Today’s guest is Reed Daniels, the president and CEO of Red's Savoy Pizza, a local Minnesota Pizza Restaurant known for its ‘Sota-style recipe. With over a decade of involvement in the business, Reed has a rich understanding of the industry, having acquired the brand in 2019 after holding positions as Director of Marketing and President.
Today’s guest is Reed Daniels, the president and CEO of Red's Savoy Pizza, a local Minnesota Pizza Restaurant known for its ‘Sota-style recipe. With over a decade of involvement in the business, Reed has a rich understanding of the industry, having acquired the brand in 2019 after holding positions as Director of Marketing and President.
Red's Savoy Pizza has a storied history, beginning as a neighborhood joint and transforming into an entity with 19 units and growing. Reed attributes this colossal growth to building a solid marketing structure that introduced online ordering, gift cards, and a loyalty program.
The conversation highlights critical moments for businesses and the importance of leadership in navigating these periods. Talking about his experience during the government shutdown due to the pandemic, Reed emphasizes the importance of standing steadfast instead of giving in to panic. He identifies a company's ability to evolve its technological tools to enhance customer experience as crucial to staying relevant and successful in today's business environment. His practical example relates to the introduction of their app and how to evolve it from simply a rewards program app to an integrated tool that enhances customer experience.
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Guest Bio
Reed Daniels is a proficient marketing professional and the President and CEO of Red's Savoy Pizza, an iconic pizza brand with over 19 locations. Throughout his career, Reed has focused on combining his invaluable marketing expertise with his passion for driving customer engagement.
Since 2012, he has worked tirelessly to optimize Red's Savoy Pizza's branding, maximize customer loyalty, and bridge the gap between the digital and the physical. By achieving these objectives, Reed has successfully earned Red's Savoy Pizza a place on patrons' favorite lists.
Reed is also a lifelong Minnesota Vikings fan and an avid consumer of technology services. Reed finds joy in using tech to enhance daily living, work operations, and customer experience, particularly through apps.
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Guest Quote
“We designed the program called ‘Thank You Awards.’ We could say thank you for choosing us: ‘Here's a free cheese bread, here's wings.’ Kind of like an insider club, and it reminded me of back to our original location where it's like a lot of bars take care of the regulars, right? And that's a way for businesses to know, and appreciate, and think of the regulars.” – Reed Daniels
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Time Stamps
*(01:18) Red's Savoy Pizza Origins
*(04:51) How Reed transitioned into the business
*(06:18) What is 'Sota Style Pizza?
*(07:06) How “brand won” for Red's during the pandemic
*(12:42) Where can you foster loyalty with your customers?
*(17:27) Red's "Six Two" List and the path to becoming the first choice
*(22:41) Are you delivering real value to your customers?
*(29:53) Taking lessons from other successful brands
*(31:33) Why you should already be using live activities
*(34:02) Rapid Fire Questions
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Links
[00:00:00] Reed Daniels: The guests could get rewards multiple ways from every time that they interact with you or your brand. They could get points, they could unlock the next reward, whatever that is from you. They're getting rewards on their credit card, probably. They're also getting, sometimes, bonuses. There's other, like, third party programs that say, if you buy here, if you spend in this category, it's extra.
[00:00:28] Reed Daniels: So it's, like, now built into, like, the DNA of a guest. So, like... Expect rewards and loyalty and all that kind of stuff. And the goal at the end of it is loyalty, right? That's what I believe is the key to marketing and branding.
[00:00:44] Reed Daniels: Welcome to Masters of Max, a mobile app experience podcast. Please welcome your host, Tom Buda, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Airship.
[00:00:58] Tom Butta: Welcome to another episode of Masters of Max. Today, we're joined by Reid Daniels, who is the president and CEO of Red's Savoy Pizza. I'm not sure a lot of people know about Red Savoy Pizza, so welcome, Reid. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about the company. Thanks
[00:01:16] Reed Daniels: for having me. Really appreciate it.
[00:01:18] Reed Daniels: So Red's, not a lot of people know about it, but the people that do are pretty obsessed with it. You know, I think before we even had a... marketing department, I think it was like 1997 or something like that, like Maxim magazine had like the 12th most life changing piece in America or something, when it was just red.
[00:01:36] Reed Daniels: You know, and on those are some juggernauts, right? You know, so the people in, you know, in Chicago, the Lou Maldonadis, the Genos and all that stuff were on there. And one off little shop that started in on the east side of St. Paul in 1965 was on that list too. It started off kind of like as a, uh, Completely unintentional, you know, feel the dreams type thing, you know, build it they will common.
[00:01:59] Reed Daniels: You know, Red was a guy, he just, he worked, worked his butt off, and uh, he was a bartender, bouncer at a bar, and the pizza place next door became available. It was a long time pizza place before, so it's, that, that location was a pizza place. But he bought it and knocked a hole in the wall, and as Red was known to do, tinkering with stuff, and came out with an amazing recipe in the 60s, and we're here today with 19 Units and Growing.
[00:02:25] Tom Butta: Wow, that's great. So, you've been involved with the business for a while, no? Yeah, it's been a little
[00:02:30] Reed Daniels: bit over a decade. So, I, you know, back in the day, Red didn't really want to expand. Didn't really want to franchise. He had a, well, he's jokey. built a store for his son, so I think that they wouldn't work together, but they'd work together.
[00:02:46] Reed Daniels: And then also his wife's like, oh yeah, I'll have one too. And so they had a couple locations, just kind of like family locations. And then people had came to him for franchising for years, you know, the, you know, 90s and stuff like that. And he'd always say, no, no, no. And then in mid 2000s, you know, a couple of kids on the east side of St.
[00:03:05] Reed Daniels: Paul. So east side of St. Paul is a very blue collar working. town. Like if you think of it like, you remember those old Miller High Life commercials where it's like, you know, not fancy? Is the east side of St. Paul in the most endearing way, just like salt of the earth, hardworking, great people. And so, you know, as people grew up in that neighborhood, people were like, Oh yeah, like that was my place.
[00:03:30] Reed Daniels: You know, your dad would go cash his check at the bar, get a pizza and a beer and go home, you know, and that type of, you know, bring a pizza home. And so. He allowed, you know, kids from the neighborhood to open a couple of satellite locations, and the, the state came in and said, actually, those are not licensed locations, you're a franchise because of XYZ rules, and in 2010, they started flipping from licensees to franchises, and we had about eight locations, and then I started a marketing company in 2012, you know, at some point, when I write a book, at some point, it was like the happenstance of meeting my attorney at a networking event, That was the attorney that was turning Red's from a license to a franchise.
[00:04:11] Reed Daniels: And she's like, well, we'll be your first client of your marketing company. And I said, okay, so 600 bucks a month contract. And I fell in love with it immediately. And so, you know, Red and, you know, his family and the franchisees at the time. And as a marketer, when you have a product that is second to none.
[00:04:32] Reed Daniels: makes your life a little easier. The stories that people had and the feelings that people have with brand is what really captivated me. And then, oh, by the way, there was no systems or processes or technology or marketing or anything like that. And so I just kept finding the next problem. And, and, and here we are.
[00:04:50] Tom Butta: Well, when did you decide to, to move from being a consultant into the actual business?
[00:04:58] Reed Daniels: So I started in 2012. In 2015, I was the first employee of the corporate brand as a director of marketing. And then in 2017, I was promoted to president, and then we rebranded the company, and Red dyed that ear. And, um, so we were in the middle of the rebrand, Red passes, and our original location, that iconic location closed down.
[00:05:26] Reed Daniels: Red was 80 and worked until the day he died. And his kids were like, that's, that's dad's, you know, and there was, it needed some updates and a bunch of different other things, but we closed that location down and then rebranded our company in 17. You know, new logo, our old logo had like eight fonts in it, you know, like the, you know, handwritten on a napkin probably, and then turned into, turned into something, and uh, so we rebranded, trademarked the term Soda Style Pizza, which is what we're known for.
[00:05:52] Reed Daniels: And then I went to the board and the family and I said, hey, here's what I want to do over the next five years, and a lot of it had, you know, technology and investments and everything like that, and we put together a deal in 2019 for me to buy, buy the brand. So here we are. That was in 19, and then we go right into the pandemic, so that, you know, like that goes, everything kind of is like a, I call it COVID calendar, where you just like all the years run together.
[00:06:18] Tom Butta: I've got to try one of these pizzas, um, what soda
[00:06:21] Reed Daniels: style? Oh, it's really, it's really easy, and it's like the best comfort food. It's thin crust, spicy passive aggressive sauce, loaded with toppings, and cut into squares. Brilliant. Okay, I love
[00:06:34] Tom Butta: that. So you're, you're sort of combining North and South Italy. You know, with, with a little bit of a, you know, twist on it South being in down in Sicily, it's all, you got a square, you don't get it.
[00:06:46] Tom Butta: Triangle, right? Yeah, it's
[00:06:48] Reed Daniels: loaded though, like edge to edge, layered like lasagna, just lots of toppings and a very fun, and so we have our sauce and our sausage is proprietary, our dough and our cheese and everything too, but that sauce is the best.
[00:07:04] Tom Butta: All right. It sounds like a destination. I mean, the pleasure of actually...
[00:07:08] Tom Butta: Having comfort food, like, and delicious comfort food, uh, during those lockup days was probably in many ways, you know, something that was even more sought after than even the days of you got to stop by after work. Have a beer
[00:07:24] Reed Daniels: and pick up a pizza. That's where brand wins, right? You know, and so like the quality of food, you know, we had a lot of people that knew about us.
[00:07:31] Reed Daniels: We had a lot of people that tried us during the pandemic, but you know, when there was so much uncertainty in the world, you know, we call it the 12 days, like the first 12 days that the government shut down. You know, I believe a lot of people thought like, Oh, Be in that camp too that, oh, we just got to go lockdown for two weeks, and it'll be fine.
[00:07:49] Reed Daniels: Everybody will just get back to life. And like, so we 12 days was pretty brutal. And then after that, you know, it was, you know, kind of to the moon and people are trying new things and a sick of cooking. Like, we all got to be cooking experts for 12 days. And then we were like, oh, I don't want to cook anymore.
[00:08:06] Reed Daniels: So what are the options around me? And we got, we got a lot of people in our neighborhoods. And, you know, we fed a lot of. You know, first responders and got involved in our communities that way. And it was, you know, one of the time, you know, I think restaurants, you know, are kind of the fabric of our societies, um, where people gather and people eat and people celebrate.
[00:08:26] Reed Daniels: And, um, you know, that, that changed a lot in 20 and 21, and we're just glad to be a part of it and be able to be there and survive through it. So
[00:08:35] Tom Butta: there's two things that I want to follow through on. One is just coming off of what you just said. I've always believed in this idea of critical moments. And we face them regularly, whether you're actually able to identify them as, as a critical moment or not is the start, but then actually how you respond to that, it makes, makes all the difference.
[00:08:58] Tom Butta: And it, it certainly sounds like. You had a lot of awareness around what was happening and where you fit, you know, within the context of that moment. And, um, and you really made, made a difference, I think, probably on, you know, for the business, for probably your staff, for your customers. And so, congratulations, um, because a lot of other people could have gone the other way, right?
[00:09:24] Tom Butta: Which is like... We need to hunker down, we need to shut down, we need to only serve between these hours, right? Whatever it might, we need to limit the inventory. There's a lot of decisions you could have made then. I
[00:09:34] Reed Daniels: think that, you know, you said I really like the term critical moments. I'm gonna, I'm gonna bring that with me.
[00:09:40] Reed Daniels: I remember a time, um, it was the day that the government shutdown happened. I called all my franchisees together, and a lot of uncertainty, right? And I said, Here's our plan, you know, and, you know, and it's constantly changed over the next years, but I said, Hey, you know, we were built for this, you know, for, for a lot of restaurants.
[00:10:03] Reed Daniels: And we were fortunate, like being in pizza takeout and delivery, we already had the delivery mechanism in our DNA. We didn't have to reinvent our whole structure. We didn't have to reinvent our business completely, but then we, we did get tighter, you know, so like all of our catering business went away immediately.
[00:10:19] Reed Daniels: Catering's a big part of our business. And that 12 days, I remember, you know, I had franchisees calling and saying like, we're dying here, we need to, you know, discount and all the stuff, and we're a very low discount company, and we use our technology and our, uh, you know, our loyalty program to do a majority of that.
[00:10:36] Reed Daniels: But that critical moment of like, I remember, I felt like Braveheart, you know, where he's like, you know, Mel Gibson's on the line, and they're going into battle, and it was like, hold, just hold, and everyone's like, no, we gotta, you know, and it was like, if we just could hold on, and just like, we knew that, like, I truly believed in my heart that it was a critical piece, that like, we were ready for it, and I'm like, truly congratulate, you know, our franchisees for believing in the vision and to hold.
[00:11:06] Reed Daniels: Because we flourished out of it, you know, our, our neighborhoods we took care of, but they took care of us too. And so our guests were so thankful for our team to show up every day and make pizzas and serve our communities. And that was a key thing. And, you know, that was a key thing for a lot of businesses that day that, you know, or wherever you were that those, those shutdowns happened, but being able to have a team and a partnership with franchisees was, um, Really
[00:11:31] Tom Butta: powerful.
[00:11:32] Tom Butta: People typically don't get through those critical moments without some form of leadership. And it could be that you choosing to be your own leader and taking control of whatever that situation is. But when there's other people involved, especially other people who's basically their business livelihood is, is dependent on you, um, as the, as the present CEO of the business, you know how you respond, right?
[00:11:58] Tom Butta: How you choose to lead. During those moments make the difference. I mean, it sounds like you had a really good playbook on what to do, but, but more than that, I think there was confidence that you conveyed for the team and then they rallied around it and probably contributed at even exponential levels beyond what you might have actually thought was possible.
[00:12:19] Tom Butta: So Leadership matters, and it doesn't matter whether, you know, you've got 19, you know, locations, or you've got 1, 900, it matters. And sometimes it's even harder when it's a little bit more personal, where you actually know the names of all these people, and have a relationship with them. So, um, you know, so, congratulations, um, on that.
[00:12:41] Tom Butta: Appreciate that, yeah. You, you talked about loyalty. You said you created a loyalty program. How and when did that maybe link to, you know, your app? Uh, it sounded like there was a lot of, you know, originally there was a lot of just, you know, stop by this one location, maybe two, maybe three. But, you know, as you scale, you know, people, especially during the pandemic, people were turning to digital.
[00:13:03] Tom Butta: Primarily in terms of how they interact with brands. Talk to us about, about
[00:13:08] Reed Daniels: the app. If we, you know, peel back the onion on a loyalty program, there's a couple key elements to the guest engagement platform for businesses.
[00:13:17] Reed Daniels: And so loyalty is one of those, the digital experience when people are buying. Right? Like, so e commerce and all that kind of stuff. But then, you know, what do I get for choosing you? And in good, bad, or indifferent, credit card companies have done a killer job of that. Hotels, airlines, you know, I think that, you know, there's some statistics out there, and I'm a big...
[00:13:39] Reed Daniels: You know, we're at Minneapolis, Big Delta Hub, I'm a Delta fanboy. This concept of that they are an unprofitable operating business, but they make so much money off of their rewards program, um, and their credit cards and all that kind of stuff is really interesting. piece, and you see a lot of players that do that.
[00:13:58] Reed Daniels: And so, when we designed a loyalty program, it was one of those things, like in 2012, when we, when I started, we had cash registers at some locations, we had three different POSs, and, and we had to like build an ecosystem and a digital platform from the, you know, so we had a POS system that we got everybody on,
[00:14:18] Reed Daniels: every year we kind of had a new initiative. So one year was online ordering, the next year was gift cards, the next year was loyalty. So we started that at about... 2014 15 ish. And at the time, I knew, like as any business, whether it is, you know, your Bob's Pizza or the local hardware store or, you know, an enterprise company, it's about building a list and being able to communicate with, you know, potential customers and customers and existing customers.
[00:14:48] Reed Daniels: And so, I just knew that, like, that was the way to build the list. Like, there's restaurants that have E clubs, and they, kind of, a lot of E clubs are just telling people stuff, versus, like, trying to build relationships and know them on a one to one level. And that, that has drastically changed from 2014 and 15 to now, in terms of, like, one to one personalization and, like, your habits are different than my habits and all of that kind of stuff.
[00:15:12] Reed Daniels: And so, that was a big piece of what I thought was going to be the way that we designed the program called Thank You Rewards. It was a way for people to, we could say, thank you for choosing us. Some of that was in compensation, right, like you get points or dollars back to use, but like, hey, here's a free cheese bread, here's wings, or you know, try us out, or here's a new menu item, and all that stuff.
[00:15:35] Reed Daniels: That was kind of like an insider club, and it kind of reminded me of back to our original location, where it's like, You know, a lot of bars take care of the regulars, right? And it's like, that's a way for business to like, know and appreciate and think the regulars. And so that's kind of table stakes. And now it's gotten to be even bigger.
[00:15:55] Reed Daniels: I think there's some big players in the Walgreens. Every time you go, they ask, do you have a account, but you know, it's Walgreens, there's your, your, your automotive shops, your, you know, these bigger players. And now that's almost, especially at our size. And once you get past three locations, five locations, whatever your business line is, I think the guest expects you to play big.
[00:16:17] Reed Daniels: The guest expects you to play, hey, you're not just that local corner store anymore. You have to have your inventory online. Oh, by the way, you need to know who I am when I'm coming in. I should be able to just check in with my phone number. When I call you, you should know what, you know, what are you going to give me for choosing?
[00:16:36] Reed Daniels: And now, you know, as we peel back the onion, the guests could get rewards, quote unquote, multiple ways from every time that they interact with you or your brand. They could get points, they could unlock the next reward, whatever that is from you. They're getting rewards on their credit card probably, whether it's in a cashback or points or whatever they do there.
[00:17:00] Reed Daniels: They're also getting sometimes bonuses, like there's other like third party programs to say if you buy here, if you spend in this category, it's extra. So it's like now built into like the DNA of a guest to like expect. Rewards and loyalty and all that kind of stuff. And the goal at the end of it is loyalty, right?
[00:17:19] Reed Daniels: To get on with something I kind of coined a couple years ago is called the 6 2 list, is this concept of we just want to be on the list and what list is that at restaurants so that at the end of the day you call your significant other and you're like, What do you want to do? I don't want to cook tonight.
[00:17:37] Reed Daniels: And you're like, uh, you're going to go to one of six places, and two of them are probably pizza, and we just want to be on that list. And through loyalty, and brand marketing, and email campaigns, and the experience they had at your restaurants, our goal is to just stay on that list, and that goes in all verticals.
[00:17:54] Reed Daniels: You know, so that when, you know, whether you're an insurance provider, you know, and you're the local. You know, all state agents, when people think of insurance, they think of you. That's what you're trying to, I believe, is the key to marketing and branding. Yeah, that's
[00:18:09] Tom Butta: interesting. The 6 2 list. What you're basically saying is that you're trying to position the brand in such a way that there's a preference, um, and when there's choice, people are preferring to work with you.
[00:18:22] Tom Butta: And I would say that it's a lot easier. But by no means easy. It's just a lot easier to actually do that, to drive more loyalty, uh, more engagement with the proper, you know, levels of value exchange, which we should get into here in a minute, when you've got a darn good, like, if not exceptional, If not, it's worth making the trip to, you know, St.
[00:18:50] Tom Butta: Paul to actually experience red Savoy
[00:18:52] Reed Daniels: pizza. There's, there's an interesting concept that I think Google wrote a book about. It's called the, they call it ZMOT. It's like the zero moment of truth. It's the concept when you walk into Target, you go to the detergent aisle. And you don't even have to look, you know you're buying Tide.
[00:19:10] Reed Daniels: The selection on the wall, there's nothing that's going to happen in that wall, likely, that's going to change your buying behavior. And if we get, they go like, that's what we're trying to... to build is like that, you know, that's just my pizza place. That is just my default, your, your default preference. Yeah.
[00:19:28] Reed Daniels: And so like, that's, you know, we, we talk a lot internally. It's like, it's not just the brand. The brand is a bunch of features, but it's like, it's value. You know, not in terms of just price, but like it's price experience, how they feel when they leave, all of that stuff is like how we build it back. And then, you know, loyalty programs and ease of use for digital and all that stuff is important, but it's the, the whole package that, you know, we constantly work
[00:19:55] Tom Butta: on.
[00:19:56] Tom Butta: Sure. Well, what's interesting is that, you know, I, I mean, as you know, more and more and more and more, especially as a self described, uh, Delta fan boy, your interactions with brands. are often through some digital form, most likely these days through an app. And you have a lot of feelings about that. Is it easy to use?
[00:20:15] Tom Butta: Is it, can I do it, what I need to do? Or is it frustrating, etc., etc.? And yet, you know, there's a physical component in that case to Delta's business, right? You go to an airport, you get on a plane. There's a physical component to your business, which maybe some of your customers don't ever experience, but probably a lot of them do.
[00:20:37] Tom Butta: So that sort of, the melding of physical and digital is a challenge. I mean, Home Depot, much of their latest campaign, the advertising campaign, is literally their app. Like, it's almost like a day in the life of a customer through their app. You know, it's like, it's, we, the good news is we've got a lot of stuff.
[00:20:59] Tom Butta: The bad news is we've got a lot of stuff that nobody can find and we can't employ enough people to help you. So we're going to figure out how to help yourself. And so they've designed their app in a way that allows people to sort of pre select what it is they're looking for. They notify, are notified when they're on location.
[00:21:18] Tom Butta: They are pointed to where that inventory is. In some cases, it's even put, taken off shelf and put to a place where if you already know you want to buy. And you go through this expedited process. And that's especially the case for, you know, their sort of pros. You know, their sort of B2B business. But especially for, for those of us weekend.
[00:21:36] Tom Butta: You know, kind of warriors having to fix stuff or hang stuff or, you know, do things. Because, R, we can do it, R, let's just build it, right? Yeah, and I don't know if
[00:21:46] Reed Daniels: it's in B19 or F27, and how many times and how many steps I gotta get walking across, because it could be in plumbing, but it also could be at the screws.
[00:21:54] Tom Butta: I don't know. Right, exactly. So now they've sort of eliminated that level of mystery, which translates into a bad experience, because it's frustrating.
[00:22:04] Reed Daniels: Yeah, or what we're really trying to avoid is, you get home and my wife says to me, What the hell took you so long, right? So, like, if I could find my stuff faster and reduce the pain, wherever the pain point is, is what, you know, technology is supposed to be doing for us.
[00:22:20] Reed Daniels: Like, that's why, you know, like the iPhone is an incredible tool. Like, it's a Swiss Army knife of everything because of all the apps, because of the flashlight, because of all of the tools and resources that it gives us.
[00:22:33] Tom Butta: Yeah, so let's talk about the value exchange. As you point out, it's more than just, you know, creating loyal, you know, rewards for loyalty.
[00:22:41] Tom Butta: Earlier, you talked about this idea of personalization. How have you been able to find out more? In a kind of zero party compliant way about your customers and their preferences on the kinds of things they like, the kinds of things that they do. So their behavior, their stated preferences, the product stated preferences for how they could be communicated with on whether it's through the app, you know, SMS, phone, text, push notifications, whatever it might be, email, how you're getting more of that information from your customers such that.
[00:23:18] Tom Butta: They're feeling like they're getting a lot of value, again, beyond a really good pizza. Yeah, I think,
[00:23:27] Reed Daniels: let's start off with, like, we have some, let's call it tenants. We have some tenants, and then we have how, you know, they're stuck to test. So, like, for example, just a belief system that I have is a text message is pretty invasive.
[00:23:44] Reed Daniels: A text message is for my friends, my family, all of that kind of stuff. If I get a random text message from a brand that is about a sales thing, it actually bothers me. Right? Some people that doesn't bother, but some people it does. And so we've built our tenants to say, we will give someone a transactional text to say, here, track your delivery driver.
[00:24:06] Reed Daniels: But we're not going to text you to say it's free wing Friday, right? Because that's, you know, getting in my, it's like dropping it to someone's DMs is pretty... It's invasive. Yeah, invasive. And somebody, you know, like, I didn't ask for this text or I, you know, it feels spammy, right? And like, we kind of all accept that on email, you know, that people get on a list or someone sells your list and you kind of, it annoys you, but it is more accepted because It's not popping up in your face.
[00:24:37] Reed Daniels: What we've started to use through our app is not push notifications because it's, you know, geo fenced or, or your profile, which would, you know, we would know your profile for text messaging too, but we wanted to be a light touch. You know, you have your list of notifications on your iPhone for missed calls to your prescriptions ready or whatever.
[00:24:58] Reed Daniels: So we use that as like a push notification of like, we're rolling out a new cheesecake next week. When it becomes to... You know, that next level below there is like, and I believe that, you know, when we talk about technology as a tool is everybody uses our business a little bit differently. And so some people order us for catering, bigger office orders.
[00:25:20] Reed Daniels: Some people are, it's like every Friday night. Some people are when I'm in town, you know, whatever that is. And so we start to just build, like, we don't know. Individually, like, oh, Tom really likes Tuesdays and whatever, , we have a team called Strategy and Analytics that helps us build segments of guests.
[00:25:41] Reed Daniels: People that, you know, buy different amounts of times or whatever. Different averages, different offens, all that kind of stuff, and those constantly change. And then we can constantly change our messaging to them. But what we do, and this is kind of in our shift in our technology specifically within our app, is we keep adding tools within the app that it's not just a rewards program app.
[00:26:03] Reed Daniels: Like, hey, I can see how many points I have. And that's what it started as, you know, in 2016 when we first got our app or whatever year it was. It was very static, but I look at an app on someone's device as real estate, you know, you take up that much of a screen is you have to have some value is the question that you're talking about.
[00:26:21] Reed Daniels: So like, what does it do? Can I, can I check in at your restaurant? Can I? See what your specials are. Can I order on there? Can I give feedback? So, like, all of these things that we look to add on, and what does the guest want to, whether they want to know that the part's in aisle F19 or back. But, you know, I think that that is constantly our evolution.
[00:26:42] Reed Daniels: It's like, what does the guest want? And, you know, a lot of what we've dealt with with labor is like, how do we get the guest to be self sufficient? Like, we saw the digital ordering change. And I think that, you know, we're, As a society, this is, you know, I've talked to people, it's like, there's a sense of like, isolation through COVID, you know, everybody's working from home and doing the thing, whatever, but like, are they going to call in?
[00:27:04] Reed Daniels: Are they going to do that? Is it going to be awkward for people to call in? You know, everybody's called in on a Friday night to a pizza place and they're like, can you hold please? You're like, dang it! You know, and then they're like, oh, they lose, you know, it's loud in the background and everything like that.
[00:27:17] Reed Daniels: So how do we like, get people to order in their underwear and be happy about it? Please put pants on before our delivery drivers get there. However, Like, how can you, like, do it your way, right, and do it on your time, and so, like, that's what we're trying to constantly, like, peel back the onion and, and figure out, and it's kind of like our little labyrinth that we're, you know, technology changes, and customer behavior changes, and customer wants change, um, and a lot of times it's right in the coattails of the big guys.
[00:27:46] Reed Daniels: When you're 19 units and don't have a huge technology budget, it's like, what are other people doing that are really cool? Secondary industries, you know, that, that could be brought into ours. So,
[00:27:58] Tom Butta: so two things. One is I'm happy to, you know, given that we work with thousands of the world's sort of leading brands and help to create the most value for and get the most value from their sort of mobile consumer, particularly through the app, both in terms of how they're communicated with in app as well as outside the app.
[00:28:16] Tom Butta: You know, there's things that we've created that get talked in through API calls and SDKs and that kind of thing to a brand's app that provide, I would call them enhanced levels of experience. So things like having, actually having a preference center that establishes how you want to be communicated with right up the gut.
[00:28:36] Tom Butta: Don't make any guesses. Some people might prefer SMS versus, you know, text versus push versus email and, you know, how often, um, maybe as they become a new customer And you onboard them, which most people don't do after they download the app. How can you establish some preferences and desires, uh, up front without asking too much?
[00:28:59] Tom Butta: So it's like just understanding that a relationship takes time, right? And to, uh, you know, to ask for, you know, so what, what, you know, how much money do you have in the bank? Like on a first date, that's, that's like probably not a good idea. Things that, you know, you would only share and will be willing to do so.
[00:29:17] Tom Butta: After you've established trust in that relationship, and then there's things you can do through in app surveys, all those types of things are also available and are being used, you know, by a lot of the, you know, the brands that we work with, including integrations with, you know, with wallet. So, so that things are, like, loyalty, et cetera, it's really easy to store, so.
[00:29:38] Tom Butta: I think that's
[00:29:38] Reed Daniels: cool, because, like, so I'm a Viking season ticket holder, and put me through pain, and, you know, all that, you know, we had the good times, we got the bad, you know, but, you know, it's like, you know, in any... time, whether it is a, you know, a funnel and inbound marketing on a website or whatever, it's like you need to get the basic level of information and you build that profile as you go.
[00:29:59] Reed Daniels: What the Minnesota Vikings did well when they launched their new app that I appreciated was, you know, you got to log in, you know, email and whatever, but then they gave you additional points to fill out more of your profile. Add a picture, get this, add whatever, and some of them were like, points towards something, some of them were sweet stakes entrance to win, lottograph stuff, but if you wanna finish your profile, you're 90 percent of the way there, we're gonna give you a signed X, or whatever that is, and like, it's a postcard that they'll send you in the mail.
[00:30:34] Reed Daniels: Costs them little to nothing, but you get to determine whether or not that has value to you. What they're willing to give you in order to fill out what they want. And so, you know, that's why I said like email is a lot of spam is because it's a low hanging, you know, getting someone's email, but like having them self disclose without it having to be, you know, Hey, it's my first date.
[00:30:54] Reed Daniels: And would you like to get married? Um, yeah, exactly. It's, it's interesting. It's an interesting use case. So, so
[00:31:01] Tom Butta: obviously you're, you're, you know, you're a student and an expert in marketing and probably a student of the business that you're in. Sounds like you're paying attention to, um, others that are doing things really well.
[00:31:12] Tom Butta: Are there, you talked about the Vikings app. Are there other? Companies that are, you know, kind of crushing the mobile app game.
[00:31:19] Reed Daniels: There's a newer feature, and you're probably going to know the exact term of it, um, but it's like Uber has it, so you get like an Uber, and then it'll, you can like close, after it's been accepted, you close the, you don't close the app, but you like go back to like your normal life, but if you lock your screen, it tells you like, your driver's like two miles, two minutes away, and you know, he's got a black Jeep.
[00:31:41] Reed Daniels: Whatever that he's picking you up in. That live, relevant information is really spectacular, I think. You know, I got Panera the other day delivered to my house, and you know, that had that and said like, oh, it's like 37 minutes, and there's like a countdown, and then at the end of it, it asks for feedback. Oh, great.
[00:32:00] Reed Daniels: You tell me exactly, I know what to expect without having to go back into the app and pull up the tracker again, and then at the end you give me a feedback and I'm done. And it goes away. Into, you know, I think that that was a really, that's a really, you know, cool putting that information front when you need it.
[00:32:15] Reed Daniels: So
[00:32:16] Tom Butta: the first thing is called live activities. And that's Apple. Apple kind of invented that. So, you know, on the lock screen, if you find value in being updated on something, but don't want to keep being interrupted with these sort of push notifications, it just keeps updating. It's called live activities.
[00:32:34] Tom Butta: And, you know, so like, you know, an Uber driver, you know, and you can be tracking that. Or I don't know if you're watching, um, you know, the Vikings game or not watching the game, but you want to be updated on the score as opposed to you having to go and keep checking in. Um, that's another way to do it. We actually were, we're obviously been doing this for 14 years, so we're super close to Apple and Google.
[00:32:57] Tom Butta: So much so that we were live with live activities for a company that was based in Europe and it was during the Euro Cup. And so, literally live day one when Apple announced it, you were able to, you know, and there's like passionate fans that have their teams and they want to be, they don't want to have to keep interrupting their day by, you know.
[00:33:17] Tom Butta: Going to find the score, it was actually being brought to them, uh, for eight hours, up to eight hours. And I don't know,
[00:33:23] Reed Daniels: you would, you would know the technology background of that, but it seems to me that there might be a lighter technology load than having a hundred thousand people keep loading ESPN. com and polling.
[00:33:39] Tom Butta: Yeah, it's sort of a, it's sort of a, I don't know, kind of a push on steroids. It's just, but it's, it's, it's less intrusive and a little bit more intuitive. All right. Well, we've covered, um, a lot of ground and, uh, we're getting to the end here, but I've really enjoyed the conversation and, um, and really applaud you on, you know, what you've done for really from the ground up.
[00:34:00] Tom Butta: And I'm also happy that you, you know, kind of, kind of came into this world from a marketing background because, um, you know, my view about marketing is it's like, it's the point of the spear and everything else has to line up behind that. And, uh, sometimes as an outside consultant, it's hard to actually influence everything.
[00:34:16] Tom Butta: But everything actually has to line up behind what that ultimate sort of core positioning is going to be about. So, so really well done. I look forward to staying in touch. So, rapid fire questions. Um, and this is something we ask all the guests that are on the show. So, Apple or Android phone?
[00:34:36] Reed Daniels: Apple. It's not even...
[00:34:39] Reed Daniels: The phone, it's the iPad, it's the computer, everything, and, you know, everything syncs. That's, that's, that's the goal for me.
[00:34:47] Tom Butta: Is there an app you can't live without? Probably Viking's app during football season, but are there others you can't live without? Uh, it's
[00:34:55] Reed Daniels: probably really basic, but the calendar.
[00:34:58] Reed Daniels: Knowing where I got to go next. I'm trying to get better at it. You know, we're on a podcast right now, but listening to books and podcasts, there's a lot of content out there, so finding really great content, um, is, you know, there's a lot to consume. And so, you know, being able to digest that on the way, whether it's podcasts or Audible.
[00:35:18] Tom Butta: Yeah, for sure. Um, is there a new app or a feature or a trend that you're really, um, loving? I mean, you talked a little bit about live activities on the lock screen. Anything else? Live activities
[00:35:31] Reed Daniels: would probably be the one. You know, I think that that, that is a way for whatever is happening, relevant.
[00:35:37] Reed Daniels: Whether, you know, it could be, where's my kid's bus? To, you know, whatever, however it's used, but that super relevant information quickly is what I'm most excited
[00:35:48] Tom Butta: about. Do you have any vacations
[00:35:50] Reed Daniels: planned? Um, yeah, we're going to Maui in January, and then we're going to Napa in a couple weeks to celebrate our anniversary.
[00:35:58] Tom Butta: Oh, nice. Sounds like a great place to go. Last question, any shows, uh, you're binge watching or, you know, book series you're reading? Binge
[00:36:06] Reed Daniels: watching right now, we're almost done with Suits, which has been, uh, it's been a ride, but that, you know, we, we try to, you know, Every summer we kind of pick a show, a couple years ago it was Breaking Bad, but right now we're on Suits.
[00:36:20] Reed Daniels: Yeah, I can't
[00:36:21] Tom Butta: believe, I mean, they've been going a long time. Yeah, it's pretty wild. Well, Reid, thank you very much for your time, and I wish you much success, continued success going forward. Thanks, cheers.
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