Gen-Z, Millennial Opps: El Pollo Loco's CMO departs amid YTD spend increases (Score 53)

Sales lead: Keep an eye on this company so that you can reach out as soon as it finds a new CMO. 

• El Pollo Loco (EPL) lost its CMO, Andrew Rebhun, in May 2023.
• Rebhun is now the chief experience officer of Cava. 
• He joined EPL in 2019 as chief digital officer & VP before being promoted to CMO in 2021.
• We will be sure to update you as soon as a replacement is announced. 
• Read about EPL's new digital & brand AOR here. 

Target demographic: Millennials & Gen-Zers

Once it finds a new CMO, the company will likely:

• Stabilize digital ad spend
• Invest in new ad channels
• Review the agency roster

Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: EPL spent around $2.1m on digital display ads YTD, a 75% jump from $1.2m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 211.7m impressions via YouTube (30%), Facebook (32%), Instagram (22%), desktop video (14%), and desktop display (2%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend decreased by 49% from $6.9m in 2021 to $3.5m in 2022.
• Ad location: It placed 100% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, youtube.com, instagram.com, twitch.tv, and popsugar.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: EPL also invests in OOH, radio, and local broadcast.

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: Be prepared to reach out as soon as EPL finds a new marketing head. 
• Current roster:
  • Organic: digital & brand AOR
  • Initiative: media & social AOR