Millennial, Gen-Z Opps: Panera Bread's top marketer departs (Score 47)

Sales lead: This departure will likely affect the company's marketing strategy & agency roster. 

• Panera Bread (PB) lost its chief brand & concept officer, Eduardo Luz, in October 2023.
• He managed digital, loyalty, guest experience, media, and advertising. 
• Luz is now the CEO & president of P.F. Chang's. 
• We will be sure to update you as soon as a replacement is named.
• Read about PB's new influencer strategy aimed at younger guests here. 

Target demographic: Gen-Zers & millennials

Once it hires a new marketing leader, the company will likely:

• Review the current agency roster
• Continue experimenting with new ways to reach Gen-Z & millennials
• Keep increasing ad spend

Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: PB spent nearly $52.9m on national TV ads YTD, a 35% increase from $39.2m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend increased by 15% from $41.3m in 2021 to $47.7m in 2022. 
• Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as NFL Football, NBA Basketball, 2023 NFL Draft,  Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and College Basketball. 

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

• YTD spend: PB spent almost $40.3m on digital display ads YTD, a 6% increase from $38m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 4.1b impressions via YouTube (53%), Facebook (25%), Instagram (19%), desktop video (2%), and desktop display (1%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend increased by 20% from $36.9m in 2021 to $44.3m in 2022. 
• Ad location: It placed 99% of these ads directly onto sites such as youtube.com, facebook.com, instagram.com, twitch.tv, and draftkings.com. It placed 1% of these ads indirectly through Display & Video 360 onto sites such as health.com, yahoo.com, signupgenius.com, espn.com, and theprimarymarket.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: PB also invests in OOH, print, radio, and local broadcast. 
• Top podcasts sponsored: The Herd with Colin Cowherd.

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: Start working on your pitches now so that you are prepared to reach out as soon as PB names a replacement. 
• Current roster:
  • Sloane & Company: PR AOR
  • Mother NY: creative & social AOR
  • Spark Foundry: media buying & planning

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast data estimated by Podchaser.