Brand, Operations, and Performance Transformation for a Large-Scale F&B Chain
Grill'd
Rethinking a legacy brand for today’s dining reality
A long-established F&B brand with hundreds of outlets had deep recognition and loyal customers—but performance was slipping. Same-store sales were under pressure, operating costs were rising, and the brand was struggling to stay relevant in a rapidly changing dining landscape.
Customer expectations had evolved. Operations had become complex. Menus were bloated. Teams were stretched. While the brand still meant something to people, the system behind it was no longer working as a whole.
Previous efforts focused on promotions and short-term marketing pushes. They drove temporary traffic—but didn’t fix the underlying issues. The challenge wasn’t just marketing, or operations, or cost. It was alignment.
Our Role
HashtagOne partnered with the leadership team to rethink how the brand, the kitchen, the store, the team, and the customer experience worked together.
Our role was not to redesign one part of the business—but to rebuild the system so it could perform at scale.
Outcome
The transformation delivered results that went beyond any single initiative:
Same-store performance improved across priority locations
Food and labor cost ratios stabilized and became more predictable
Service speed and consistency increased
Brand promise and in-store experience came back into alignment
The business gained a scalable operating and marketing model fit for a large network
But more importantly, the organization regained control—of its operations, its economics, and its future.
What we did
Clarifying the brand’s role in people’s lives
We started by re-examining what the brand actually stood for today—not in theory, but in practice.
Working closely with leadership and frontline teams, we clarified the brand’s role in the modern dining landscape:
What customers came for? What they valued? What the brand could credibly deliver—, in every location.
The result was a clearer, more focused brand identity—familiar enough to retain loyal guests, but modern enough to stay relevant. Just as importantly, it was an identity that operations could actually execute.
Simplifying the menu to unlock performance
With brand clarity in place, we turned to the kitchen. Menus had grown over time, adding complexity without improving performance. We conducted a full menu and margin analysis to understand what truly drove value—and what quietly drained it.
By simplifying the menu and redesigning kitchen workflows, we reduced waste, prep time, and pressure on teams. The kitchen became faster, more consistent, and easier to run—without compromising perceived value or guest satisfaction.
Redesigning store operations around real demand
Next, we addressed how stores were staffed and run. We redesigned staffing models and shift structures to better reflect real demand patterns throughout the day and week.
Standard operating procedures were simplified and standardized, making training faster and execution more consistent across hundreds of locations.
The goal wasn’t just cost reduction—it was clarity. Teams knew what good looked like, managers could manage, and stores could perform with discipline rather than firefighting.
Rebuilding marketing around sustainable demand
With the system working more effectively on the inside, we rebuilt the marketing strategy to match.
Instead of relying on constant discounting, we refocused marketing around clear customer segments and usage occasions—families, groups, everyday dining, and frequency-driven visits.
Marketing promises were tightly aligned with what stores could consistently deliver, rebuilding trust between brand and guest. Demand became healthier, more predictable, and less dependent on margin-eroding promotions.