Ep 50: Ellie Doty is the Chief Marketing Officer for Burger King

Dec 22

Today’s episode is one you don't want to miss: our guest is Ellie Doty, Chief Marketing Officer for Burger King, previously CMO for Chili’s, and she comes from a number of marketing positions with KFC and Taco Bell. Our conversation with Ellie is all about the nostalgia-driven, visual identity refresh that she led for Burger King, along with her unique perspective on digital transformation and what digital actually means. We begin with Ellie's transition to her current role, including picking up the elegant logo journey already underway to see it through to the end of the line. From there, we get into the much needed mental shift of how digital marketing is inseparable from marketing, Burger King's data capture and CRM journey, and the importance of keeping your finger on the pulse when it comes to trends. This fascinating discussion covers everything from the brand versus performance debate to driving online ordering, paid media advertising and local spending, and even Ellie's experience with influencer marketing! We also touch on some valuable advice for young marketers with their eye on the CMO prize and some quick thoughts of the customer decision journey. For all this and more from one of the top experts in the industry, be sure to tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

Get to know Ellie, from her love of Elvis to how she transitioned into her role at Burger King.
Why it's a big deal to be their first North American CMO.
How the company's agility and willingness to be bold was a huge asset during the pandemic.
Clarifying the difference between a rebrand and visual identity.
Ellie's role of picking up the elegant visual identity underway and seeing it to the finish line.
The journey of owning the public memory of your logo into a way that's relevant for today.
Hear about the positive and nostalgia-driven response to the logo, including internally.
Making the mental shift that digital marketing is now synonymous with marketing.
Talking CRM; Ellie reflects on her work with changing the loyalty program at Chili's.
Learning some loyalty program terminology: earn-and-burn versus reward-every-time.
Where Burger King is in their journey of data capture and how they fill their CRM engine.
Driving online ordering, paid media advertising, local spending, and more!
Unlearning the favored marketing streams of the past while keeping your finger on the pulse.
One of Ellie's favorite parts of the job; working with the franchisees.
Ellie shares her view on the brand versus performance debate.
Covering Burger King's brand initiative of a purpose-driven campaign around real ingredients.
How Ellie loves working with food and brands that put a smile on people's faces.
Some great advice for young marketers aspiring to one day be CMO.
Understanding how the entire business works in order to be a well-rounded leader and CMO.
Closing with some lightning questions on influencer marketing, Gen Z, and customer journey.

Tweetables:

“Going through this global pandemic in restaurants, I think decisiveness and ‘choose your course and stick with it’ was one of the big lessons that we all needed to stick with, because we didn’t know what was going to happen. You lose 80 percent of your revenue overnight.” — @ellie_doty [0:06:50]

“The journey [of iconography] is how you own those assets, and memories, and memory structures, and icons in a way that’s super relevant for today.” — @ellie_doty [0:14:40]

“We view it as part of our job to ensure that you can enjoy your Whopper you love with no flavors, colors, or preservatives from artificial sources. It’s been a big commitment..” — @ellie_doty [0:39:52]

“You might not have the best gig in the room. My advice would be: do the very best job of that thing that you possibly can. Make it sing.” — @ellie_doty [0:43:38]