• by Erin Everhart , Staff Writer, October 10, 2025

I don’t have a sweet tooth. I have always been a salty and savory type of person. That’s not to say I won’t indulge when a crème brûlée comes my way. I’ll pick up a spoon if there’s a chocolate souffle passed around the table. But sugar and heavy cream don’t do it for me, which given my lactose intolerance is probably a good thing.

Then I got pregnant, and on top of all the other changes your body goes through when building a human, you can imagine my surprise when the only thing that would cure my cravings was sugar. And dairy. But even more specifically: An Oreo Blizzard.

It made no sense. I hadn’t been to Dairy Queen in probably 30 years, the one ingredient I actively avoid in its name, and furthermore, I don’t even like Oreos. But my sweet husband picked up dozens for me on his way home from work. I’d eat half, and the other half would end up in the freezer or the trash because of the aforementioned lactose intolerance. But boy was it worth it.

That’s the funny thing about cravings. You never really know when or how they’re going to hit. Someone has figured out the science behind it, but I’m a marketer: I’m interested in how brands stay top of mind with consumers so whenever said craving does happen, they’re there.

Dairy Queen did it for me. And while technology has unlocked unparalleled levels of personalization for QSRs, I know enough about how audience targeting works that Dairy Queen didn’t plan for me to get pregnant 30 years after I had my first blizzard. No one is that good.

But they did it by staying relevant. And they have been for 75 years.

This week, we sat down with Maria Hokanson, EVP of Marketing at Dairy Queen, to talk about how the team activates across planned and spontaneous moments to stay relevant in the cultural conversation. Listen to the full episode here. 

And don’t miss her as our opening keynote at the Brand Insider Summit: QSR in Santa Barbara next month.