Ep 32: Why Good Marketers Need Small Egos and Big Capabilities with Marcel Nahm
Today we speak with Marcel Nahm, Senior Vice President of Marketing for the restaurant category at Focus Brands. Marcel is a marketing whizz who has worked with big household names like Schlotzsky's, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Mcalister’s Deli, and Auntie Anne’s. In today’s show, we ask him about his new role, discussing his career to date and the differences between the restaurant and specialty categories. We first hear about the ins and outs of Marcel’s role at Focus Brands. As he shares what it takes to fulfill his role, we find out why it’s important to have a small ego, to be a strong collaborator, and to have trust in others. Diving deeper, Marcel walks us through the three brands that have his oversight, namely Schlotzsky's, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Mcalister’s Deli. He details the unique experience each has to offer, and why it’s important to maintain individuality and separation between brands. We then take a look at these outlet’s blueprints to success. Marcel touches on his experience working with different marketing teams, their varied marketing style, and the types of digital solutions they utilize. In the last five to 10 years, the food industry has been in rapid evolution, with consumers changing their eating habits and ethos. Marcel explains that this change has seen the rise of the artisanal brand which is challenging big organizations. Toward the end of the show, we find out about the differences between QSRs and CPGs, Marcel’s opinion on digital solutions and marketing, and take a closer look at his tech stack. Before the show draws to a close, Marcel shares his best advice which aims to help young marketers wanting to become CMOs.
Key Points From This Episode:
Introducing today’s guest, Marcel Nahm.
Marcel tells us about his new role at Focus Brands.
Hear about the three brands Marcel gives his attention to.
The differences between Focus Brands’ specialty brands and restaurant brands.
How Marcel is structuring the marketing across his three brands.
Why it’s better to be big and slow, or small and fast as a business, but never slow and small.
How franchisees are critical to the success of Focus Brands’ brands.
Marcel tells us about his experiences at The Hershey Company and at CPG.
Some similarities and differences shared between CPGs and QSRs.
We ask Marcel if he’d stay in open retail marketing.
Marcel’s opinion on digital and marketing.
Hear about Marcel’s tech stack.
The role for CMOs during COVID and beyond.
The rise of the artisanal brand.
Marcel’s advice for career advancement.
Tweetables:
“We realized there was an opportunity to better leverage the scale of our brands. We wanted to operate more effectively and more efficiently. In many cases, there is benefit operating as a 65,000-location company as opposed to a 300-location brand.” — Marcel Nahm [0:03:32]
“You have to have a small ego because the name on the back of the jersey really doesn’t matter, it’s the name on the front that matters.” — Marcel Nahm [0:04:20]
“I’ve learned through my career that many businesses are similar and different, it just depends on what you want to focus on.” — Marcel Nahm [0:09:30]
“There’s no question that specialty brands are in the business of converting traffic, versus restaurant brands who are generating traffic.” — Marcel Nahm [0:10:38]