10 Marketers to Know: Jonathan Muhtar

In 2010, Captain D’s brought in seasoned franchise executive Phil Greifeld to helm the ship and navigate the struggling brand to more fruitful waters. One of Greifeld’s most valuable additions to the staff was that of Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Muhtar in November of that year. Coming off his Global Marketing and Innovation post at Burger King, Muhtar quickly set about revamping the aging Captain D’s image with an updated brand positioning and a new ad campaign. His ideas and efforts would play a key role in the brand’s 8.5 percent same store sales increases in the first half of 2012. We got in touch with Muhtar to learn more about his history within the marketing community and what he sees in the present and future of franchise marketing.

1851: How did you get into marketing?

Muhtar: In the early 90s I became a franchisee of the Smoothie King brand and opened the first Smoothie King location in South Florida. After a slow start, I was able to grow that business into one of the top performing locations in the Smoothie King system. The experience helped me clarify what aspects of business were most exciting for me. Figuring out ways to grow, including new and compelling marketing strategies, was what I was ultimately most passionate about. From there I got my MBA, spent four years as a growth strategy Consultant and then seven years in Marketing at Burger King before joining D’s last year.

How important do you feel the consumer relationship is to franchise development?

Our relationship with our guests, and ultimately their experience with our brand, is all we have of value at the end of the day. An investor will only be interested in a franchise that has a product and/or service that delights its customers. Our brand’s relationship to consumers is the foundation for strong franchise development.

How important is social media for your brand?

The majority of traction that we have gained around our new brand positioning has been through traditional media, but digital and social are gaining in importance. We began with the basics and are now working to integrate our social media efforts into our marketing calendar.

Do you have any tips for franchisees when it comes to local store marketing?

Take advantage of what your franchisor has to offer. Franchisees often have great opportunities to plus up their marketing efforts by tapping into the resources that franchisors offer. This is one of the key benefits of being part of a franchise system. These resources would often be cost prohibitive for a mom and pop operation to develop on their own.

Do you feel advertising has shifted? Do you recommend a shift in budget towards digital?

Advertising clearly has shifted and will continue to. With digital already accounting for over 30% of media usage, this shift is inevitable.