Consumers are watching every dollar, and even the biggest brands are feeling it.
Foot traffic dropped 1.6% year-over-year in Q1 2025.
Same-store sales at top chains declined 3.6%, driven by fewer visits from middle-income guests.
Drive-thru traffic remains 5–8% lower than a year ago.
Operators cite food, labor, and retention costs as their top three concerns this year.
Despite these pressures, the limited-service segment is still expected to grow 4.3% in 2025, topping $532B in sales. The opportunity is there — but only for teams that can balance value, speed, and innovation.
When demand was rising, the answer to every challenge was to add another partner, project, or platform. Now, it’s about smarter structure — not more spend. We help:
Audit roles, workflows, and spend to uncover hidden duplication.
Right-size external agency work by shifting tasks in-house or fractionalizing vendor support.
Integrate AI tools to automate production and insights, only where it improves quality and speed.
Our QSR Marketing Efficiency Assessment gives marketing and creative leaders a clear, actionable plan to optimize how their teams work and spend. You’ll receive:
1️⃣ Organizational Review — Evaluate roles, structure, and costs across the marketing function.
2️⃣ Agency & Vendor Audit — Identify duplication and overlap to rationalize spend.
3️⃣ Process & Workflow Analysis — Assess campaign intake, briefing, and execution bottlenecks.
4️⃣ AI & Automation Opportunities — Find practical, safe ways to improve throughput and data use.
Deliverable:
A 90-day roadmap showing exactly where to cut waste, simplify operations, and reinvest in what drives brand impact.