New Marketing VP Guides Next Growth Phase at Bubbakoo’s Burritos

Large-scale brands have been Alex Jano’s expertise, coming off years of leadership experience at Burger King, Domino’s and Coca-Cola.

Now she’s ready to take her skills to a brand of a different size: 150-plus unit, Mexican food concept Bubbakoo’s Burritos.

“I think we have a tremendous opportunity,” Jano said. “The founders did a great job of really setting this brand up for success and having the right concept, the right menu and flavors and a great way to allow our customers to be innovative and bold with their orders.”

Jano joined Bubbakoo’s as vice president of marketing in September, a few months after private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners acquired the brand.

She sees the brand’s positioning shifting amid a new phase of growth. Bubbakoo’s has steadily risen in sales and unit count over the years, with Franchise Times Top 400 data reporting 11.6 percent and 12.1 percent increases in sales and unit growth, respectively, for 2024.

As opposed to larger brands, Jano said the upside of working with a smaller one is seeing impacts in real time, having a chance to “roll up your sleeves and make change quickly.”

Applying lessons from her time at Burger King and Domino’s, like valuing the franchisor-franchisee relationship and establishing a solid foundation, Jano is all in on Bubbakoo’s growth.

“Sometimes there’s decisions made within the larger brands and you’re making an impact for individual franchisees and markets, but it gets lost in the pure size of the brand,” she said. “I’m excited to be able to lead things like testing new marketing strategies, putting together the marketing calendar, working together as a team on innovation and all these things that can really be impactful for the brand.”

Mapping out short-term and long-term marketing strategies has been crucial early on, hand in hand with figuring out the digital marketing piece. Jano said the brand is working on an app redesign and a refresh to its loyalty program.

As Bubbakoo’s expands to new markets, recently debuting in Utah last August and pushing additional development in the Southeast and Midwest regions, the New Jersey-based franchise is set on growing brand awareness.

Smart growth, Jano said, comes through franchising. “This mindset will continue to guide everything that we do,” she said. “This will be from new products to how we connect with our guests and then also how we partner with our franchisees so they can make an impact within their community.”

Executive Ladder

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Send promotions and new hire news in franchising to Alyssa Huglen, [email protected]