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In this fireside chat, Abhinav Kapur, co-founder and CEO of Bikky, sits down with Jessica Serrano, CMO of DIG, to explore how the fast-casual brand is scaling operations and adapting its strategies for 2025. Jessica shares her insights on DIG’s approach to suburban expansion, culinary innovation, and navigating a shifting dining landscape. She delves into her team’s changing role from a traditional marketing team to the “growth team”, highlights unique activation strategies and the importance of business development, and reflects on how the role of the CMO continues to evolve in the digital age.

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 You can find the full transcript below (edited for clarity).

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AK: Excellent. Welcome, everyone, to another casual fireside chat with an amazing restaurant leader. I’m AK, co-founder and CEO of Bikky. My pleasure to be joined today by JS, CMO of a growing and well-loved concept, DIG. Jess, thanks for being here.

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JS: Happy to be here.

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AK: I’d love for you to start with your background—how you ended up at DIG—and then maybe set the stage with the brand’s 2024 performance and how you're planning investments for 2025.

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JS: Sure. I've always been in the food industry, starting my career in CPG and spending several years in the QSR space with brands like Taco Bell and Burger King. Joining DIG in 2022 was a unique opportunity, given the quality of the food and the concept itself.

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For those unfamiliar, we have about 30 locations throughout the Northeast. All the food is scratch-cooked with a seasonal menu, served market-style, and prepared in a French brigade-style kitchen. It’s quite different from the brands I’ve worked with before. I came on board at a pivotal time when the focus was on scaling the brand, which has been my priority over the past two years.

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AK: Excellent. It’s funny you mentioned 2022, as many brands weren’t thinking about scale back then, given the pandemic recovery. Can you walk us through your journey in 2022, the foundational changes you made, and the performance in 2024?

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JS: DIG isn’t unique in that 2020 and 2021 were extremely challenging. By 2022, the business had survived but needed to rebuild. Before COVID, the brand was centered around office lunch in urban markets like Manhattan. People would grab something quickly and get back to their desks.

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In 2022, we hoped that dynamic would return, and while it partially did, it looked very different. For example, foot traffic shifted to a Tuesday-through-Thursday pattern instead of a Monday-to-Friday one. Snow days or long weekends also had a noticeable impact. We had to rethink not only our real estate strategy but also our brand positioning to stay relevant beyond office lunch in urban centers.

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One major shift has been targeting dinner and suburban markets. Historically, DIG was known for hearty, high-quality meals, but the perception was largely lunch-focused. Expanding into suburban communities meant addressing a new secondary audience: busy parents. This audience, often former urban professionals, still values healthy eating but now needs options for their families. These shifts required menu evolution and channel mix adjustments.

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AK: I love the idea of pivoting from traditional office lunch to broader dining occasions. How would you frame DIG’s two to three growth pillars for next year?

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JS: The first is awareness, which may sound obvious, but it’s critical. Many of our loyal customers from urban markets have moved away. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on Zoom calls where someone says, “I used to eat at DIG all the time, but now I’m in North Carolina and wish you were here.” So, we’re focusing on top-of-funnel strategies to introduce DIG to new audiences.

The second pillar is growth through new market expansion. And third is culinary innovation. We’ve been intentional about evolving our menu to fit more dining occasions, whether that’s dinner, catering, or family meals.

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AK: Speaking of culinary innovation and suburban expansion, how do you differentiate DIG in these new markets? The suburbs are becoming increasingly competitive.

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JS: The good news is that our product universally appeals to a broad audience. We often say, “We cook what you would cook if you cooked.” Whether you’re a 25-year-old professional or a busy parent, DIG’s offerings resonate because they’re healthy, hearty, and high-quality.

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Our catering business has also boomed as offices look for ways to bring people together. DIG’s food satisfies a wide range of tastes, making it ideal for both individual and group dining occasions. The value proposition remains the same: let us take care of the cooking when you’re too busy.

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AK: That’s great. What specific tactics are you using to build awareness in suburban communities?

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JS: Some of the best tactics are unsexy but effective, like out-of-home advertising and direct mail. But the most impactful strategy has been getting people to try the food. We’ve invested heavily in field marketing and events, like “office days,” where we invite an entire office to dine for free or at a discount. We’ve found that these efforts result in at least 20% of attendees returning within a few weeks.

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AK: How do you measure the ROI of those efforts?

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JS: It’s been a process of trial and error. Initially, we relied on walk-ins and couldn’t track results. Now, we use a more structured approach. For example, we encourage offices to nominate themselves via email or social media, which generates valuable leads. We collect data through Google Forms, issue digital codes, and track redemptions. This way, we can show operators the ROI, with many campaigns paying for themselves within six weeks.

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AK: That’s smart. I love how you’re using menu items as different parts of the funnel. You get people in with proteins but build loyalty with vegetables and sides. Can you elaborate on how that approach is working?

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JS: Vegetables have always been central to DIG’s brand, but when entering new markets, we realized “veg-centric” can alienate some people who assume we’re vegan or overly health-focused. To address this, we’ve leaned into protein as the acquisition driver in our marketing. Once guests try the food, they discover our vegetables are delicious and unique, which drives repeat visits and frequency.

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AK: That’s fascinating. Would you say DIG’s suburban stores are like a modern Boston Market?

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JS: It’s a comparison I’ve heard before! I take it as a compliment. While Boston Market was built on rotisserie chicken and sides, DIG elevates that experience with culinary excellence. We want to be the go-to solution for people who need to put a meal on the table, whether for themselves, their families, or their teams.

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AK: You mentioned investing in your team. Can you share a non-obvious area where you’re focusing resources to drive growth?

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JS: Business development, specifically for catering. Catering is essentially a B2B business with larger, higher-involvement transactions. Universities, corporations, and offices represent a significant opportunity, so we’ve built a dedicated team using tools like HubSpot and email sequencing to nurture these relationships. It’s already paying off.

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AK: How big is catering as a percentage of your business?

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JS: It’s in the double digits, which I’d say is the threshold for investing resources. There’s still a lot of untapped potential. For example, our Thanksgiving sales last year were incredible, and we’ve managed to surpass those numbers this year.

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AK: That’s impressive. One last question: how has the CMO role evolved, and where do you see deeper collaboration across teams next year?

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JS: The CMO role has shifted from being brand-focused to being a driver of growth. Internally, we call ourselves the growth team, not the marketing team. Collaboration with tech will be a big focus for us next year. We need to align on metrics like LTV and ensure our digital experience drives guest frequency and higher checks. I’m optimistic about continuing to build cohesion between tech and marketing.

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AK: Excellent. Thanks, Jess, for an engaging and insightful conversation. If you’re watching this live or later on, we appreciate you tuning in. Have a great holiday, everyone!