Joseph Szala is a Principal, Creative, and Strategist at Vigor Restaurant Branding, a restaurant and beverage branding and marketing studio based in Atlanta, Georgia, but servicing the world. Joseph has worked with hundreds of restaurants over his career, and has written a new book distilling all of his knowledge called “The Bullhearted Brand: Building Bullish Restaurant Brands”.

Here’s one featured takeaway from this episode and Joseph’s answers to the questions host Zack Oates asks each guest:

Featured Takeaway: Brands That Build Loyalty Are Authentic

“The way to increase loyalty is by making sure that nobody is creating reasons to disbelieve the brand’s promises…If you say something, you better mean it. You better back it up with action…Authenticity is the key.” – Joseph Szala

1: What is the most important aspect of the guest experience today?

Safety of the guests and workers. “This should always be point number one. The worst thing a restaurant can do is get people sick.”

2: What is something successful you have seen or tried lately?

Creative naming coming from ghost kitchens. “I think it’s for the better because the risk of losing money is so much lower…we really need some innovative names out there breaking convention.”

3: Who is someone in the restaurant industry that deserves an Ovation?

Stratis Morfogen, creator of Brooklyn Chop House and Brooklyn Dumplings. “And he has basically resurrected the Automat and revitalized it with a big bomb of technology.”