While many brands are responding to the COVID-19 crisis by putting their media plans on pause, Potbelly CMO Brandon Rhoten believes in investing in moments of disruption. The casual dining brand has nearly 500 outlets, almost all of which had to pivot to delivery/takeout models in the last month.

Fortunately for the brand, it was already testing advertising that focused on its growing off-premise business. More to the point, the themes of “comfort food” and needing a break were core brand themes that aligned with customers experiencing the new lockdown culture. Rhoten believes this is a time for better digital advertising, not less. 

Of course, the brand values of companies like Potbelly and others will be tested in other ways in coming months. We conducted this interview before reporting showed that Potbelly was among many larger companies to apply for and receive loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, which many argue should have been focused more on small local businesses being impacted by the lockdowns.

Shake Shack, another fast-casual chain that also received a loan, announced it was returning the loan. We followed up with Brandon on the controversy and he provided a statement by Potbelly’s Chief People Officer Matt Revord: “Like many other restaurants, Potbelly applied for the PPP. Every penny will be used to financially support the employees in our shops. Congress specifically qualified restaurants for the PPP loan program because restaurant workers are vital to our economy.” 

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