• by Barbie Romero , May 12, 2026

At our QSR Summit in Savannah, leaders from Noodles & Co, Church’s Chicken, Blaze, Hungry Howie’s, Dunkin’  unpacked how brands are differentiating, building communities, driving LTOs, empowering local operators, and turning fans into advocates.

Catch the best moments from the on-stage discussions below. 

Watch the full session recordings here and catch our next OSR Brand Insider Summit on Nov 15-18 in Santa Barbara, CA. 

Stacy Moss, VP, Marketing Strategy, Insights and Activation, Noodles & Company, shared that because so many brands within the same category look and sound alike, making differentiation difficult, Noodles & Company had to rethink how it approached and expressed its brand.

Georgia Margeson, Senior Director of Brand, Creative Strategy & Activation, Church’s Texas Chicken, described how the brand built and engaged its community through content series designed to connect with audiences online, turn followers into advocates, and amplify reach through influencer partnerships.

Meghan Irwin, Vice President, Marketing, Blaze Pizza, shared how the brand’s comic book giveaway tied to Daredevil: Born Again drove a successful LTO by boosting guest engagement and traffic, ultimately leading Blaze Pizza to extend the promotion due to strong consumer demand. 

Jimmy Simonte, EVP, Marketing, Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs, emphasized that operators need a strong playbook to successfully execute marketing campaigns at the local level. 

Ashleigh Griffith, Senior Marketing Manager, Quality Brand Group (Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins), shared how they strategically positioned Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins together to capture demand beyond the morning rush and own more dayparts while continuing to monitor emerging challenger brands in the space. 

If you’re interested in submitting content for future editions, please reach out to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com.