July 18, 2025

130 Restaurants! How CMO Jennifer Bell markets RPM Italian, R.J. Grunts, Aba, Wildfire, M Burger, Shaw’s Crab House, Mon Ami Gabi, Beatrix and 100+ more | Ep. 378

23 minutes

You might not think running marketing for over 130 wildly different restaurants sounds like fun, but Jay Schwedelson finds out that for Jennifer Bell, it’s exactly that. From Michelin-starred fine dining to casual pizza joints, Jennifer has spent 25 years at Lettuce Entertain You, mastering how to scale loyalty, storytelling, and strategy without turning everything into a bland, one-size-fits-all experience.

Jennifer oversees the marketing for Lettuce Entertain You...

As a culinary-driven company, our restaurants - including R.J. Grunts, Aba, Wildfire, RPM Italian, M Burger, Shaw’s Crab House, Mon Ami Gabi, Beatrix and more - offer diverse opportunities. But we all share the same goal: a desire to be the best we can be. If you want to be part of a progressive company with a firm commitment to its people, join the creative team of Lettuce partners and employees. Please visit https://www.lettucejobs.com to learn more about Lettuce and view our current openings.

Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants is an independent, family-owned restaurant group based in Chicago that owns, manages and licenses more than 110 restaurants in Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Washington D.C. with Tennessee coming soon. We were founded in June 1971 by Richard Melman and Jerry A. Orzoff with the opening of R.J. Grunts and today, thanks to the creativity of our partners, we proudly serve guests at more than 60 concepts ranging from fast casual to fine dining restaurants.ㅤ

Download the LettuceEats app: https://www.lettuce.com/lettuceeats-app/

Visit Lettuce Entertain You: https://www.lettuce.com/

Connect with Jennifer Bell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferleberbell/

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Best Moments:

(01:30) Why the company’s founder never wanted to be the biggest—just the best

(03:45) How marketing is structured across 60+ brands without losing individuality

(06:19) The “scary” shift from total flexibility to standardized tech platforms

(08:58) The Scratch Off promo that moved from mailers to the app (and why servers loved it)

(10:45) How they test and scale new tools without forcing every restaurant into it

(11:31) Loyalty isn’t just a program—it’s their biggest strategic asset

(13:45) Why they had to reinvent loyalty metrics across wildly different concepts

(15:00) The matchmaking magic of pairing the right influencers with the right restaurants

(17:39) Jennifer’s favorite way to use AI (and how it makes guest experiences better)

(20:45) Why two drinks help her stop analyzing every menu when dining out

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Check out our 100% FREE + VIRTUAL EVENTS! ->

Guru Conference - The World's Largest Virtual EMAIL MARKETING Conference - Nov 6-7!

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Check out Jay’s YOUTUBE Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay’s TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@schwedelson

Check Out Jay's INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

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