Alan Magee loves working with turnaround brands, guiding them through digital transformation and paving the way for stronger growth and customer experiences. 

“It’s a tough balancing act” he says. Digital is supposed to make things so much easier but that’s not always the case. Alan is in Year 3 of his implementing a turnaround strategy for Church’s Chicken, a global chicken-lovers brand. 

He advocates for engaging smart digital people to manage and optimize the technology -- you can’t set it and forget it -- and to help with the change management process involved with new tech adoption. 

Highlights from this episode include: 

• Avoid being “data rich & insights poor”  - Alan believes having 40% of truthful, real-time data is better than 30-day old data. More on our data discussion here. 
• How to fend off dissatisfiers in an increasingly complex omni-channel world. Tech can only do so much to solve it. It’s about the people. 
• Simplification and Storytelling - it all comes down to this to delivering on your promises and providing the best guest experience.
• The holy grail > personalized marketing’s role in brand loyalty - loyalty is a big umbrella, he defines it as a combination of the great experience and personalized approach.
• How to execute on both the emotional and functional side of Restaurant Marketing 
• Aligning the triad (three-legged stool) of digital marketing, IT & Ops 
• The importance of maintaining a community focus - he provides a great example of a drive-through graduation ceremony. Watch it on Instagram!

Check out Qu's Annual State of Digital for Enterprise QSR & Fast Casual Brands