A&W Restaurants was founded in 1919 as a root beer stand in Lodi, California, to welcome the troops home after World War I. As America’s oldest franchise restaurant chain, today, there are nearly 450 locations across the U.S. and another 450 in Asia spanning four markets.
The chain is 100% franchisee-owned. The brand ensures franchisees have a voice in company decisions that will affect their businesses, and franchisees are represented by the National A&W Franchisee Association (NAWFA). A&W works collaboratively with franchisees on everything that happens in their restaurants—particularly on brand and marketing initiatives. The brand engages franchisees to ensure that anything new that’s launched—whether it’s products or advertising and marketing programs—is there to support profitable same-store growth as well as new restaurants being established.
Betsy Schmandt, President and COO of A&W Restaurants, oversees all revenue at A&W Restaurants, driving aspects of the business, operations, training, marketing, innovation, and franchise development, as well as technology and legal. It’s a broad scope, but Schmandt affirms it’s wonderful to be a part of a great American brand with 105 years of experience.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Schmandt about A&W’s new enterprise reporting and analytics solution, connecting with customers on an emotional level, and next generation customer loyalty.
A&W Restaurants was founded in 1919 as a root beer stand in Lodi, California, to welcome the troops home after World War I. As America’s oldest franchise restaurant chain, today, there are nearly 450 locations across the U.S. and another 450 in Asia spanning four markets.
The chain is 100% franchisee-owned. The brand ensures franchisees have a voice in company decisions that will affect their businesses, and franchisees are represented by the National A&W Franchisee Association (NAWFA). A&W works collaboratively with franchisees on everything that happens in their restaurants—particularly on brand and marketing initiatives. The brand engages franchisees to ensure that anything new that’s launched—whether it’s products or advertising and marketing programs—is there to support profitable same-store growth as well as new restaurants being established.
Betsy Schmandt, President and COO of A&W Restaurants, oversees all revenue at A&W Restaurants, driving aspects of the business, operations, training, marketing, innovation, and franchise development, as well as technology and legal. It’s a broad scope, but Schmandt affirms it’s wonderful to be a part of a great American brand with 105 years of experience.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Schmandt about A&W’s new enterprise reporting and analytics solution, connecting with customers on an emotional level, and next generation customer loyalty.
Good afternoon, good morning. This is Mark Johnson from Loyalty360. I hope everyone's happy, safe and well. Want to welcome you to another edition of our Leaders in Customer Loyalty series. In this series, we speak with leading brands about what they are seeing and hearing on the front lines of customer channel and brand loyalty. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Betsy Schmant. She's the President and COO of A&W restaurants. Thank you very much, betsy, for taking the time to speak with us today. How are you?
Speaker 2:
I'm great Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely. I just found out that we're both Miami grads, which is a good thing, miami Ohio that is. Would love to get a little more. We usually start these on a more personal level, get to know the individual we're speaking with. So we'd love to know a little bit more about you, uh, what you do at a w?
Speaker 2:
uh, that'd be great to know yeah sure, well, as you you mentioned, I'm the president and chief operating officer here. I oversee all revenue driving pieces of our business operations and training, marketing and innovation and franchise development, as well as technology and legal so pretty broad scope. And you know it's wonderful to be a part of this great American brand with 105 years of experience it is America's oldest franchise restaurant chain.
Speaker 1:
Okay, wow, that's awesome. I didn't know that. And how old is the organization?
Speaker 2:
We were founded in 1919, right after world war one, uh, yeah, world war one, uh, and basically started as a root beer stand in lodi, california, and welcome the troops home and have been building the brand ever since. So we've, yeah, so we've, seen our, our share of just about everything, including, we can now see, say, two global pandemics. So, seeing that, done that, and you know, continue to go strong.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and we're preparing for this. We were talking a little bit about the, the, the A&W restaurants franchisees. You have about 900 locations here in Asia, correct, Can you? Tell us a little bit more about the founding, some of the key points of the restaurant.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, sure. So, yeah, we have about 450 locations here in the US and another 450 in Asia across about four markets. There we are also 100% franchisee owned. We basically have a board of directors, our national A&W Franchisee Association, that is made up of franchisees who own and operate their restaurants. So we work collaboratively with them on everything that happens in our restaurants, particularly on brand and marketing initiatives. So it's a really unique system that we have here and work really closely with those franchisees to make sure everything that we launch whether it's new products or any new advertising programs, marketing programs that we do really are there to support profitable same-store growth and new, profitable restaurants.
Speaker 1:
We were reading recently that you launched or selected a new enterprise reporting analytics tool, a solution that will allow the brand to better leverage customer data in the decision making process, to help you market to your customers and do a number of other things as well. How do you see this new capability as empowering A&W to drive strategy within its customer loyalty, customer experience efforts?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's right. We recently implemented ParTex data central for enterprise reporting and analytics. We needed a robust enterprise-wide business intelligence system to pull together all of our POS, online ordering and kiosk sales data to help provide us with insights into sales trends, pricing strategies and menu performance. This quick and easy access to everything that's happening across our system allows us to see what's working well practically in real time. And, as an example, we just launched our new French onion double cheeseburger about a month ago and it's doing fantastic. Customers are really responding to it. We're in fact, selling it at about twice what our forecast was, which is wonderful for customers and wonderful for our operators, but makes it a challenge from a supply chain standpoint to make sure that we still have product from the first week of the promotion all the way through the end at the end of July. But basically, starting that first week, we could see that data and start procuring more of the boursin cheese spread that goes on these burgers to keep our customers happy and keep them coming back throughout the summer.
Speaker 1:
Excellent, and what KPIs and metrics will A&W collect and analyze to help drive the strategy and drive even the product choices?
Speaker 2:
Sure, we primarily look at average units sold per day per restaurant and we watch that week over week and you know, depending on the item it could be year over year to see how demand is shifting throughout the season and the limited time offering Then across the menu. So if it's not an LTO, then we look at how that item performs as part of the whole portfolio and then we use that to support decision-making for new product development and marketing initiatives.
Speaker 1:
Okay, there's a big push right now for privacy and data stewardship. A number of different states have different laws, starting in California with CDPA and there's GDPR and then others. That's more in Europe, though, when you look at how you can be a steward of the data, you know. How do you convey some of that to your customers to cultivate the trust to you know, use their data in a way that's going to drive value, but also in a, you know, very safe and secure manner as well.
Speaker 2:
Sure, I mean. Privacy is very important to us. We have a fairly robust privacy policy and it's easily accessible on our official website, awrestaurantscom. It's included in every Mug Club email, which is our version of a loyalty program, if you will. So that's all easily accessible for our customers to get a look at and see how we use that data. But we want to make sure that they understand what information we're collecting and how that information is used and certainly can reach out and, you know, stop communications with us at any time if they're uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:
Okay, you know, as a result of implementing this new solution, you know what future opportunities for growth and innovation based on these data-driven insights that you will be you know what future opportunities for growth and innovation based on these data-driven insights that you will be, you know, be able to access. Do you see for A&W?
Speaker 2:
We're excited to be able to use more data-driven insights to determine what items are working and what items are ready for a refresh. We're known for our burgers, floats and then some. We know our customers are craving more premium burgers from us, like our barbecue bacon crunch burger we launched last year, and the French onion double cheeseburger we just launched and the French onion double cheeseburger we just launched. We're seeing great growth from our hand-breaded chicken tenders as well and are looking at several ways to continue to innovate in that category. So really, the popularity of items helps us know what people are craving and how we can continue to bring more of those kinds of things to the market.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and you have a loyalty program in essence, in the A&W Deals and Meals Club. It provides members with coupons and exclusive deals as well as special birthday perks. Can you tell us a little bit more about that program, how it came to be and how customers can engage with it, and how you engage with it as the brand running the program?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, sure, so we have the Mug Club. It's A&W's free to join email and text messaging subscriber program and subscribers receive a coupon for a free small float on their birthday and other offers throughout the year. They can also receive sneak peeks at social media campaigns, new menu items, upcoming events and things like that. Fans can join the Muppet Club on our website, awrestaurantscom. Slash deals or by texting the word float to 575-01. So it's pretty easy. Either way, you'd like to engage with us.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and personalization is a growing area of interest for our audience. We have, you know, a hundred and some brands that are members. We meet with them weekly on different topics, and personalization is a growing area of interest for our audience. We have, you know, hundreds of some brands that are members. We meet with them weekly on different topics and personalization, segmentation, cadence management is a big one as well, you know. When you look at personalization, how is A&W or should I say what is A&W's vision for personalization going forward and in the role that that personalization will play in the overall customer loyalty and customer experience efforts?
Speaker 2:
Well, when a subscriber joins the Mudd Club, they're asked to select their favorite A&W location. So usually that's the one that's closest to them or the one that they visit when they're en route to their vacation spots. So from there we can segment our subscribers and send them custom communications on behalf of their local A&W so they can learn all the unique things that are happening in that restaurant. It could be their weekly cruise nights, it could be community events like parades that they're involved in, or any unique offers that are happening at the restaurant near them. Then, of course, mug Club subscribers can customize their communication preferences so that they only hear about the topics they're most interested in. For example, if they only want to get coupon offers or contest information, they can do that. And, of course, if they want to hear everything that's going on, we're happy to tell them all the great, exciting things that are going on with A&W.
Speaker 1:
Excellent. When you look at emotional loyalty, it's another area of interest for many brands today being able to drive that emotional engagement, being able to get to a more emotive connection with the customers. It can be quite a challenge to be able to do that. The challenge is with definitions around what emotional loyalty means, how you measure it. To be able to do that Challenges with definitions around what emotional loyalty means, how you measure it. But how does A&W spark and cultivate emotional loyalty with its customers?
Speaker 2:
Well, you know, I guess one of the most advantageous things of being a brand with nearly 105 years of histories that our guests have been creating memories in our restaurants for decades Family members bring, you know, the family members, grandparents bring their grandkids. They pass down that family tradition of visiting A&W, you know, historically, over a root beer float. But you know, because no matter who you talk to, everyone has their own unique A&W story to share and we'd like to remind guests about those memories but, more importantly, invite them to create their own new memories with us. Our new brand campaign that began in mid-April includes three live action video spots showcasing A&W guests from all walks of life.
Speaker 2:
In short, relatable situations such as a little leaguer after a game. There's one with a couple of teenagers on their first date and it's sort of silly. And then a husband and wife, I like to say, sharing a meal it's his meal and she steals one of his cheese curds, and so it's really those moments that are sort of a slice of life and things that are shared, you know, over an A&W meal and then, yeah, so you know, we really like to personalize and show that experience because we hear them all the time when we're out there and we try to share that across social media and other marketing touch points. Just to remind folks, a&w is a great place to make memories.
Speaker 1:
Okay, we really recently released the Next Generation Customer Loyalty paper. It's a research paper we do every year which looks at how brands are looking at the future of customer loyalty, what the expectations are, and when you look at Next Generation Customer Loyalty, what does that mean to A&W?
Speaker 2:
Well, for us, next Generation Customer Loyalty is more about more than just driving transactions. It's about building and cultivating relationships with our customers over time. Today's consumers are savvier than ever, so it's important that these relationships feel authentic and meet their individual needs as much as possible. So we try to really meet them at that emotional level, and A&W is perfectly suited for that.
Speaker 1:
Okay, when you look at the next generation of customers are you? Looking at them differently. How are you looking at them potentially and how do you plan to engage them from a customer perspective?
Speaker 2:
Well, we use a platform called Jebit, which allows us to create engaging personality quizzes and surveys and other kinds of fun experiences that connect with A&W fans online, which we think a lot of younger consumers really enjoy, and these interactive experiences give consumers a creative and fun way to interact with A&W while frankly providing us with key data about their preferences, what they really like and what they like to eat at A&W oftentimes so that we can really fine tune that messaging to what is most appealing to those consumers. Beyond that, we are expanding our other technology features, such as self-ordering kiosks and online ordering capabilities for our restaurants in the US, so that customers have the ability to enjoy their A&W favorites through digital ordering, convenient pickup and other delivery options, which, of course, appeals to everyone, but particularly younger consumers.
Speaker 1:
Okay, when you look at customer loyalty, are there programs out there that you admire from a customer loyalty perspective? If so, what do you like about their offerings, and are there any elements of those programs that you're looking to bring in and potentially implement into the A&W? Customer loyalty, customer experience, offering.
Speaker 2:
I recently saw a fairly new coffee concept claim to have 92% of their customers on their loyalty program, which I thought was incredible Just such a huge number. And particularly just starting at the gate they had a loyalty program and were able to get so many people signed up. But beyond the inclusiveness of that, they're able to connect with their customers when they drive up and ask if they'd like the same thing, because they can take their number and they know what they ordered the last time they were there and they can say would you like the same thing or something else? And I just love the feeling that that gives of we know you and we know what you like. You sort of feel like you're a regular immediately. So I think those kind of personalized offers and rewards are a great way to start a loyalty program. But making customers feel like regulars and also add convenience to their day is really where loyalty is going, in our opinion.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and last question we have what can Loyalty360 do to help you and your team with your customer loyalty efforts?
Speaker 2:
Well, you guys do a great job, and you know, but we're always interested in learning about new customer loyalty trends, along with predictions on what's coming for the future, and just help keep us in the know.
Speaker 1:
It's always changing, okay, well, thank you very much for that. And now we have our wonderful quick fire question round, and we'd like to keep responses to short phrases or get in trouble with the content team, as I always say. So what is your favorite word? Yes, what is your least favorite word?
Speaker 2:
Can't.
Speaker 1:
I was going to say no.
Speaker 2:
I don't like no either, but sometimes no is a good reason, but can't do it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, can't just reading a book called magic words by Jonathan no burger, jonah burger from Penn Wharton, it's you should never use, can't always use. Don't uh, because don't uh has uh uh, you have ownership around, don't? I don't eat cookies because they right, yes, so I do like toys, yes absolutely uh so what what?
Speaker 2:
excites you again uh new projects, new opportunities and new experiences.
Speaker 1:
There you go.
Speaker 2:
What do you find tiresome?
Speaker 1:
Excuses. Do you have a book that you I have a favorite book that you like to recommend to business colleagues, and if so, what is it?
Speaker 2:
It's an oldie but a goodie. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
Speaker 1:
There you go, good one. What profession, other than the one you're currently in, would you maybe like to attempt?
Speaker 2:
Well, I love real estate, and so I would be interested in maybe being a developer or real estate agent, something in that space of renovating and helping people find their dream homes.
Speaker 1:
Okay, what do you enjoy that you maybe don't get as much time to do as you probably would like to?
Speaker 2:
Well, I love being on the water. I grew up in Ohio but I have lots of family in Florida, so love being on the water and would love to be able to enjoy the ocean more often.
Speaker 1:
Okay, who inspired you to be the person that you are today?
Speaker 2:
Absolutely my parents.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and what do you typically think about at the end of the day?
Speaker 2:
Well, I try to reconnect with my husband and my friends, and oftentimes that's during a long walk with my dog. So just try to decompress.
Speaker 1:
And last question how do you want to be remembered by your friends and family?
Speaker 2:
Well, I hope. Well, hopefully you know, this isn't anytime soon but hopefully they'll think of me as a very positive, generous and fun-loving person.
Speaker 1:
Okay, great Betsy. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us today. It was great getting to know you a little more, but also learning more about the A&W brand and your customer loyalty approach. Very interesting interview and thank you very much for taking the time to share with us today fantastic.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much, mark, I really enjoyed it absolutely, and thank you, everyone else, for taking the time to join us. Make sure you join us back for another edition of our leaders and customer loyalty series soon. Until then, have a wonderful day.
