Maria Hokanson’s Post

Yesterday my workday was what my kids think I do every day…eating lots of Blizzards. Getting to sample the amazing innovation on our products as they are developed and tested is one of the best perks of my job. Even after 20 years at DQ, the R&D and the Product & Brand teams continue to amaze me with their talent. No spoilers here, but trust me, there are more great flavors ahead! And, right now, a couple of new flavors have exceeded our expectations including Picnic Peach Cobbler Blizzard and Ultimate Cookie Blizzard. 5-stars!

I attended my first Forrester CX Summit this past week in Nashville. To say I learned a lot is an understatement. The theme was Human + AI: Win. I also had the fortune to participate in a panel discussion surrounding customer-focused alignment with Reed Smith, MBA of Ardent Health and Mary Rose Bufalino, Ph.D. from Bank of Montreal hosted by Kelsey Chickering of Forrester. It was fascinating to me how even within these very different business verticals, many of the challenges are consistent. This included maintaining a customer-first perspective and breaking down silos internally to create transformative change. We each talked about having common vernacular and shared goals across the organization. While the foundational work is challenging, it is so critical to moving us forward as teams and brands. And, in a wonderful surprise, one booth even had rescue puppies to hold. Great summit! Thanks for the opportunity Forrester, Jen Sanning and Mike Daugherty

Dairy Queen is celebrating our 40th anniversary of partnership with Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. It’s powerful to celebrate brand partnerships that stand the test of time and are rooted in brand truths. For instance, DQ has more families (or as Circana identifies it “parties with kids”) within our customer base than our key competitors. We are also firmly rooted in the communities we serve thanks to our fantastic franchisees. Therefore, helping support local children hospitals through a national partner is the perfect fit. What are some other powerful partnerships or tenets of powerful partnerships that you’ve seen?

The Brooks campaign featuring Jeremy Renner is a fantastic piece of branding work. Category leaders, such as Nike, focus on world-class athletes and the emotional pull of their elite status and abilities. Brooks, true to its brand positioning and target audience (picture me in Zumba class 😉), taps into the powerful emotional connection of resilience. We all have personal struggles and hurdles to overcome - so it resonates. I’m proud to be in the Berkshire Hathaway family with Brooks. Well done! https://lnkd.in/gVbcPG8u

When I sit down to write a presentation (or as we say in DQ Marketing to “deckcercise”), I always start with a framework I learned long ago called “From, To, Think, Do.” It is a way to set me in the mind-frame of the audience and ensure I build the presentation appropriately. It’s so easy, I write a bullet point for each component as my initial slide: • From: What is the audience’s perception of the topic before I being speaking? • To: By the end of the presentation, where I would I like them to be? • Think: What do I hope the audience will think when we are finished? • Do: What would I like for the audience to do with the information learned? This framework helps me think through the outline, or what slides I use from previous presentations. And, once I have written a draft, I revisit my initial thoughts to ensure I’ve hit the mark. Sometimes, I have had that I wanted to “excite” or “edu-tain” the audience and my initial draft didn’t generate that feeling. I then revise to hit the right tone and tenor of my initial “From, To, Think, Do.” What tips do you have in crafting a presentation?

I was incredibly honored to be a guest recently on the Clicks 2 Bricks podcast. It’s a glimpse into the world of multi-location marketing hosted by the talented Rob Reed Take a listen to our conversation on how we’re working to modernize the iconic DQ brand. https://lnkd.in/dsr6qUpC

I appreciated the opportunity to represent DQ at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting this past weekend. It is a privilege to hear Warren Buffett’s perspective and reflections on business, the world, the power of America along with his personal experiences and learnings. And, as always, the exhibit hall was a sight to behold!

It was a BIG night last night celebrating Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities. I’m so grateful to serve on the board of this highly impactful brand with the award-winning team led by the amazing Pat Sukhum 🖤💚🖤💚

I love working with large, creative teams. In an ideation session last year, an agency partner casually mentioned how they thought it was cool that we internally called where our flavor innovation lived “The Freezer.” Others agreed. We realized we had an opportunity to share a brand treasure externally. It’s a great reminder that as leaders, we and our teams have the great opportunity and responsibility to listen for and champion big ideas. So, behold the DQ freezer and enjoy the flavors as they return!