In this series, we ask top industry execs and marketers across the country about their biggest fears and concerns. What is giving top marketers fitful sleeps? This week, we caught up with Michelle Aboud, BeaverTail’s vice president of marketing, who is also a former consultant, SVP and managing director at McCann Canada and partner, VP of account services at Bleublancrouge. 

What’s keeping you up at night these days?

Oh my gosh, how much time do you have?

One of the things I’ve certainly been thinking about a lot lately, is how BeaverTails is such a strong, loved brand in Canada. We are coming up to our 50th anniversary in a few year’s time, and we are always trying to juggle the question: ‘How do we ensure we remain really innovative for the brand in terms of our products and continue to pay homage to the legacy?’

We know that nostalgia plays such an important role for our consumers, as a lot of people who’ve consumed beavertails can recount the first time they had it, who they were with and where they were. And so we always want to pay tribute to that nostalgia, and also be able to introduce innovation in a way that makes sense for the brand.

I think we’re always toggling with the idea of finding that balance and making it feel natural, but it has to be calculated. Especially in the food and beverage industry, it’s so easy to be reactive and it’s harder to show restraint and to keep asking ourselves questions like, ‘Does this work for us?’ We’re leaning into innovation and it’s exciting, but it’s keeping me up at night and making sure the moves are right and contributing to what’s made the brand what it is today.

Younger people are a tougher nut to crack in terms of brand loyalty. How do you connect with younger generations who may not be familiar with the brand?

Even if the consumer is younger, they have already started their journey with the brand. We can trip ourselves into thinking they are not familiar with the brand, when in fact they are.

They just started to begin that journey of memories more recently than you or I have over the last 30 years. And what we have to do is get really smart about how we introduce product innovation to them, because we know they like it. How do we make them feel part of the community in a way that feels super authentic?

We also know they grew up in the digital world and created digital rules and boundaries and we’ve got to pay attention to how they play in that space. That’s forcing us to revisit where we show up and how we talk to them. We’re also considering how they can become the new spokespersons for product innovation.

With your background in the agency world, what have you learned to appreciate when it comes to QSR marketing?

I am so happy you asked the question. I’ve had so many conversations with my old agency self… and trying to give [agency people] hints about producing great work for brands. I think that agency folks need to dive deeper into their client’s business. And I think they need to get on the front lines a lot more. It can be really easy to limit your own ideas in the advertising space, but you’ve gotta get on the front lines and understand operations and supply chain and the franchisee network and what keeps them up at night, you know?

Once you go deeper and wider with your knowledge, I think that’s where a lot of the ideas will start to become richer. I think it just helps with the conversation they can have with their own clients. The ones hearing the pitch are the same ones thinking about their franchisees, operators, store operations, so… they are thinking about everything else. The more you can speak to that and understand those things, the better the creations will be.

With better-for-you considerations, less drinking and other habits, given you are about fried dough… will there always be room for treats?

BeaverTails will never pretend it’s not a fried dough. It’s part of what is our hero product, the name of our brand. I think there’s definitely room for treats; there’s room for indulgence in a way that works for different people. We definitely lean into a product that is going to be decadent and that will give you unexpected combinations, and we definitely want to leave the ordinary to everyone else. That’s what we’ll repeat in our innovation.

If we keep surprising you, if we put decadance in front of you, if we put nostalgia in front of you, then we’ll have done our job. That’s what made us what we are today and I think the market is responding with the recent openings in Alberta, for example. It’s going really well and the market is telling us they’re into it and I think we’ll see more expansion in the years to come.