Nathan Louer joined Jamba as chief brand officer in April 2023 after spending his entire career at Jimmy John’s. It was a monumental move for him.
The same industry, but varying obstacles. For instance, the 730-unit Jamba is a seasonal brand and has a different franchise makeup than what Louer has been accustomed to. He was faced with getting to know the people involved, integrating into the broader GoTo Foods company (parent of Jamba, in addition to Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Carvel, McAlister’s, Schlotzsky’s, and Moe’s), and understanding the nuances of the chain.
But Louer calls those “soft things” that any leader would face when they come in. Tacked onto his arrival was hurting franchisee sales and profitability and a brand that hadn’t kept pace out of COVID.
“For me coming in, we knew we had to do all of these things and I don’t really know what those ‘things’ would be, but I knew we had to get on a path of some sort of progress as soon as possible, both to build the rapport and trust with the franchisees, but also to start producing results for this brand,” Louer says. “Because like I said, Jamba is such an amazing brand and it sort of fell out of the consumers’ zeitgeist for a while, and we’re trying to bring this brand back and just get it to be more visible, more relevant, and have it play a more prominent role in people’s lives versus what it has done.”
Louer says Jamba has positioned itself as a “nice to have” treat within a snack industry that is indeed booming. But he also feels the chain has become a one-trick pony. The aspiration is to become more of a portion for guests, like adding smoothie ingredients and developing the bowl platform for meal replacement. More customers are substantially using snacks, and Jamba is leaning into that via product creation, marketing messages, and a digital-first mindset. Louer wants to get matters running quickly, but he’s also cautious about doing things with the right rigor behind them so that Jamba isn’t carelessly moving the brand forward. He wanted to ensure he had the correct intentions and the best lens on the consumer and also enough conversations with franchisees to comprehend what they’ve been through over the past few decades.
“I think we’ve accomplished quite a bit, and a lot of it so far has been underneath the surface,” Louer says. “We’re just starting to see some things bubble up with the consumers this year. In fact, we’ve had several new product launches, some new activations as well. But a lot of things like rebuilding the product pipeline, ensuring that we have the right people and the right roles on the team—these foundational things that I think don’t ever get talked about because they’re sort of expected in this industry. A lot that was beneath the surface and really setting the stage for some monumental consumer actions in the next couple of years.”
One of the bigger feats has been taking a new avenue to menu innovation. Louer says there’s a delicate balance between rapid product development and rigorous, consumer-led testing that drives Jamba’s product offerings. Given unlimited time, he would go through the normal way, including screening, product development, taste testing, reformulation, and market testing that typically spans a year.
However, real-world business challenges and franchisee demands often necessitate a more agile approach. A striking example of this expedited process is Jamba’s upcoming coffee smoothies, set to debut in September. “That’s after probably three or four months of product development, research, and screening,” Louer notes. Despite the truncated timeline, the confidence in the product’s potential—addressing a noticeable menu gap compared to competitors—led to the decision to forego market testing. “We believe that it can perform better than some of the existing menu items,” he adds.
In contrast, Louer describes a more meticulous path to introducing new food items, like high-quality mini empanadas. This concept represents a significant shift for the brand, requiring a thorough, end-to-end consumer testing process. “We have to be really, really thoughtful and very rigorous around the process to bring that to market,” he says, underscoring the importance of ensuring product-market fit through comprehensive research and continuous data monitoring.
“You can’t make a misstep with these things out of the gate with consumers or you destroy credibility off the bat,” Louer says. “So for us, it’s really important that we do things right, obviously by the franchisees and for our business. You get one shot with a lot of these guests and if you don’t capitalize on that, they go to many other competitors in this extremely, extremely packed industry that we’re in.”
Jamba has used local marketing, a strategy deeply rooted early in Louer’s career, to garner interest among consumers. He began his journey in field marketing right after college, spending two years traveling across the country and handing out products. This hands-on experience in the field laid the foundation for his mindset around marketing today.
Jamba doesn’t have the largest media budget when compared to competitors, Louer explains. The brand is more regional, primarily established on the West Coast, where media costs in markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are exceptionally high. Despite these limitations, he embraces the hurdle and views Jamba as a “challenger brand” that must innovate and work harder to achieve outstanding results.
For Louer, this means focusing on local marketing. “It is sampling, it is getting out into your community,” he says. The strategy involves providing franchisees with tools and training to make smoothies, packaging them in temperature-controlled boxes, and personally delivering them to neighboring businesses. “Here’s a free Jamba smoothie, come see us tomorrow,” is the message they deliver, reconnecting with customers on a personal level.
This method, while labor-intensive and costly, is essential for reintroducing the brand to communities. Louer often hears from people who love Jamba but haven’t had it in years. “The best way we can get after that is by bringing the product to people’s doorsteps and going that extra mile to put our product in their hands,” he says.
The strategies appear to be working. On National Smoothie Day, when Jamba offered $1 smoothies nationwide from 3 to 6 p.m., the chain doubled its usual traffic and sold more than 300,000 smoothies.
“A common thing is effort doesn’t always equate to results in this industry,” Louer says. “But I do feel if you do local marketing the right way, effort often does equate to results on this front. And so I very much believe in that. I lived that life earlier in my career. And it’s something that is actually within Jamba’s DNA. It’s so funny because I came to Jamba, and I’m like, ‘Oh, we should do this, this and this,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we did that five years ago. We did that 10 years ago.’ I’m like, ‘Sweet, let’s dust it off and bring it back.’”
All of the work ties back to franchisee profitability. He notes that Jamba, like many restaurants, is heavily commodity-driven, especially reliant on fresh and frozen fruits. The ongoing challenges with commodity prices, exacerbated by the pandemic, have placed significant pressure on maintaining reasonable costs.
The brand transitioned to Performance Food Group for distribution, which it shares with Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, and Cinnabon. Leveraging that scale and reducing distribution centers from 20 to 12 have simplified costs. Another focus has been transforming products without compromising quality. Louer describes an ongoing juice optimization project aimed at cutting expenses while maintaining the brand’s high standards. “Jamba was using some really great ingredients, sweetening juices with other high-cost juices. There’s also another high-quality way to do it—you can use all-natural cane sugar,” he says. Additionally, Louer mentions simpler yet effective measures, such as shifting from international to domestic suppliers for granola and waffles.
With profitability on the right path, Louer feels more enthusiastic about future growth opportunities. He believes there’s “still a lot of runway” for Jamba’s standalone unit, although the larger stores ranging from 1,600 to 2,000 square feet are obsolete. The priority is efficient, digital-first shops under 1,000 square feet. This streamlined model manages costs and aligns with modern consumer preferences for quick, convenient service. Another promising avenue is the nontraditional footprint. Jamba has portability and appeal as a healthier option in various settings such as airports, universities, malls, and potentially healthcare facilities. “We’re talking like 200 to 300 square feet, just pump out smoothies and bowls, and really be focused on what we do,” Louer says.
Louer also praises the co-branding setup with Auntie Anne’s, which provides Jamba with an immediate food platform. This partnership allows it to establish a robust presence in new markets, particularly in the East, Midwest, and South.
To sustain its legacy, Jamba also redefined its brand positioning. Initially, Louer had not planned to undertake this exercise, believing the existing strategy was effective enough. However, as he delved deeper into the company’s history and engaged with franchisees, it became evident that a reset was needed.
The result of this introspective journey is the new campaign centered around “Hello, Sunshine.” This reimagined message emphasizes that “Jamba boosts your brightest self.” It’s about fueling one’s day, providing energy, and delivering a deeper sense of fulfillment. This idea was aided by cofounder Linda Olds, who remains a franchisee and a source of wisdom for Louer. She recalled the brand’s early days when it showcased the ethos of offering “sunshine in a cup.” Inspired by this vision, Louer and his team looked to revive and modernize this sentiment.
Through this thoughtful measure, Jamba hopes to invigorate its brand for future growth and connection with a broader audience.
“Great brand positioning just isn’t about the campaign to the consumer, but it’s helped us so much in training and our operational standards, our new design for our prototypes, how we’re thinking about brand activations, how I communicate, and what we do from a franchisee/franchisor relationship,” Louer says. “That has been something that’s been so exciting and I think sort of an X factor for this brand.”
