Behind the Brand®

Creating Brand Love with Kristin Vekteris from Earls

Kristin Vekteris is the Chief Brand Officer of everyone’s go-to restaurant, Earls. In just six short years, Kristin has launched an innovative restaurant redesign “unchaining the chain” by reflecting individual communities in the food, drinks, art, and design at each location. In this episode, Jeff Adamson and Kristin dive into what it looks like to rebrand an iconic brand. Kristin provides insight and inspiration around her branding strategy and how to make an impact while building a culture of growth.

Listen to the full episode here:

Becoming Chief Brand Officer at Earls

Jeff: Let's start from the beginning. You grew up in Calgary, tell me a bit about what your journey was like getting to Earls.

Kristin: I went to the University of Calgary and I got a degree in Communication Studies. Back in the day, I was only the second graduating class with a degree in Communication Studies. No one knew what jobs we were going to get or what was out there. I landed in advertising. It was a fluke, but where I ended up was a great fit for me. It's such a creative industry and you get the opportunity to work on so many different brands in different categories and different industries early on in your career. I spent the majority of my career in advertising. My first couple of years were in Calgary, and then I knew that I needed to make a move. Advertising was happening in New York, Toronto, and London. I tried to go to New York in 2001. Then September 11th happened, so, unfortunately, my big plans to move to New York got changed, and I ended up in Toronto, which is where my family was. I knew that eventually, it would be time for me to make a move to the client-side.

Jeff: How important is it for marketers or people working in branding to get that exposure to a variety of different companies before they make that switch over to the brand side?

Kristin: For me, it was invaluable. It's just a great way to get a lot of experience in a short period. When I started in advertising, there were big budgets and there was the internet, but there was no social media. My first TV commercial had a budget of $800,000, which seems [absurd] today just to produce the one TV commercial. Over time, the advertising industry became really fragmented. With the internet coming in, clients were getting more demanding. I started to feel a bit disenchanted with the whole thing. I had a tonne of great experience and I really loved the constant change of working on different brands, but I wasn't able to just work on one thing and really dedicate all my energy to it.

Jeff: I always feel like the places we are from have a huge formative impact on shaping who we are. What attributes have you taken from growing up on the prairies into your career and leadership style?

Kristin: I loved growing up in Calgary. I love the people from the prairies. They're humble, real, genuine, and have a great work ethic. All of those things had a really big impact on me, shaping my values and what I aspire to be. I still gravitate to those people and companies with those traits today. I think there's a real ambition that is maybe a little bit more subtle in the prairies. And its people are more overtly ambitious. You know, everyone works hard across the country, but their work ethic is a bit different. And I've had the privilege of living now in three of Canada's major cities, Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. It's really interesting to see the differences between people. It's made me a better marketer because I think I've experienced the similarities and differences between those three different cities.

Making an Impact

Jeff: When you talk about ambition, I'd agree with you that in the prairies, we need to aim a lot higher. The idea of building massive companies in the prairies isn't that common or even attempted. Work-life balance is something that a lot of people have been bringing up. Do you see that same work ethic matching the ambition?

Kristin: I've always believed that work-life balance is really a tough thing to achieve. You work hard during certain times. If you've got a really big project, or it's a certain time in your life when you're really going to dedicate yourself, thinking of this work-life balance in a day or a week is a really difficult thing to maintain. I like to think about how I manage my values and how I can put in enough time at work to achieve the things I want to do. At the same time, taking enough time in my life, because I know that I'm better at my job when I take a break, when I'm refreshed and inspired. As we come out of the pandemic, it’ll be interesting to see everyone trying to figure out how they can really live into their values.

Jeff: When I think about your role, you're the Chief Brand Officer at a household name here in Canada. You've got so many people depending on you. Do you draw clear boundaries between your work and your personal life? Or do you have any kind of early warning signs where you realize you need to take a bit of a break?

Kristin: A new thing I've done over the past few years that has been really game-changing for me, is asking myself the question, “Where am I going to make the biggest impact?” That's how I decide [where] to spend my time. I listen to myself when I'm mentally tired. I go for a walk or take a break, which really helped guide me.

“Where am I going to make the biggest impact?”

Jeff: You're consciously at the beginning of every day, either writing down or acknowledging, what can I do today that's going to have the biggest impact?

Kristin: I am. I started a couple of years ago. I was going to go so far as to think in every meeting, “What am I going to get out of this?” I haven't been able to achieve that, but I’d say I'm pretty good at the start of every day, saying, “Where can I make the most impact?” There are so many conflicting priorities and people that need me or projects that I can be involved with. I think the pandemic has helped me even crystallize that practice.

Jeff: I think it was Steve Jobs who said that focus is about saying no to things you really want to do but can't do because you're focused on something else. When you acknowledge at the beginning of the day what is going to have the biggest impact, how do you say no to other things?

Kristin: I love that, being a leader for our brand, I get to set our path and what our priorities are. Obviously, I’m building off our executive team and our president and what's happening in the market, but I have more freedom and choice to set our path. I just try to be transparent and say, “we're going to put this project on hold for a week or three months,” or I try to find someone else who can pick it up.

Making the Leap

Jeff: Were you nervous when you made the leap from working on the agency side over to working on the brand side?

Kristin: I wasn't nervous because I had been thinking about it for so long. I talked a little bit about how the agency model had broken and how I had become a bit disenchanted with it, but no one ever talks about this in agencies. I realized that I was never making a decision. I worked at a very senior level on brand strategy, communication strategy, and major campaigns, but at the end of the day, I was not making decisions.

That was the tipping point for me when I knew that I needed to move. I was overly cautious, and I thought, “I have to get more experience under my belt before I move and take on a brand.” This great Harvard Business Review stat states that women apply for a job when they have 100% of the qualifications and men apply when they have 60%. In my case, I got recruited for Earls. But when I got approached, I had 100% of the qualifications. I look back, and I think, “Wow, I played it so safe. I wonder if I could have left five years earlier when I knew that I was ready to leave advertising.”

Jeff: If you could go back in time, would you make that leap sooner now that you've done it for five years?

Kristin: I love Earls. It's such an amazing company, and I've grown so much and learned so much. I don't know if I would have gone sooner to Earls, but I think I would have loved to have had another brand under my belt.

Jeff: We had Richard Bartrem from WestJet on the podcast the other day, and he was talking about how important mentors were to him. One of his mentors was the one that told him to leave his current job and pursue the one at WestJet. Did you have any mentors or people you went to for advice on this, or was this 100% your decision?

Kristin: This was a decision that I made, and I knew I needed to make it. I remember turning 30, and I looked around me, and there were no women over 40 in advertising. I didn't have very many mentors. I had a few people like Geoffrey Roche, who started Lowe Roche, one of the agencies, and he was amazing and inspired me. Now coming into Earls, one of the things that we started was a mentorship program. It is really important that people have access to mentors and access to a mentor that they can see themselves in.

Jeff: Mentors are incredibly valuable, but most people I know don't have them. Why do you think that people find it challenging to have a mentor? Is it a lack of available people that do it?

Kristin: I think it's hard to ask someone to be your mentor. I've had a few people ask me since I've been at Earls, and it's so flattering. Of course, I'm going to say yes. We started a more formal program called ‘From Her View.’ People can volunteer to be mentors or mentees, and then we match people. As a mentor, I've gotten as much out of it as the mentees have.

Jeff: You need to have that trust to be vulnerable with someone else, so you can ask them about the thing that you're struggling with. How do you build that at Earls?

Kristin: It comes through [building] a relationship, so not just jumping right into “Tell me everything and all your problems and how I can help you.” It's about building the relationship first. When I'm mentoring someone from a different department, it allows it to be a bit more free-flowing. People can be more open and not feel like what they're saying will be judged, or someone is going to take it the wrong way.

Finding similarities is important. Are you experiencing a life challenge? Are you trying to move up in your career, and you're looking for advancement advice? Are you struggling with a certain problem at work? Or are you trying to grow your family and make it all work? Finding alignment on things beyond just your vertical in your career makes a big difference.

Reimagining an Iconic Brand

Jeff: I want to talk a little bit about the Earls brand because when I think of iconic Canadian restaurant brands or even just brands in general. It was a restaurant that I went to a ton growing up in Saskatoon, and I still go today. You're the Chief Brand Officer. Describe what the Earls brand is to you.

Kristin: I grew up going to Earls in the late 80s and early 90s. The brand means a lot to me, and I have a deep history with it. For a lot of our customers, and for me, it’s a warm spot for people, with great memories and great food. A lot of people had sushi for the first time at Earls or different foods. We were a leader in that way. It is consistency. It is fun times and great service. I think that people form great bonds with the people that work at Earls, and we have a lot of alumni. Tons of Canadians have worked at Earls at some time in their life. I would say that every day I meet an Earls alumni. There's a lot of brand love and a lot of feeling around the brand of Earls.

Jeff: I think many marketers will come to a company with an established brand, and they are faced with improving, changing, reinventing the brand. How did you approach this when you first joined Earls?

Kristin: I was brought in to revitalize the brand. It had gotten a bit dated and was not bringing in younger customers. As cliche as it is, I rebranded in the first year and put a new logo on it, but it was with the full support of the Earls team.

Jeff: Was it a struggle to take this brand with decades of history and make a tribute or honor what they had done in the past while making adjustments to set it up for success in the future?

Kristin: You're so bang on because we spent a lot of time honoring the heritage of the brand. I think about how we built this brand for the future, and that was something that we were aware of as we were rebranding. We brought back the parrot to honor the past but made sure that we were creating a brand that is relevant for future generations.

Jeff: What advice would you give other marketers or brand builders who are joining companies with established brands?

Kristin: I think understanding where the company is at and where the mindset is around the brand, it was easier for me to come in and make an impact. Again, there's that word “impact.” Impact on the Earls brand because there was an openness to revitalize the brand. Going into an established brand and listening to customers and employees to understand where the opportunities are. Where are the gaps, and where can improvement be? Coming in with a fresh perspective on an existing brand can be so powerful because you're thinking about things or seeing things that people who have been at that brand for a long time probably aren’t considering.

Jeff: Did you ever face resistance to making these changes? I see this in other companies where the company is 200 years old, or it's so big, and there are many people attached to the legacy. I'm wondering how you worked with the people who may have competing priorities? How did you work with that existing team to enable yourself to have an impact on the brand and set it up for success in the future?

Kristin: There were challenges, but I did have a lot of support from our founder and CEO, Stan Fuller. He was one of the people that was the most open about making changes and seeing a path for Earls for future generations without jeopardizing our legacy guests who were so important to us. Sometimes I had to make decisions that people didn't love. You kind of just have to get comfortable with having some tough conversations and making some hard decisions. In some cases, a good conversation can get someone there, or people would give me feedback, and it would be things that I hadn't considered. I just tried to be thoughtful about it and take my time. When it came time to make a decision, I just had to stick to that.

Jeff: As you said, when you have that support from the founding team, you just have that alignment, and it makes it so much easier. I had the honor of meeting Stan's father Bus, who unfortunately passed away in 2019 at [the age of] 90. Although we only met once, he was such a pioneer and someone who had a real profound impact on me. Are there any stories about Bus that shed light on the type of person he was and his impact?

Kristin: Bus is just such an inspiration. I was lucky enough to spend some time with him in his last few years. What struck me about him was how engaged he was in the business and how passionate he was. He asked a lot of tough questions, pushed and challenged me, and got into great conversation and debate. I appreciated that, I think it made me better. As you did, I found Bus inspirational in that way. He is really missed.

“Unchaining” the Chain

Jeff: So Earls started in Edmonton and now has 68 locations in the US and Canada. One thing that strikes me about brands is that you typically see a brand lose their local feel as they reach a national or international scale. Yet every Earls I walk into feels very local to that area. I'd love for you to unpack how you can reach that scale while still having that local feel.

Kristin: I think there are two parts to it. The first is your business mentality. We empower our GMs, chefs, and leaders to run the restaurant as if it's their own. That lives on. It's very strong today and in our restaurants. And the other piece of it came when we did our rebrand. Five years ago, we said we wanted to “unchain the chain”. We wanted every Earls to be distinct, built for that community and that customer.

When you walk into [each] restaurant, the design of the space [is unique]. Every beer list has local craft beers. The art on the wall [features] local artists. We opened last year in South Surrey, which our head office is in Vancouver, so that's in our backyard. We said, let's look at this market with fresh eyes in this community. We spent a lot of time there. We talked to people, went to restaurants, walked around, drove, and went into retail. No two new Earls are ever the same. Of course, it feels like the brand that you know and love, but they're distinct. It is way more work, but our people are running those locations. They are empowered to keep up the local community feel.

Jeff: One of the things that I enjoyed when we were launching SkipTheDishes across the country was going into all these cities, learning more about the local community, and meeting the restaurateurs in each market. What are some of the things you've uncovered in doing all this scouting in these local markets? Are there any nuances to the markets that you found?

Kristin: It is so interesting when you start getting into the U.S. We [have] opened restaurants in Texas, Boston, Denver, and Miami. The Canadian cities are quite distinct in their own ways, but it gets even more interesting as you get into the U.S. You can just tell that certain people gravitate to certain cities, and I love that. As a marketer, it is interesting to think about the customer in each location, what makes them unique and distinct, and where the similarities are. The other piece of this is that, in many ways, our customers are so similar.

Jeff: One of the rules in marketing is that you don't want to try to be everything to everyone, but rather segment the market and find your target customer. I find that Earls has been incredibly successful in defying that. How has Earls done this?

Kristin: It has been organic because, as a 40-year-old brand, our guests are 18 to 80. It's one of my favourite things. I'll go for dinner at Earls, and there's a 70-year-old couple there beside me. Then, there's a whole group of 20-somethings partying. We're a place where you can be yourself. Over time as we've uncovered it, we consider it in our decisions. When we look at our menu, thinking about our different guests, the differences are not only in age, but they’re across, East and West and Canada and the US. When we're designing our restaurants and putting items on our menus, we think about that. It's pretty special.

Jeff: We are seeing a lot of companies coming out with their own loyalty programs. How do you think about integrating customer loyalty into your brand strategy?

Kristin: We really think that loyalty comes first and foremost, by having a great experience. If you have a five-star experience, you're more likely to come back. We're a hospitality company, and we always start there. I think it also comes by providing value. We need every guest to leave feeling like they've gotten value. Maybe the most overt way we encourage loyalty is through our happy hour program. We've become famous for it. We are lined up at happy hour. We put new items on the menu, so people can try them at various price points. I think our customers feel like they get value. They understand that we are creating loyalty with them. As far as repeat visits, that has been successful for us.

Jeff: There are so many marketers that are giving away their budget to other teams. I am struck by that team mentality that you have there. Even the culture of all the Earls employees in general, when I first started working with the team, I would hear phrases like “people grow here.” I'd love to dig into that a little bit and explain to our listeners what culture means at Earls and how you've done such a good job at developing it.

Kristin: Culture is so huge at Earls. Everyone in operations starts at the bottom and then moves their way up. Even our president started as a dishwasher. That is how everyone in operations works. To do that and keep people for years and years, you need to have a great culture. We talked about Bus and Stan, they started it, and we always really treat our people well and have fun. We are a company of learners, and we’re a competitive company. There is a type of person who gravitates to Earls. Even though we're quite big today, it still feels like a family. If you were to pull 100 people that work at Earls, I think they would say that family is the word that comes to mind first. Culture is in our every day, but we also do some more formal things. Sayings like “people grow here” we don't just say it, but we truly live into it and believe it.

Being an Early Adopter

Jeff: If I remember correctly, at SkipTheDishes, we started working with you around 2017 - 2018. Earls was an early adopter of delivery, much earlier than other brands. A lot of brands are hesitant to get into different things. How did you think about maintaining your brand but at the same time being an early adopter?

Kristin: We pride ourselves on being first to market, and again it's just that test mentality. It's not always about going all the way in, but testing new things and trying things out. We were one of the first to launch plant-based [meals]. We were the first to launch natural wines. We got into delivery early. We launched brunch, and then we were the first with brunch happy hour. It's just testing and doing our research first and getting a lot of good opinions before we get into it.

Jeff: I'm going to put you on the spot here and ask you a question about food delivery, and I want you to shoot straight on it. There are a lot of people, especially on the brand side, who have been very hesitant to give up that amount of control when it comes to working with a third party. You think about all the work you put into the brand. Now you're handing that food order over to someone else and entrusting it to another person to give it to your end customer. What advice would you give to other brands when partnering up with third parties?

Kristin: I think you need to think of it as another acquisition channel. Restaurants need to be concerned with the fees, and they need to be concerned with the experience. But at the end of the day, the delivery services also want customers to have a great experience. You don't own that relationship, and that's something to be aware of, but it is an additional channel for you. If you think of it that way, that can help.

Growing with Earls

Jeff: What has Earls done to recruit and retain its talent that perhaps other brands can take cues from?

Kristin: There is a people crisis out there, and we're not immune from it. Our culture has helped us, and I don't know how much other brands can take from that, but we have retained people through our culture. You want to work with great people, and everyone wants to grow, which we can offer at Earls. I think that helps us, but it's a challenge. I feel for operators and all industries right now, because there is a big people shortage, and it's tough.

Jeff: With your president, Mo Jessa, having started as a dishwasher, that has to give people confidence that you truly do grow people there.

Kristin: Absolutely. We have so many examples of people who have come up, and our entire operations are built that way. That is why growth at Earls is important. We just opened a new restaurant in Toronto at Sherway, and we're opening in Winnipeg in the new year. We've just announced we're opening in Burnaby, and at the amazing Brentwood. We're growing for our people. It creates great opportunities and excitement. That's how people can get promoted, the more we grow. That's an important part of our strategy.

Jeff: I'm always curious to know about the competition because, in your industry, it's incredibly competitive. There's always this balance between focusing on what you need to be doing better versus focusing on what your competitors are doing. You don't want to be obsessed with your competitor, but at the same time, you do want to be aware of what's going on. How do you find that balance?

Kristin: It was an interesting lesson for me. What I've learned is when we focus on ourselves and not on our competition, that's when we make big strides. It's important to understand what the competition is doing, but it can easily distract you. I've just seen it time and time again. We just have to check ourselves on it. When we are focused on our plan and what we think we should do, that's when we have the most success. When we go a little off track, we can call ourselves out and say, “Hey, I think we're focused maybe a bit too much on the competition.” That has been an important lesson for me personally and for our company.

The Future of Restaurants

Jeff: I think one of the things that has really affected every restaurant has been the COVID-19 pandemic. It has hit the restaurant industry harder than nearly every industry, maybe except for airlines. What has this experience taught you about leading during a crisis?

Kristin: The first words that come to mind when you say that [are] ‘resilience’ and ‘adaptability’. We've all had to learn how to be flexible and adaptable during the pandemic. We can get through it and do things way faster than we thought we could ever do them. I think we've surprised ourselves. We launched grocery in a week, and that was pretty incredible for our team. I think we never thought we could do something like that. To do that, and then look back on it and say, “Okay, so we could do that. What else could we do?” It has taught us to be adaptable and innovative.

Innovation came back during the pandemic, especially for restaurants. I've never seen restaurants innovate so much in such a short amount of time. That was exciting and inspiring. The pandemic has been so hard on restaurants, and it continues to be very tough today. There is a bright side to this. I'm hopeful about the future and restaurants, and I think people want to come back and connect with other people over food and drink and have a good time. It's coming back.

Jeff: Has COVID changed how you make decisions about the brand?

Kristin: It has had an impact on me. I think I’m empathetic to where people are at today. I consider our customers and their mindset more than I ever have. It has made me more innovative and more flexible, and just kind of open to possibility and change and the unknown. I think a lot is still unknown about the next six months and the next year, so I make my decisions with that in mind.

Jeff: Well, I can say that Earls is an absolute pillar of the restaurant industry. I know that the last time I went out to an Earls, it was so incredible just to be around people again and to be around that experience of having people come together over food and drinks. Few restaurants do it better than Earls. I want to thank you for coming on and sharing with us your own experience and all the great things you’re doing at Earls. Any other messages about Earls that you’d like our listeners to hear?

Kristin: We are excited about the future, and we have great things planned. The future is bright, and we just have to get through this period right now. We’ve got great things on the horizon.