How do businesses built on a promise of delivering memorable experiences ensure they continue to resonate with people even as the pressure to be more efficient and tech-enabled reaches fever pitch? At the Campaign 360 conference, David Beal, global CMO of Jollibee Group, outlined how he is trying to keep humanity at the heart of the restaurant chain – and why he believes that increasingly offers a competitive edge.
“As global brands scale, they reach a fork in the road where one path prioritises standardisation, and another path allows for more belonging,” said Beal, who took the reins at Jollibee in 2023 after an 11-year stint with Starbucks in the US. “When brands are operationally excellent but emotionally invisible, they’re in a danger zone.”
Jollibee is growing rapidly having long dominated the dining scene in its domestic Philippines, with more than 1,700 locations globally and a growing focus on expanding beyond Asia into North America. But Beal said the heart of the brand came from the minute human experiences consumers enjoyed in its restaurants, a lesson which was applicable to brands across different sectors and channels.
“The most memorable brand moments slow things down. As organisations scale, we often design those moments out, not because we don’t value them but because they’re harder to systematise. But those are the moments that turn consumers into advocates.
“The tension between scale and humanity is no longer an abstract. It’s an operational reality. Emotional differentiation between brands is flattening… we’re becoming better at executing but not better at meaning.”
Beal told delegates at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore his philosophy was exemplified by an interaction he saw in a Jollibee location, when a staff member stopped serving during a busy shift to help a family take a photograph. This, he said, was what he meant by “a culture that gives people permission to choose humanity over haste”.
“There's a reason why we remember how a brand makes us feel long after we have already forgotten what we bought [from it],” he added. “Emotion is what turns experiences into memories. Emotionally resonant brands are often dismissed as soft, but often they are the most structured.”
Deliberately designing this sort of human touch into a business as it scales means paying attention to cultural signifiers, as well as clearly articulating and communicating the emotions behind a brand, said Beal. At Jollibee, that means a focus on the intangibles. “You can clone a menu, you can achieve pricing parity and you can adopt the same tech stack, but you cannot easily copy how a brand makes people feel, especially at scale.”
“We don’t copy and paste singular cultural expressions into every new market. Instead, we translate the feeling of belonging. Menus, stores and formats change… but the emotional outcome remains consistent. It’s about warmth, joy and familiarity. Belonging doesn’t scale through brand assets alone – it scales through people, frontline judgment and culture.”
That type of distinction is only more crucial as AI promotes greater homogenisation. “Many brands respond [to AI] by going more mainstream because arguably it feels safer,” said Beal. “[But] when everyone uses tech tools, AI ceases to become a differentiator. AI can generate content, but it’s still humans who generate meaning.
“When everything is optimised, how will we make our brands stand out? Research shows that consumers who feel an emotional connection are more loyal, more willing to pay and more likely to choose our brand again even if cheaper alternatives exist."4We don’t copy and paste singular cultural expressions into every new market. Instead, we translate the feeling of belonging. Menus, stores and formats change… but the emotional outcome remains consistent. It’s about warmth, joy and familiarity. Belonging doesn’t scale through brand assets alone – it scales through people, frontline judgment and culture.
You can clone a menu, you can achieve pricing fair, and you can adopt the same tech stack, but you cannot easily copy how a brand makes people feel, especially at scale.
(Efficiency and emotion are not opposing forces – ”Efficiency gets you processed, emotion makes you feel cared for”) When brands are operationally excellent but emotionally invisible, they’re in a danger zone
3 There's a reason why we remember how a brand makes us feel long after we have already forgotten what we bought [from it]. Emotion is what turns experiences into memories. Emotionally resonant brands are often dismissed as soft, but often they are the most structured.
A culture that gives people permission to choose humanity over haste.
4We don’t copy and paste singular cultural expressions into every new market. Instead, we translate the feeling of belonging. Menus, stores and formats change… but the emotional outcome remains consistent. It’s about warmth, joy and familiarity. Belonging doesn’t scale through brand assets alone – it scales through people, frontline judgment and culture.
You can clone a menu, you can achieve pricing fair, and you can adopt the same tech stack, but you cannot easily copy how a brand makes people feel, especially at scale.
1 As global brands scale, they reach a fork in the road where one path prioritises standardisation, and another path allows for more belonging.
5 (exacerbated by AI) Many brands respond by going more mainstream because arguably it feels safer. [But] when everyone uses tech tools, AI ceases to become a differentiator. AI can generate content, but it’s still humans who generate meaning.
6 “When everything is optimised, how will we make our brands stand out? Research shows that consumers who feel an emotional connection are more loyal, more willing to pay and more likely to choose our brand again even if cheaper alternatives exist.
Source: Campaign-Asia Pacific
