About Lindsay Radkoski
Lindsay Radkoski, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Wendy's in the U.S., has discussed the company's approach to engaging with customers through emerging platforms and brand positioning. In a September 2023 interview, Radkoski stated that Wendy's enters spaces like the metaverse based on its brand positioning of "having our customers' backs" and forming relationships, adding, "If our fans are going to be there, we want to be there too." She noted that the company studies platforms before entering them to understand audience dynamics, and said that younger generations "can sniff out like corporate stuffy brand sponsor," requiring authentic engagement. Radkoski also said that customer expectations for speed and accuracy have "never been higher" due to a culture of instant gratification.
Radkoski has also spoken about her leadership philosophy and career experiences. She described herself as a marketer who knows her way around a P&L, stating, "We're all in business to make money, and I love connecting what we do with customers to how we make money." She cited the death of a senior leader as a pivotal moment that deepened her loyalty to Wendy's and inspired a personal mantra of leaving things "better than I found them." Radkoski noted that she started a women's employee resource group at Wendy's, which has grown to over a hundred members, and emphasized the importance of diverse perspectives and tough conversations in team execution. She received the Change Maker award from the Women's Foodservice Forum in 2019.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Lindsay Radkoski's recent appearances.
Browse all interviews →
Transcript (14 segments)
H
Holly Petri0:05
Petri here with Nations Restaurant News, here with Lindsay Radkoski, the VP of National Marketing for Wendy's. Welcome to the show.
L
Lindsay Radkoski0:15
Thanks, Holly.
H
Holly Petri0:17
So you just got off the creators panel, you're fresh off the stage. How are you feeling?
L
Lindsay Radkoski0:22
I feel great. It was super energizing to be with other leaders of our amazing industry. Everyone's stories are so unique, but we found both backstage and on the panel so much in common. It was really fun to be able to talk about that and celebrate the recognition from NRN.
H
Holly Petri0:39
One of the big things on everyone's mind right now is the metaverse. Wendy's is big in the metaverse. You guys are one of the first brands to go into it, you have a really big presence there. It's really exciting. You were one of the only brands to sort of keep dropping things during the summer. Tell me a little bit about that and what makes you guys really feel that it's the next big frontier.
L
Lindsay Radkoski0:58
The metaverse is super interesting. For us, it wasn't just something that came up quickly. It's been a conversation over a period of time. I think before we knew it would be called the metaverse, we knew that virtual reality and augmented reality was becoming a trend. At Wendy's, we really bring everything back to our brand positioning, which is all about having our customers' backs, forming a relationship with them, getting to know them, then meeting their needs as a restaurant brand or service or experience brand. For us, this has been a migration or journey from things like Twitter a couple years ago. Wendy's Twitter was all the talk and still is today, but we moved from Twitter to sports, to other entertainment properties, to gaming. We spent time in Twitch, we've done a lot with Rick and Morty. As we saw fans start to be interested in the metaverse or virtual reality, we said we've got to pay attention to this and figure out if our fans are going to be there, we want to be there too, participating with them and enhancing the experience. That's kind of where it started.
H
Holly Petri2:07
Let's talk about your fans because they are fascinating. You guys really interact with them in some of the most interesting ways that I've seen from all restaurant brands. I mean, Wendy's Twitter was famous for so long for being the sassy clap back queen. Let's talk about that a little bit.
L
Lindsay Radkoski2:24
That really comes back to this idea of forming relationships. Whether it's Twitter or other social platforms, we don't want to just be the brand there to be the kind of corporate, stuffy sponsor. It's all about showing up as a human. We've seen that people, fans, or customers respond to that and they love that. For us, it's also about knowing those audience groups based on platforms. The Facebook fan group for Wendy's is different than the TikTok group, or the Twitter group, or the people that would be in the metaverse. We really try to enter these spaces slowly and study them for a long time to understand the dynamics so that we can show up in real and authentic ways. We've seen time and time again that our fans reward us for that, both in how they engage with our content on these platforms and in how they visit the restaurant as well.
H
Holly Petri3:16
How do you really go about interacting with your fans like this? It's a big deal to go to all these different platforms and learn them. How do you even go about doing that?
L
Lindsay Radkoski3:29
We are so blessed at Wendy's to have an amazing team in our social and connections group, at our agencies, with partners like Meta. It's important because the platforms are all different and the people are different. It comes back to getting to know them. We are very active daily, always monitoring and participating in these spaces. We have teams with hands on keyboard all the time because it's so alive and nimble in how we participate.
H
Holly Petri4:04
You have a really engaged younger demographic. Can you tell me a little bit about what it's like to cater to these younger people who are really coming up in technology and have all of this money to use?
L
Lindsay Radkoski4:15
It's been interesting because this group, some of the younger generations, they can sniff out a corporate, stuffy brand sponsor or somebody who's just paying to have access to fans instantly. For us, it's all about observing, spending time to understand an audience before we go into an environment. When it comes to how that translates to how they feel about their dining dollars and what brands they visit, their expectations are also super high because they've been raised in a world of instant gratification. Everything's at your fingertips, whether it's information, an Uber ride, or DoorDash delivery. We've really talked with the fan groups, but also with our restaurant teams, our operators, and the people who work at the brand about our standards around service, speed, and accuracy. They have never been higher because the customer expectation has never been higher.
H
Holly Petri5:14
Well, thank you so much for telling us all about this information. It's been so exciting. Can't wait to see what Wendy's does next in technology and in all of the social engagement.
L
Lindsay Radkoski5:23
Awesome, thanks Holly.
