Marketing With Purpose Kit: Breaking Down Silos Across Teams

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Xero Company, your paid search, social media and programmatic ad experts.

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:17)
Welcome back to the Marketing With Purpose series. This is a segment of the Bliss Business Podcast where we explore what it really takes for marketing leaders to create impact that goes beyond the numbers. I'm Tullio and in each episode, we sit down with marketing experts to explore their leadership approach, strategies that drive performance and how they resonate with their audience. Together we'll dive into what's working, what's not, and how purpose and empathy can transform the way brands connect with people. Alright, let's get started. Today I'm joined by Joel Bulger, Chief Marketing Officer of WOWorks, the platform brand home to six better for you fast casual restaurants, including SaladWorks, Barberitos, Garbanzo, Simply Greek, Fruitable, and Zeets. With an impressive 30-year tenure in marketing and brand development with the restaurant industry, Joel brings a wealth of expertise and a proven track record of fostering growth and innovation. Having previously held primary marketing roles of esteemed brands such as Coca-Cola, Darden Restaurants, Church Chicken, On The Border, Zazby, Johnny Rockets, love Johnny Rockets, Wendy's International, and Focus Brands, Joel has earned a stellar reputation for his ability to drive guest traffic and enhance menu profitability. We're going to explore breaking down silos across teams and how aligning brand operations and strategy can unlock stronger performance across multi-brand platforms. Okay, I'm excited to dive in. Let's do this. Joel, before we dive in, I'd love to hear why was breaking down silos across teams, the topic you chose to explore with us today, and what makes it so important right now.

**Joel Bulger** (2:11)
First of all, Tullio, thanks for having me today. I'm super excited to be here. This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. Because at the end of the day, it's all about people. People think that growth comes from creative ideas, and it does in a way, but really, where it fails is alignment. It fails in not making everybody aligned, not making people understand not only what you're trying to do, but why you're trying to do it. That's probably, in my opinion, twice as true in franchise systems.
Because if you look at all the departments out there, Tullio, you look at marketing and ops and finance and technology and everybody else who's all involved in the game for you, they all have the same goal, or they all have the same thoughts but are chasing maybe different goals, and or they're probably using different metrics to measure those goals. What we're trying to do at WOWorks with our shared services model is really create this team of people that really get along and really understand each other and are really shooting for the same goals and this constant source of communication where we like each other. I mean, I'm working for a bunch of people that I've known for a lot of years. I mean, my CEO, Kelly Irati, I've known for almost 20 years. It's so wonderful working for friends where you have that trust and you have that very deep relationship and then you can apply it to work.
But when I think about franchisees, even when I think about teams within an organization, as they look at the leadership, if there's not that cohesiveness, if there's not that partnership, if they feel like there's animosity or tension or friction between them, that's where confidence erodes. But when they see everybody getting along and everybody working together and having the same goals, that's when your internal team starts to blossom. That's when franchisees go, wow, these guys have a plan. And that's when the momentum starts and that's when growth starts, in my opinion. So this is a very real topic for me, because I try to live it every day.

**Tullio Siragusa** (4:08)
I love that. So key, and that always stems from the very top of the leadership, creating the friendship model, I like to call it. You know, don't call it company and family. Some family members are dysfunctional. Friends, friends, they support each other, they celebrate each other, and they call each other out when they need to. So it's beautiful when you have that. And it's a reflection of a consciously evolved leader who doesn't need to make it all about them. So, all right, now, but let's get down to Breast Tax a little bit about bridging strategy and growth. Because, you know, CMOs are often pulled between near-term campaign results and long-term brand building. That's the constant tug and pull going on, right? How do you ensure your marketing strategy stays aligned with the company's growth goals, and where do you find the biggest friction points in making that happen?