Jessica Serrano, Chief Marketing Officer at Bagel Brands, joins Zack Oates to break down what it really takes to build a brand that connects with guests across different markets and moments. With leadership experience spanning Taco Bell, Burger King, Dig In, and now a portfolio that includes Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bruegger’s, Noah’s, and Manhattan Bagel, Jessica brings a grounded, practical approach to modern restaurant marketing.

Finding What Makes a Brand Unique (03:08)

“You’re always looking for what is the thing that makes this brand distinctly unique.”

Jessica explains that strong brands are built by identifying and amplifying what makes them different. Without that clarity, marketing becomes noise instead of impact.

Learning Directly from Guests (04:01)

“You have more data than you realize.”

Instead of relying only on large scale research, Jessica emphasizes observing guests in real life and using existing data. Simple conversations and in-store observations often reveal more than complex studies.

Context Matters in Guest Communication (07:09)

“You’re not talking to me in the moment of where our relationship is.”

She highlights a common mistake in marketing: ignoring the guest’s current experience. Messaging must reflect where the guest is emotionally, especially after a negative interaction.

Simple Brand Guidelines Win (09:30)

“It should fit on a page.”

Jessica pushes for clarity over complexity. Strong brands operate on a few clear principles that teams can easily understand and apply without overthinking.

Turning Culture into Action (13:09)

“What does this mean to you?”

By involving teams in defining how values show up in their daily work, Bagel Brands creates stronger alignment. This bottom up approach directly impacts guest experience and team engagement.

Start Small and Build Momentum (15:09)

“Just do the next thing.”

Rather than overhauling everything at once, Jessica recommends testing small changes, learning quickly, and scaling what works. Progress comes from action, not perfection.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicacausse/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bagel-brands/

Transcript

00:00:00:06 – 00:00:26:07

Zack Oates

Welcome to another edition of Give An Ovation, the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast. I’m your host, Zack Oates, and each week I get to chat with an industry expert to uncover their strategies and tactics to help you create a five star guest experience. This podcast is powered by ovation, the feedback and operations platform built for multi-unit restaurants. Learn what’s actually happening in your restaurants and exactly how to improve while driving revenue.

00:00:26:09 – 00:00:46:24

Zack Oates

Learn more at ovation up.com. And today we have Jessica Serrano on. And I’m really excited to have Jessica on because I’ve seen her from afar. I followed her on LinkedIn. She has great content. She’s had such an interesting career. I actually had her on another podcast that I do and was so impressed. I was like, we got to have a one on one Jessica.

00:00:46:24 – 00:01:07:09

Zack Oates

And so she was kind enough to oblige. And so she is the CMO of Bagel Brands, which, if you’re unfamiliar, that’s burgers, bagels, Einstein, Manhattan, Noah’s. And not only that, but she was the former CMO of Dig In. She was also the senior director of marketing strategy at Burger King and the director of brand marketing at Taco Bell.

00:01:07:09 – 00:01:25:02

Zack Oates

So she has had the experience of being at just the massive brands, a growing brand, and now kind of in that middle of the road. And so I’m really excited, Jessica, to have you on and really dig in. Yeah, I mean, pun intended, but to the guest experience. So welcome to the podcast.

00:01:25:02 – 00:01:29:17

Jessica Serrano

Thanks for having me. I’m thrilled to be here. I’m impressed that you got all the bagel brands right. That was great.

00:01:29:19 – 00:01:54:13

Zack Oates

Yeah, well, I grew up in Jersey, which is, you know, where bagels were invented. I’m a big bagel guy. And that is the thing. Like, every time I go home to Jersey, I’m like, number one, I want to see my family. Number two, I want some bagels and pizza. Right? Those are like my things. So moving from Florida, which is pretty much South Jersey to Colorado, how has the food scene been in Colorado for you?

00:01:54:15 – 00:02:10:04

Jessica Serrano

Actually, the food scene is great in Denver, so we’ve been having a blast at between getting out, trying new restaurants, skiing on the weekends. It’s been a it’s been fantastic and the weather has been really mild. So everybody’s telling me not to get used to it, but so far so good.

00:02:10:06 – 00:02:22:00

Zack Oates

Yeah. Well, from a fellow Rocky Mountaineer. Welcome to the Rockies. It’s a wonderful place to be. And especially coming from Florida, it’s like you’re still you’re like less than a year in in Denver, right?

00:02:22:02 – 00:02:22:15

Jessica Serrano

00:02:22:17 – 00:02:33:13

Zack Oates

So every day at this point, because when I moved out here, it was like for the first few years, I would wake up and I’d be like, are those mountains real? Like, I don’t exactly know where you’re at. Do you have, like, good views of the mountains? Yeah.

00:02:33:15 – 00:02:37:16

Jessica Serrano

Our office has a beautiful view of the mountains, and it’s just fantastic, you know?

00:02:37:16 – 00:02:38:20

Zack Oates

Isn’t that wild?

00:02:38:22 – 00:02:39:21

Jessica Serrano

Yeah.

00:02:39:23 – 00:02:59:00

Zack Oates

So we could talk mountains all day, but I want to talk bagels and guests. And so let’s talk a little bit about bagels of because I would love to hear is your experience at working with these giant brands. And then again, like a growing brand like very, very strong brand of dig in and now add the bagel brands.

00:02:59:02 – 00:03:08:02

Zack Oates

What has been some common threads that you have found from a marketing and branding lens across all those different sizes of brands?

00:03:08:04 – 00:03:38:09

Jessica Serrano

Oh, that’s an interesting question. Well, as a marketer, you’re always looking for what is the thing that makes this brand distinctly unique? And when you find that and really leverage it, that’s when a brand really sings. And so I’m adding about eight months into this role. So I’m very much still in the discovery phase. But what I love about this, which is different from my other experiences, which have been more kind of balance of day occasions, is we get to start your morning with you, and that’s such a fun energy to bring from a marketing perspective.

00:03:38:09 – 00:03:48:08

Jessica Serrano

So yeah, it’s been fun getting to know the bagel business, the breakfast occasion, and thinking about how to get people to wake up and and make that stop and choose us.

00:03:48:10 – 00:04:01:08

Zack Oates

And as you’re looking at your formula for kind of understanding what makes brands unique. How would you go about what advice would you give to someone who’s like, hey, I’m not quite sure what makes my brand unique. What advice would you give them?

00:04:01:12 – 00:04:32:05

Jessica Serrano

I often feel that people think that you need all these robust and crazy bells and whistles and focus groups and all that, and all of that is great. You know, I’ve worked at the billion dollar brands that have ridiculous resources. But even when you’re working on a ten, 20, 30 unit, you have more data than you realize, adding sometimes simple as sitting in your restaurant and observing and chatting with the guests at the table next to you, or it is tapping into your listening tools to really get a sense for what is working and what is not.

00:04:32:11 – 00:04:46:20

Jessica Serrano

From your get all of your guests experience, research and insight. So I encourage people all the time like you can get really scrappy with just spending time with your customers, both in real life and in the data that you have at your fingertips.

00:04:46:22 – 00:05:05:19

Zack Oates

How do you schedule that? Because obviously, especially when you’ve got four brands under your portfolio, like you’ve got so much on your plate, how does the marketing go about scheduling time to connect with the guests? Like, you have to be more deliberate. Or is that just part of like your hey, I’m going to go to the bagel shop and actually, like have lunch here.

00:05:05:20 – 00:05:08:01

Zack Oates

Like, what do you do?

00:05:08:03 – 00:05:26:02

Jessica Serrano

It’s a combination of both. I mean, for busy folks, you know, if you don’t make time for it, you’ll look up and you’ll have missed the moment. And so sometimes it is really about scheduling and saying, okay, I’m going to dedicate this hour to social listening. You know, that’s another one that I didn’t mention. Just reading through comments and see what are the themes, what are the observations looking at?

00:05:26:03 – 00:05:35:05

Jessica Serrano

Hashtag the bagel. Hashtag across social and listening. What are people saying about other brands? What are they saying about those brands that they’re not about mine and vice versa?

00:05:35:10 – 00:05:36:07

Zack Oates

Oh, interesting.

00:05:36:09 – 00:05:56:24

Jessica Serrano

Carving out that time. But then yeah, just spending time enjoying and eating the brands that you represent. So we had grand opening on Saturday. I brought my kids and we sat in the bakery for a couple of hours, and I was observing, what is the guest flow? It was in a university area. Notice that the flow was kind of later in the day, and that’s the kind of stuff that you don’t get from sitting behind a desk.

00:05:56:24 – 00:06:03:10

Jessica Serrano

You do just have to spend time out where people are actually experiencing your brand. He has schedule time for it.

00:06:03:12 – 00:06:05:03

Zack Oates

And you’ve got twins, right?

00:06:05:05 – 00:06:07:00

Jessica Serrano

I do, yeah, they’re just turned six.

00:06:07:02 – 00:06:25:08

Zack Oates

I am impressed that you made any observations with twin six year olds, because when I go to a restaurant with my family, I’m like, just trying to get them, like, survive less. Not so much observing the traffic flow of guests. So maybe that’s like mom power there. You could do both, because I am. I can definitely.

00:06:25:08 – 00:06:34:15

Jessica Serrano

Recommend doing it solo from time to time. But yes, I could do gum walk. I learned how to multitask and juggle it all somehow.

00:06:34:17 – 00:06:45:13

Zack Oates

Yeah, well, good for you. And could you some tips about that after this? Because I think that’s a challenge. But as you look at the guest experience, what do you think are some of the most important aspects of guest experience nowadays?

00:06:45:15 – 00:07:09:14

Jessica Serrano

Well, Zach, I’m sure you know, like the table states, right? We all know there’s the things about speed and consistency. There are absolutely things that you must get right. What I think is interesting is I observe brands that are really taking it to the next level. Is the evolution getting to a place where you’ve got this golden record of your guests so that they are only hearing from you in a very consistent experience, such that you’re not.

00:07:09:20 – 00:07:26:03

Jessica Serrano

If I email you and complain about a rude experience in one of your restaurants, and then the next thing I get back from you is an email about how I should try a chicken sandwich. But you haven’t already recovered me from that first interaction that’s amiss. And so.

00:07:26:03 – 00:07:26:19

Zack Oates

Tone deaf.

00:07:26:19 – 00:07:39:17

Jessica Serrano

Right? That was you know, we’ve got to make sure that all of these things are integrated such that we are talking to you in the moment and addressing you in a way that is pertinent to the relationship and the state of that relationship at the moment.

00:07:39:19 – 00:07:57:24

Zack Oates

I love that, and that’s honestly one of the reasons why I just shout out to Vicki and Abby Nav over there, because I love that a guest can take a survey. And then what Becky does with that data, we have a great integration. They pull that data in and then they’re able to tailor communications based on the most recent guest experience.

00:07:57:24 – 00:08:20:12

Zack Oates

Because you’re totally right, I could have 11 great experiences in my 12 is terrible. And you better have my marketing message be different after that. 12 then before that, 12 because I’m a different guest at that point. I’ve entered a different demographic and I need to be recovered and be treated with that like, hey, I know you, I see you, right?

00:08:20:16 – 00:08:21:05

Jessica Serrano

Totally.

00:08:21:09 – 00:08:40:19

Zack Oates

Because, you know, one of the things we always talk about is that restaurants are this is hand-to-hand combat, right? This is 1 to 1. You got to get the one back in. And if you just send out these mass blasts, it doesn’t land in today’s consumer. They want that authenticity. So when you’re looking at that authenticity, I think so much of it is about scaling that authenticity.

00:08:40:19 – 00:08:47:00

Zack Oates

Right. Because I’m assuming that you don’t approve every single social post across the brands, right?

00:08:47:05 – 00:09:05:10

Jessica Serrano

Like, not to now. And I think the key to that is making sure that you have an aligning strategy so that your team knows that the work that they’re doing would be approved. And also, I believe in creating a culture that is like we feel fast if we’re selling bagels and in your audience, you’re selling pizza, right? We’re not sending anybody to the moon.

00:09:05:10 – 00:09:22:24

Jessica Serrano

So with social media so quickly that you’ve got to take some risks beyond follow the trend. So yes, the last thing I want to do is review every piece of social content going out the door. Also, like that’s just my taste, right? Like I may not be the customer. So yeah, not my jam.

00:09:23:01 – 00:09:30:18

Zack Oates

How thick of a brand guideline do you need? What would you recommend for marketers?

00:09:30:20 – 00:09:48:06

Jessica Serrano

Yeah, again, it doesn’t need to be over complicated. I mean for us, what we from as we think about our brand tone, we’ve kind of just created a few different pillars. And that helps the team to think through the lens of does this touch on one of our pillars? Right. So one of our values is that we help others on the morning.

00:09:48:06 – 00:10:05:01

Jessica Serrano

So is everything that we’re doing from Social Lens really ladder up to that. And if it doesn’t then like it hits the cutting room floor. So it should fit on a page really. You know, it shouldn’t be more complicated than that. If you can’t relate it to your grandma or to your dad, then it’s probably overly complicated.

00:10:05:03 – 00:10:15:10

Zack Oates

I love that, by the way. Oh, in the morning. How did that come about? Like, that’s such a great just rallying cry there. What’s the process of coming up with something like Own the Morning?

00:10:15:12 – 00:10:32:19

Jessica Serrano

I can’t take credit for it. It predated me. But what I will tell you is that we have, as a leadership team, gone through a journey to really articulate what our mission, vision and values are. And so it really was the leadership team kind of coming together. And they did a bunch of table stakes interviews with different stakeholders.

00:10:32:19 – 00:10:57:15

Jessica Serrano

So field members, the support team, to really understand what do people believe makes the culture special about they will brands as a corporation. But each of our distinct brands, and through all of that discovery work, they came to that very simple conclusion, which is we help others on the morning. And I was grateful enough to inherit that. And it was very strong nod for me as I was evaluating this opportunity.

00:10:57:21 – 00:11:14:15

Jessica Serrano

And so as a marketer, I think there’s a that is a great articulation that helps us to then think about not only should that be how our team members are experiencing our guests every single day, but how do we bring that story to light through email paid social, etc.?

00:11:14:17 – 00:11:40:17

Zack Oates

I love that, and it’s something that I think leading a company and leading the messaging in the branding of a company, I think is one thing that’s critical to remember is that we think about our company and our brand a lot more than anyone else does. And so it may be for a lot of the people out there, it’s like, hey, this is just like a tool that our restaurant company uses, or this is just a I just need a bagel and the coffee.

00:11:40:17 – 00:11:54:16

Zack Oates

I’m not like in it for the brand, but the fact is that when you have that consistency that allows everything to just be really position of you to harp in on the exact demographic that you have. But I don’t know if you’ve read this book.

00:11:54:18 – 00:11:56:19

Jessica Serrano

Yeah, I know hospitality.

00:11:57:00 – 00:12:01:10

Zack Oates

That one’s a good one. And also this one right behind my head called The Bottomless Cup.

00:12:01:12 – 00:12:03:16

Jessica Serrano

No, I haven’t read that one. I gotta write that down. Yeah.

00:12:03:18 – 00:12:19:08

Zack Oates

Kevin Bacon, he’s the, Boca restaurant group. One of the things that he says is just like coming to terms with the fact, like you said. And I know Kelly McPherson has talked about it, is that the restaurant industry, like we’re not sending people to the moon? Kelly McPherson. She says it’s not rocket surgery. What we’re doing.

00:12:19:14 – 00:12:20:09

Jessica Serrano

Like that rocket.

00:12:20:12 – 00:12:48:06

Zack Oates

Right? Yeah. But what it is, is like we still have those moments. And maybe for 95% of people, we’re just to check the box. But there are certain people that when we connect with them, it literally can change their entire day, their entire week. It helps them feel something. And that’s what we do it for. The other 95% fuel that opportunity that we get to be a life changer for the 5%.

00:12:48:08 – 00:13:09:06

Jessica Serrano

Again, bringing it back to this balance of data versus experience of being where the guest is, you know, doing this whole deep dive on our coffee performance, what percentage of sales involve query, it’s spreadsheets, etc.. And then I went out to Phoenix with my ops partners, and I met a couple of guys that were like drinking coffee and just like, have a conversation with them.

00:13:09:06 – 00:13:27:00

Jessica Serrano

And they had this mug and ice nine brothers that you can tell it been through the dishwasher dozens and dozens of times. He’s like, I’ve been coming to this bakery for the last ten years. And just understanding his relationship with the brand in terms of the role that coffee plays is something that you don’t get from an Excel spreadsheet.

00:13:27:03 – 00:13:52:11

Jessica Serrano

And the other thing on the note about the, you know, capturing a vision statement are core values mantra for your organization. If my ops partner here, he would tell you we actually did a rollout for every single team. So the marketing team, but also every single bakery had a mission. The vision and value session where we said, okay, we’ve told you top down what we think it is, but now we want you to make it your own bottom up.

00:13:52:11 – 00:14:14:14

Jessica Serrano

Like, what does this mean to you? How are each of you going to show up in your bakery or marketing team and really live these values? And we saw a correlation after that in terms of our Osap ratings as a result of teams going through that exercise. And I absolutely believe that there is value in helping people to see how I mean, these are hard jobs.

00:14:14:16 – 00:14:28:17

Jessica Serrano

We’re talking in our business. It’s a single shift, but these are our bakers are in there three, four in the morning. So it’s really important that they feel like they’re tied to something bigger than getting up before a rooster’s do.

00:14:28:19 – 00:14:49:03

Zack Oates

I love that, and when we think about the importance of that, it’s like the making it their own, I think, is so key because it’s easy just to, like, kind of drop something down on them. And I think it’s powerful to be like, what does that mean for you? I love that idea. What a great tactic. Any other tactics you’d recommend to improve the guest experience?

00:14:49:04 – 00:14:53:07

Zack Oates

I think I mean, you’ve been sharing a whole bunch of them, but I love that one.

00:14:53:09 – 00:15:18:00

Jessica Serrano

I would encourage people to not get overwhelmed by, oh my gosh, we have to like, do all the things and make all the changes. My one of my big mantras is like, just do the next thing. And so if you see a nugget in some guests feedback, you don’t have to overhaul your entire program. Find a GM that is comfortable with change and like have them try it for a couple of days and then use that as a case study to build it out.

00:15:18:00 – 00:15:30:13

Jessica Serrano

So I always encourage people to just start somewhere, don’t get overwhelmed by like we’ve got to overhaul everything. Sometimes if you are looking too far out, you don’t know where to start. It’s like just pick one day, one restaurant and see where it goes from there.

00:15:30:15 – 00:15:38:10

Zack Oates

I love that Jessica is so powerful. Who is someone that deserves an ovation in the restaurant industry? Who’s someone that we should be following?

00:15:38:12 – 00:15:46:19

Jessica Serrano

What about Otto Othman, the founder of of PTO down in, Florida?

00:15:46:21 – 00:15:48:24

Zack Oates

Love love love, Otto.

00:15:49:01 – 00:16:11:02

Jessica Serrano

Yeah. You know, Otto. Otto’s great. And why I love him and think he deserves his flowers is because he’s not a gatekeeper. And he. And there’s just, like, so much business to go around in this industry. And I love. And I’m drawn to other leaders who are down to get on a conga. Like, what’s going on in your world and how can we compare notes and what do you try and what do you stuck on?

00:16:11:02 – 00:16:24:18

Jessica Serrano

What are you frustrated by? And I love it. He shares a lot on LinkedIn. He’s a build and public kind of guy. One of the things that I’ve been keeping up at is doing a lot with the AI, and so I love people that are sharing in public because there’s a lot we can learn from each other.

00:16:24:20 – 00:16:36:04

Zack Oates

Amen. Otto is such a cool guy. Love him. Love his brand and what he’s built and who he is. So yeah, I love that. And then Jessica, how do people find and follow you and bagel brains?

00:16:36:06 – 00:16:57:11

Jessica Serrano

Well, depending on which of our bagel brands is in your backyard, you can follow us on any of the socials. Einstein Brothers Bagels is national, but we’ve also got Patton in the northeast, know us in the West, and and burgers, throughout the Midwest as well. If you want to connect with me personally on LinkedIn, Jessica Serrano, you can buy my my profile to drop me a line.

00:16:57:12 – 00:17:00:13

Jessica Serrano

Always happy to connect with other restaurant marketers.

00:17:00:15 – 00:17:10:10

Zack Oates

Love that. Well, Jessica, for helping us remember that we don’t need to do everything tomorrow, just the next thing today. Today’s ovation goes to you. Thank you for joining us and giving ovation.

00:17:10:12 – 00:17:11:22

Jessica Serrano

Thank you Zach.

00:17:11:24 – 00:17:34:11

Zack Oates

Thanks for joining us today. If you like this episode, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen. We’re all about feedback here. Again, this episode was sponsored by ovation, a two question, SMS based, actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurant. If you’d like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience, visit us at ovation up.com.