Joseph Szala interviews Casey Terrell, CMO of Blaze Pizza, about the real forces shaping restaurant growth in 2026.

From GLP-1 drugs and shifting appetite patterns to digital ordering systems and marketing-operations alignment, this episode explores how restaurant brand leaders must rethink strategy to stay competitive.

Topics include:

• The impact of GLP-1 medications on restaurant traffic

• The myth of the “death of pizza”

• Digital infrastructure vs. marketing campaigns

• Why the traditional funnel no longer works

• How marketing, technology, and operations must align

If you’re a restaurant CMO, CTO, VP of Marketing, or multi-unit operator, this episode delivers practical insight into building scalable, modern restaurant brands.

Follow for more conversations on restaurant marketing, brand strategy, and digital systems.

Most restaurant tech stacks were built under pressure.

Speed mattered more than structure.

Now leaders are paying for it.

In this Little Raps episode, I break down how to think about intelligent tech stack consolidation without falling into the traps of bloated all in one platforms or fragmented best in class chaos.

We cover:

• Where all in one platforms create long term drag

• Why best in class stacks often collapse under their own weight

• How to consolidate where systems actually belong together

• When to curate for innovation instead of efficiency

• Why team size determines stack success more than features

We’ve entered a convergence era where ops tech and martech can no longer live in silos. Sustainable scale demands clarity, not accumulation.

This episode is for restaurant brand, marketing, and technology leaders who are ready to stop collecting tools and start building leverage.

The open feed is dead to Gen Z.

They view legacy platforms like Instagram and TikTok as the "vast everybody else." They see landscapes cluttered with ads and algorithms that serve the platform rather than the user.

They are fleeing to closed gardens. They are seeking intimacy. They are rewriting the rules of engagement.

This episode breaks down the recent report from Tumblr and Archrival and what it means for restaurant brand leaders.

We explore why high production value signals an advertisement to a Gen Z brain. We discuss the power of the "Insider" archetype over the paid influencer. We look at how digital tools must drive physical connection.

You have to stop treating digital channels as billboards. You have to start treating them as campfires.

Grab the second edition of Mass Behaving to go deeper into the psychology of belonging: https://www.bullhearted.co/mass-behaving-branding-archetypes-book