Ep 53: Justin McCoy is Vice-President of Marketing for Cousins Subs
Founded in 1972, Cousins Subs is a Wisconsin-based family business where each location operates like a mom-and-pop business. While a company like this could easily fall behind in terms of digital transformation and staying abreast of current marketing trends, today’s guest has played a vital role in staying ahead of the digital curve and growing the company despite the pandemic. Today we are joined by Justin McCoy, the Vice-President of Marketing for Cousins Subs, who has been with the company for 16 years. He explains the history of the company as well as its current footprint in terms of corporate locations and franchises. We then discuss how Justin has grown into his current role from his early days of guerilla marketing at the store level, how he has repositioned and contemporized the brand for sustainable growth, and how he witnessed the digital transformation of the restaurant business play out at Cousins Subs. We cover what we love and hate about third-party online ordering partners, what local store marketing efforts look like, how the digital team is structured, which social media platforms they’re focussing their efforts towards, and so much more! To hear what’s next for Cousins Subs as it celebrates its 50th birthday as well as Justin's advice to anyone aspiring towards the executive level of an organization, tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
A fun fact about Justin McCoy: He’s a home chef.
Some background into the regional brand of Cousins Subs and its founding in 1972.
Insight into the company’s current footprint in terms of corporate locations and franchises.
Justin’s role in repositioning and contemporizing the brand for sustainable growth.
Insight into the two big investments Cousins Subs is making this year.
Justin describes the differentiation of the Cousins’ brand and products from its competitors.
Justin’s career development and the various roles he’s had in his 16 years at Cousins Subs.
How the digital transformation of the restaurant business has played out at Cousins Subs.
Insight into the percentage of their orders that are digital and their goals for this in 2022.
The importance of being equipped for digital ordering when the pandemic hit and the role of third-party online ordering partners during this time.
The strategy to convert third-party to first-party going forward.
Insight into local store marketing efforts and strategy.
The protocol for responding to reviews.
The digital team and their role in SEO efforts and processing analytics.
A breakdown of Cousins Subs’ social media platforms and where they spend money on ads.
What Cousins Subs’ digital versus traditional media mix looks like today.
Justin's advice to anyone aspiring towards the executive level of an organization: don’t be afraid of grunt work.
Find out what Justin thinks about Generation Z, influencer marketing, and TikTok in the lightning round.
Tweetables:
“We're a family-owned company. We're not some large corporation. Family values mean something to us. We really view and experience that coming into a Cousins Subs is like coming into our home. We want to deliver all those key tenants of hard-working, quality, all the things that we feel the Midwest stands for.” — Justin McCoy [0:17:24]
“Really beginning to understand what it truly took to run a successful business and then trying to do everything I could to positively impact that for my territory at the time, was extremely important in my growth with Cousins and understanding what we were doing.” — Justin McCoy [0:22:53]
“Digital [ordering] certainly was a monster component of how we were able to not only survive but thrive through everything that was involved in [the pandemic].” — Justin McCoy [0:28:29]
“If you aspire to get to the executive level of an organization, you really need to understand the organization. You need to understand it culturally. You need to understand the ins and outs of the organization. You need to understand what you're selling, what the product is, and not be afraid to roll up your sleeves and maybe go do some of that grunt work that needs to be done.” — Justin McCoy [0:44:19]