Living in Dallas, I am fortunate to have several Tex-Mex options to choose from at all hours of the day. One of my favorite late-night taco places is Taco Bueno, just down the street.
Jeff Carl has served as chief marketing officer of Taco Bueno Restaurants LP for the past two years. His responsibilities include brand positioning and marketing, plus menu management and pricing strategies.
As a result of last year’s brand repositioning, followed by a menu revamp and a successful remodeling program, Taco Bueno is enjoying a significant resurgence in its home markets of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.
Prior to Taco Bueno, Jeff was CMO of the privately held Tavistock Restaurant Group, as its quirky fast-casual brand Freebirds World Burrito was re-positioned and expanded rapidly to the West Coast.
I spoke with Carl about some of Taco Bueno’s recent efforts to reposition itself amidst heavy competition.
Can you give those of us unfamiliar with Taco Bueno an overview of the brand?
Taco Bueno is a strong regional competitor in the Mexican quick-service segment. With 174 restaurants — 155 company-owned and 19 franchised locations — the company is well positioned to grow into a viable national competitor.
Taco Bueno began in Abilene, Texas, in 1967, with authentic Tex-Mex roots. The concept enjoys an extraordinarily loyal following in its core markets, but over time had lost relevancy with some, particularly the Millennial.
How have been you been working on the repositioning?
Research revealed that while customers crave Tex-Mex flavors and demanded the convenience of a drive thru, they expressed many doubts about the quality of the food served at many Mexican QSRs. We also recognized that several competitors no longer cooked their ingredients in house, choosing to re-thermalize their products.
With these critical insights, the repositioning strategy tapped into customers’ doubts by promising that Taco Bueno has Tex-Mex made fresh — without regrets. The work refocused the brand squarely on its Tex-Mex heritage, with food one craves prepared fresh in real kitchens by folks who actually cook.
How do you create brand awareness in such a highly competitive segment?
We challenged our agency, Slingshot, to tap into customers’ doubts and emotions regarding their “questionable” food choices. The resulting work allowed folks to see themselves, connect with their inner doubts and provide an alternative — a fresh alternative.
Can you tell us how you are listening and responding to guests giving feedback about the brand?
We are extremely active in social listening, with a team of folks dedicated to responding to tweets and posts. We follow up with direct guest engagement from our operations team. We also utilize email and guest receipt surveys that encourage our guests to connect with us if they’re not happy. We pride ourselves on a very high level of engagement with our guests. We listen, respond and take action.
Guests can nominate their “Favorite Taco Bueno Employee,” a contest that seems to be a great culture builder. How did it come about?
It’s may be a bit cliché to say that our front line team members are the heart and soul of the brand, but at Taco Bueno we live it. We have many team members who have been with the company for decades. Our head of franchise operations and sales, Kevin Lewis, a 32-year veteran of the organization, knows many of our team on a personal basis. He wanted to find a way to recognize our great team members, and he made it happen.
As the leader of marketing, what keeps you up at night?
This past year it has been commodity prices. With beef through the roof, all of us in the industry have felt it.
Marketplace trends
I have seen some of your community efforts here in Dallas with the Mavericks NBA basketball team. Is this something you do in all markets?
We enjoy a great partnership with the Dallas Mavericks, as well as the Texas Rangers [Major League Baseball team] and the Dallas Stars [NHL hockey team]. We believe that joining community efforts with our many partners has multiplying effect. This past year, the Mavericks charity arm and Fox Sports Southwest sought to support a shelter in the Dallas area by creating a coat drive to collect winter gear for those in need as the weather turned colder. Mavs fans and our Buenoheads literally stuffed the Mavericks fan bus as we took it store by store across Dallas, finishing at the shelter where we fed more than a hundred folks from our Taco Bueno food truck.
Which product introduction has been a pleasant surprise for you?
With the repositioning of the brand, we refocused the menu on what we do best — tacos, burritos and nachos — real Tex-Mex favorites made right.
Our menu analysis revealed that we weren’t competing effectively in the premium taco segment. We developed a product that we felt we could be proud of and called it what it was — one Big Freak’n Taco. We tested other names, but logic prevailed…although we did receive a few phone calls. It has been a huge success.
Are there any trends you are seeing in the marketplace?
The trend I see is simplicity, or perhaps better said as “singular focus.” Customers are overwhelmed with choices. Brands need to figure out who they are, what they serve and deliver against a singular promise.
Last question: What is your favorite quote and why?
“Keep doing what you did and you’ll get what you got.” When you’re tasked to turn around a brand, there is no room for the other classic line: “We do it that way because we’ve always done it that way.” Change is hard, but the results make it all worthwhile.
