Ep 18: Clicks 2 Bricks with Del Taco Vice President of Marketing Technology, Erin Levzow
Today we get to hear from Erin Levzow, the new Vice President of Marketing Technology at Del Taco. While Erin has been with the brand for only two months, her role has been specially crafted to focus on digital transformation and adapting to the new realities of the COVID pandemic. Having worked in a marketing capacity for numerous restaurants and hospitality institutions, Erin has a wealth of experience and expertise to bring to the Del Taco table. She talks to Rob about where the company is positioned in the Mexican food market compared to Taco Bell and Chipotle – their biggest competitors – and how they are pivoting in the context of the pandemic and with the recent return of CMO Tim Hackbardt. After touching on the company’s existing tech stack, Erin shares what she is focusing on for 2021 and highlights the importance of different software working well together, which seems to be an ongoing challenge to even the biggest brands. Another obstacle facing every restaurant business in 2020 is consumers’ increasing demand for immediate service and delivery, a problem that they are constantly working on to keep improving the customer experience. In addition to sharing her take on balancing brand awareness and direct response marketing, Erin also gets into the promising opportunities with ghost kitchens, how she stays updated with the latest tech and tools, and why Facebook is still the behemoth of digital marketing.
Key Points From This Episode:
Hear about Erin’s educational background, her early career in theatre, and what it taught her.
Get a sense of where Del Taco is positioned in the broader Mexican food space.
Find out what specific item on their menu beats Taco Bell and Chipotle every time!
The changes and state of marketing at Dell Taco in light of the return of CMO Tim Hackbardt.
Find out how Erin and Tim worked together to craft the role she now fulfills.
What the tech stack looked like when she arrived what she wants to focus on going into 2021.
Keeping in mind that, while you might have all the software, it all needs to talk to each other.
Erin gives her take on how Del Taco fared during the first phase of the pandemic.
The differences/similarities between marketing restaurants and hospitality institutions.
Understanding that you need both a solid product and great marketing to be successful.
How the closing time gap between an idea and the development of desire affects marketing.
Find out whether ghost kitchens are on Del Taco’s radar and why they are such promising avenues.
Erin talks about the exciting interactions she has had with some of the franchisees.
Some interesting insights on balancing brand awareness and direct response marketing.
How Erin stays on top of the new tools and technologies most productively.
Thoughts that come to mind when Erin thinks of influencer marketing, Facebook, and brand loyalty.
Tweetables:
“What’s great about this role currently is, I joke with people that it is involved in anything that touches digital or technology, which turns out the be everything.” — @Playnthestrs [0:07:02]
“A focus on CRM and on loyalty will be really big for 2021 and that is what my foresight is set on.” — @Playnthestrs [0:10:27]
“I’ve worked in all industries: B2B, B2C, all of it. And what I found is that, if you are a good marketer, you can market anything.” — @Playnthestrs [0:17:26]
“It has to work hand in hand and I think feet to the fire on both sides. Your brand awareness should drive your direct response.” — @Playnthestrs [0:32:21]