Operations
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July 7, 2025 by CJ Gaffney — VP, Group Strategy Director, Partners + Napier
A few Fridays ago, I found myself in the Wendy’s drive-thru with three boys in the backseat and a trunk full of baseball gear. The sun was setting, nerves were high, someone had definitely forgotten their water bottle (again), and dinner?
It was a logistics fire drill — less a meal and more of a mission.
Orders were shouted from the back like coked-up traders from the floor of an ’80s stock exchange. I’m mental mapping which kid hates pickles and praying no one asks for a Frosty five seconds too late.
And then…silence.
The food hit our laps. The fry smell filled the car. A bite of something hot, salty and weirdly grounding. It was 15
greasy, glorious minutes of collective calm. Phew!
That’s the power of fast food. It’s not about speed or price anymore; it’s a ritualized reward. And the brands winning in this space know that. They’re selling a moment, not just a value meal.
At Partners + Napier, we’ve had a front-row seat to three different burger brands as they navigated the need to move beyond fast, cheap, or flavor in order to differentiate:
They’d hit a wall. Great product (top 1% of beef quality), but zero brand heat. We flipped the focus toward owning the quality with quirky swagger that set them apart from the sea of “craft” sameness. The result? +14% in sales and a new brand voice that actually sounded like it gave a damn.
People were already tagging their wins with things like #nailedit and #crushedit, so we turned the brand into the reward itself with #smashedit. The campaign made Smashburger feel like a flex again. Sales jumped 18%, and they took the #1 slot for “Most Decadent Burger.”
Today, we’re helping turn up the volume on a brand with bold, rebellious roots and excited to help them continue to carve out a personality that defies anything dull.
Across all three, the same shift played out: taste, speed, and price (alone) weren’t the differentiators. They were the baseline.
Here’s a few things we’ve learned:
- Clarity is magnetic: Know who you are. Scream it if you have to. Today’s consumers are fluent in brand BS – they’ll sniff out an identity crisis faster than it takes
for your DoorDash to arrive. Whether it’s indulgence, nostalgia, or Gen-Z-level irreverence, pick a lane and floor it. - Create Moments, not just meals: We published our look at “Fast Food High Rollers” last year, finding that people eat fast food often and loudly. They don’t just want food. They want a vibe. A memory. A ritual. That Friday night drive-thru run is just as much about the dopamine hit as it is about dinner
- Make it worth it. Fast food isn’t cheap anymore. Prices are up 30-40%. But guess what? People still show up. Because price sensitivity fades when value shows up strong. The brands that win aren’t the ones offering the steepest discounts; they’re the ones that feel like you’re getting away with something.
So no, fast food isn’t just fast. And it’s sure as hell not cheap.
But that’s not the point.
It’s a moment. 15 minutes of joy, nostalgia, indulgence, adventure or whatever feels ownable to you. Make it clear, make it count, make it worth repeating. That’s how you’ll get chosen again and again.
About CJ Gaffney
CJ Gaffney is VP, Group Strategy Director at Partners + Napier, where he leads brand strategy that connects cultural insights with business impact. His experience across fast food, health, and travel has made him an expert in finding the emotional tension behind everyday decisions — from dinner rush cravings to carving out time in the family calendar to moments that matter in care. He’s a 4x Effie winner and 2x Jay Chiat winner, working with brands like Smashburger, Checkers & Rally’s, Applebee’s, BurgerFi, Jack Daniels, MD Live, and Delta Vacations.
