuine connection to guests are at the core of a successful marketing strategy. She’s brought that mindset with her during her first year as CMO with Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux.

Curtis was appointed to the head marketing spot at the sports restaurant brand in December 2023. She draws from more than 25 years of franchise marketing leadership experience with Denny’s, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, and Domino’s Pizza. In those roles, she was responsible for brand and field marketing, product development, communications, strategic marketing initiatives, and building brand visibility. These experiences developed her ability to drive growth, innovation, and brand revitalization. 

Curtis sees herself as a collaborative leader and motivator with a reputation for uncompromising ethics and high standards. In less than a year at Walk-On’s, she has already spearheaded initiatives to create an unforgettable dining experience for guests. “My vision is to not only make Walk-On’s a household name, but to help transform the brand into the icon we truly believe it can be,” she says.

It all comes back to fostering authentic connections, she says. “By keeping our guests at the center of our marketing strategies, we cultivate authentic connections and build lasting brand loyalty.”

She says Walk-On’s has fostered an internal culture that embraces innovation and values learning from mistakes. “This approach to growth has distinguished us as a franchise organization and reflects our desire to lean on one another for feedback and insights. By collaborating, we can connect deeply with our audience to drive meaningful results,” she says. 

Describe your role as CMO. As the chief marketing officer at Walk-On’s, my responsibilities span across marketing, communications, and culinary. Overseeing culinary is somewhat unique to my role as not all CMOs take on this kind of work. The amount of scratch cooking and hand work done in each kitchen is remarkable, and I’m lucky to have the chance to use this differentiator as a key tool in our marketing efforts. 

I joined the company at the end of 2023, and what drew me to Walk-On’s was its authenticity; it’s a marketer’s dream. We have several compelling stories to share, from our founder’s journey to the natural alignment with athletes and sports. Our brand ethos is exemplified by the team members who were once walk-ons themselves and those who embody our team-spirit mindset in their work each day. The company’s rich canvas of stories makes my role incredibly fun and rewarding. 

What’s the most challenging part of being a CMO today? As the brand grows, one of our challenges lies in succinctly telling our story and fostering loyalty in new markets. To ensure we’re connecting with our community in new areas and encouraging repeat visits, we focus on nurturing genuine brand loyalty. We emphasize field marketing, regional culinary support, and ongoing support for our franchise partners. This helps us keep our food quality high and ensures we stay true to who we are even as we grow quickly. 

How has Covid-19 impacted the way you have led your brand’s marketing efforts? Covid-19 has underscored the importance of off-premise dining. The brand rapidly adapted to this shift, ensuring a seamless customer experience and leveraging data-driven insights to optimize resources. The lessons learned during Covid-19 are the importance of remaining nimble and using data to guide your decision-making. You must know what is going to keep your business afloat, and you have to be strategic about leveraging your resources. No matter how much you plan for marketing initiatives or other projects within the business, it could all change in a second. You must remain adaptable when things don’t go to plan.

What are the three most important keys to being an effective CMO leader today? From my perspective, effective leadership as a CMO hinges on three core principles: 1) surrounding oneself with top talent and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation, 2) respecting and rewarding team members—including agency and vendor partners—and 3) embracing change with an open mind. Hire people who are experts in their field because they are people who will challenge the brand in a positive way. And don’t be afraid of change. The pace of transformation today has accelerated so rapidly that you have no choice but to embrace it. 

How do you prepare a marketing plan and execute the strategies? Crafting a marketing plan begins with a deep understanding of our guests’ needs. When preparing a plan, always consider first what is best for the guest, and you’ll find that the rest starts falling into place. 

Execution involves leveraging data and insights to address challenges, whether it’s enhancing brand awareness, driving traffic, or elevating PR initiatives. Understanding the trade area is another aspect of this. By focusing on the top of the funnel and engaging with our local communities, we can ensure that our marketing strategies resonate authentically and drive meaningful results in our markets. 

How do you measure marketing results and effectiveness? Outside of traditional measuring tools and KPIs, such as sales and traffic, I like to consider measuring the efficacy of our marketing efforts through guest feedback and operational excellence. If you’re doing a good job, it will show up in sales and performance first and foremost. But how is your experience being rated? What are your guests saying about you? How is the food quality differentiated from other concepts? What is the total value of the product? When measuring marketing results, look toward the satisfaction of your guests and the effectiveness of your operations. 

Discuss your core consumer marketing strategies and objectives. Our consumer marketing strategies center on expanding brand awareness, maximizing the value of our culinary offerings, and fostering authentic connections with our guests. 

We prioritize engaging with our fanbase across various touchpoints, leveraging our unique blend of sports affiliation, family-friendly fun, and celebratory atmosphere. Our food will also always be a core component of our marketing strategy. Our menu is unlike any other full-service restaurant, and we take pride in our culinary strengths, so it’s important to us that we convey that to our guests. 

Additionally, our commitment to community engagement and philanthropy underscores our brand’s values, resonating with consumers on a deeper level. One initiative that exemplifies this is the Walk-On’s scholarship program that we launched in honor of walk-ons everywhere and NFL veteran Jason Kelce. This was a genuine initiative that we felt passionately about. We’re helping change people’s lives.

How do you go about creating a customer-centric marketing and brand philosophy? Our customer-centric approach begins with a deep understanding of our guests’ preferences and needs, ensuring that every interaction reflects our commitment to providing an exceptional experience. From menu offerings to atmosphere, we prioritize guest satisfaction at every touchpoint, fostering a sense of belonging and camaraderie. 

Describe your marketing team and the role each of them plays. Our marketing team comprises five departments, each playing a vital role in shaping our brand’s identity and driving growth. The culinary team focuses on food and beverage innovation while the brand team oversees calendar planning, menu development, and product innovation. Field marketers collaborate with franchisees to ensure brand consistency and excellence at the local level while the digital and guest experience team manages CRM, website, and digital consumer engagement. Finally, the PR and communications team supports brand awareness efforts and franchisee relations, reinforcing our brand’s values and messaging across all channels. 

Why is it so important for the marketing department to have a personal touch when it comes to helping the brand connect with franchise prospects? Maintaining a personal touch in our marketing efforts is paramount to building trust and rapport with franchise prospects. We actively engage with franchisees during discovery days and demonstrate our commitment to collaboration and support from the beginning by seeking and valuing their feedback. 

How does this help your franchise sales and development effort? This resonates with prospective leads for many reasons. It showcases our authentic approach to collaboration and allows us to understand each franchisee’s unique perspective. This personalized approach fosters a sense of trust, which is crucial in attracting and retaining franchisees. Discovery days serve as a platform for building a foundation of confidence and rapport with our franchisees, and we want to show them that we are investing in them as much as they are investing in us.

What ways/tools do you rely on to do this? The best way to align with franchisees is to listen to them and allow them to provide feedback. We can’t know how we’re performing if we don’t give them a platform to tell us. In addition to discovery days, we leverage restaurant visits, regular franchisee communication, and quarterly town halls to connect and collaborate with our franchise system. I personally make every effort to answer any question a franchisee has because if there’s a question, there’s a reason for it. 

Do today’s prospects expect more from the franchise marketing department? What, and how do you provide it? Today’s prospects expect transparency, collaboration, and authenticity from the franchise marketing department. In addition to providing marketing guidance and support, we prioritize open communication and feedback channels, ensuring that franchisees feel heard and valued as partners. It’s important for franchisors to understand that this business may be a franchisee’s lifeline, and we don’t succeed unless they do. 

How is today’s consumer and marketing data helping you fine-tune your marketing initiatives? Consumer and marketing data are pivotal in shaping our marketing initiatives and driving strategic decision-making. We’re doing a lot of primary research for our brand to understand who our guests are and their occasions. By leveraging data analytics and insights, you can open doors to consumer behavior you may have never considered. This data-driven approach enables us to identify emerging trends, anticipate consumer needs, and optimize resources, ensuring our marketing initiatives remain relevant and effective in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Describe the evolving role of social media in your brand’s marketing efforts. Social media has become a powerful tool for engaging with our audience and amplifying our brand’s voice. By leveraging our genuine sports affiliation and culinary offerings, we connect with our fanbase and attract new followers organically. Social media allows us to share compelling stories, highlight community engagement initiatives, and foster meaningful interactions with our guests, ultimately driving brand awareness and loyalty.

How do you work with other internal departments and does technology help? Collaboration is at the core of what we do with marketing, operations, culinary, and development working seamlessly together to achieve common goals. Technology plays a crucial role in streamlining communications and data sharing, facilitating cross-departmental collaboration and decision-making. By leveraging technology and a variety of platforms, we enhance efficiency, transparency, and alignment across all departments, ensuring a cohesive and integrated approach to achieving our brand objectives.

How do you manage costs and budgets for the marketing department? We regularly monitor and evaluate performance metrics, enabling us to identify areas for optimization and efficiencies, ensuring we deliver maximum ROI on our marketing investments.

Do you see vendors as business partners? Why/why not? Our vendors and agency suppliers are extensions of our team, and we treat them as such. We think this is important because we always encourage them to share their perspectives and ideas. We truly want to hear their points of view, and it helps that we’re all working toward one common goal. Seeing them as extensions of our internal teams helps us all work together. 

How have marketing strategies/tools changed over the past decade? How have you adapted? Over the past decade, it’s no secret that digital has revolutionized the marketing world. In more recent years, we must also acknowledge the innovation that AI has brought to the table. As a marketer, I’ve learned that we must adapt and remain open to new tools. The world is gravitating toward these new, high-tech advancements, and that won’t be changing anytime soon, so we are better off embracing them.

How is your marketing/branding strategy developed, and how does it flow through the system? Collaboration is paramount with the operations, culinary, marketing, and franchise development departments to ensure our teams work together as one. There’s no one out of the loop, and we embrace the team-spirit mindset that’s been instilled in the company from the top down. 

What advice would you offer to aspiring CMO executives? Aspiring CMOs should prioritize authenticity and genuine connection in their marketing strategies. It’s essential to stay true to the brand’s identity and values, but it needs to come from a place of genuine care. You can promote menu offerings and campaigns all you want, but it will never resonate with your intended audience if it isn’t coming from a place of authenticity.