Susan Lintonsmith
Quiznos
When Quiznos was founded in 1981, the franchise had lines out the door and around the block. Although tough times have befallen the sandwich chain, present day finds it in revitalization mode, with a new team dedicated to getting the toasty subs back into consumers’ hearts.
Quiznos was originally built on the humble, wholesome foundation of quality ingredients and perfectly toasted bread. The company’s founder, Jimmy Lambatos, used pizza ovens to replicate popular subs from his restaurant, insisting that it brought out all of the essential flavors that were critical to achieving the best tasting sandwich. As time went on, Quiznos got further and further away from its quality first approach and plunged headlong into a price-for-price battle with Subway.
CMO Susan Lintonsmith has made it her mission to help Quiznos get its fire back. Her approach centers on four elements she identifies as critical to Quiznos’ comeback: operations, products, messaging and marketing. But the key component for the brand to be successful again is on the restaurant floor — Quiznos employees.
“The team members that we have interacting with our guests, that’s the face of the brand to the guest,” Lintonsmith said. “The food they get right then and there — that’s the experience, that’s the brand.”
Other highlights from this week’s episode include:
Going back to the brand promise (8:20)
Communicating with customers on the ground floor (12:24)
Building a marketing roadmap (16:17)
Marketing with social media (18:25)