Forbes magazine details Marco’s 5 steps for reimagining our business during a pandemic
When stay-at-home orders and business restrictions started bearing down, most restaurants had two choices: shut down or change the way they were doing things. At Marco’s, our people-first philosophy helped us succeed.
We put people first. We try to stay two steps ahead of what consumers want — and that was critically important at the beginning of the pandemic. When leadership took action, consumers responded and the industry took notice. We’ve set sales records during the pandemic.
Forbes magazine recently reported on the five steps President and COO Tony Libardi took to push Marco’s forward, to, as the magazine put it, “deliver the future.” Here’s how he did it:
- Putting people first. As we mentioned, people come before profits. When all of your business decisions are based on this approach, you can’t lose. Forbes wrote that President Tony Libardi uses this philosophy to inform his strategy: “Aside from common-sense ways to protect front-line restaurant and delivery staff, he doubled down on frequent employee and franchisee communications, including having weekly system-wide calls as well as daily meetings of the leadership team. Communication is the plumbing that makes the other work of reinvention flow effectively.”
- Setting a vision. Libardi’s vision meant thriving, not just surviving. His ‘Beyond the Future’ task force looked at the implications of long-term and short-term effects of COVID on Marco’s business.
- Measuring customer insights. Marco’s already gathered data from about 25,000 consumers monthly regarding overall experience, guest services, product quality and more. “So, we could insert innovations like contactless delivery into that model fast. We could also pick up on early signals. For instance, early in the pandemic masks were not the norm, but we learned very quickly that consumers wanted to see masks even when the scientific evidence wasn’t clear,” Libardi told Forbes.
- Innovating. Marco’s franchises took early steps to install contactless delivery, more pickup windows and automatic doors. And on a larger scale, we have been testing ghost kitchens based on a delivery-only model as well as prefabricated kitchen pods.
- Creating a new brand identity. Change is good, but it can also be scary. “Libardi oriented the company around ‘Delivering Memories,’ a campaign for consumers that showed how Marco’s could make this year’s little moments more special even as the big moments have often vanished,” Forbes wrote.
“The story of this company – rooted in five key steps taken by leadership – holds lessons for all types of organizations seeking to use this moment as an opportunity for reinvention,” the magazine wrote.
If you’ve been looking for pizza franchise opportunities with a company that shows a different kind of leadership, consider the opportunities with Marco’s.
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