September 22, 2026
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How Alex Jano Is Building Customer Demand and Brand Awareness for Bubbakoo’s Burritos
For franchise investors, marketing matters most when it produces measurable business results. Building brand awareness is important, but restaurant operators also need marketing systems that attract customers, encourage repeat visits, and support growth across multiple locations.
At Bubbakoo’s Burritos, Vice President of Marketing Alex Jano leads that effort. She oversees customer acquisition, digital engagement, loyalty, menu innovation support, franchise marketing, and brand development. Her team works across the organization to connect national brand strategy with the local marketing efforts that drive restaurant traffic and customer engagement.
Restaurant Marketing Experience at National Brands
Jano brings experience from some of the most recognizable names in the restaurant and consumer industries. Before joining Bubbakoo’s, she held leadership roles with Burger King, Domino’s, and Coca-Cola, developing expertise in brand growth, franchise marketing, digital strategy, customer acquisition, and local-store marketing.
Working with both global and franchise-driven organizations also taught her how national strategy and local execution must work together.
“The most effective strategies are often simple but bold, creating clear value for guests while delivering measurable results for restaurant operators,” Jano said.
That experience is particularly relevant as Bubbakoo’s expands into new markets and increasingly targets multi-unit, multi-brand franchisees. Marketing must establish the brand at a system level while giving individual operators the tools to build demand within their own communities.
A Brand Built Around Differentiation and Customization
Jano was initially attracted to Bubbakoo’s because of its position within the competitive fast-casual restaurant sector.
“Bubbakoo’s has built a loyal following by doing things differently, whether that’s menu innovation, customization, or the culture behind the brand,” she said. “I saw an opportunity to help scale a concept that has tremendous growth potential while staying true to what makes it special.”
That differentiation starts with the menu. Bubbakoo’s combines Mexican fusion, bold flavors, generous portions, and extensive customization. Guests can build their own meals or select from signature menu items.
For Jano, customization creates an important connection between customer experience and restaurant operations.
“We strike a unique balance by offering endless flavor combinations and personalization while maintaining operational simplicity behind the counter,” she said. “That approach allows us to deliver a great guest experience, keep execution efficient for our franchisees, and maximize restaurant profitability.”
The approach also supports the brand’s “Create Something Different” philosophy, which Jano describes as more than a tagline. It guides menu launches, promotions, content, and customer engagement.
Using Technology and Customer Data to Strengthen Loyalty
Bubbakoo’s marketing strategy increasingly relies on technology and customer data to understand how guests engage with the brand.
The company continues to invest in its website, mobile app, loyalty program, and digital ordering channels. Its recently upgraded loyalty program makes rewards easier to earn while providing customers with exclusive promotions and other incentives.
More importantly, those digital interactions generate information that can improve marketing decisions.
“We look at everything from visit cadence and ordering behavior to menu preferences so we can better understand our guests and deliver more relevant experiences,” Jano said.
That can mean offering vegetarian customers promotions aligned with their preferences or introducing guests who favor spicy foods to new products they are more likely to try. Instead of treating every customer the same, Bubbakoo’s can use behavioral data to make its marketing more relevant.
Jano’s team measures the results through sales growth, guest traffic, loyalty engagement, digital ordering adoption, customer retention, brand awareness, brand affinity, and return on marketing investment.
Giving Franchisees Tools to Build Their Local Markets
National marketing can establish a consistent brand identity, but restaurant-level growth also depends on what happens within each franchisee’s market.
Bubbakoo’s recently expanded its local-store marketing support with a dedicated team and a comprehensive playbook. Franchisees receive professionally developed creative assets, digital marketing programs, social media resources, grand-opening support, promotional calendars, and ongoing guidance from the corporate marketing team.
The loyalty program also automates portions of customer engagement, allowing franchisees to benefit from targeted marketing without managing those activities themselves.
Jano sees community involvement as an important part of that strategy.
“Community involvement is what this brand was built on, and it remains a core pillar of how we expect Bubbakoo’s to show up in every market,” she said.
The combination gives franchisees two layers of marketing support. National efforts build broader awareness and brand consistency, while local programs help operators establish relationships within the communities their restaurants serve.
For multi-unit, multi-brand operators, that structure becomes increasingly important. Opening several restaurants requires a marketing system that can be replicated across locations while still allowing each restaurant to develop a meaningful local presence.
Marketing, Operations, and the Guest Experience Work Together
Jano does not view marketing as an isolated solution to restaurant growth. She sees it as one component of a larger operating system.
“Marketing is a critical driver of awareness, traffic, and guest loyalty, but it works best when combined with strong operations and great hospitality,” she said.
That distinction matters. Marketing can create demand and encourage a customer to visit, but operations and hospitality ultimately determine the experience that customer receives. Building long-term relationships requires all three to work together.
Bubbakoo’s marketing strategy therefore extends beyond advertising. It connects customer acquisition, loyalty, digital ordering, guest data, local-store marketing, operations, and customer experience.
Building Marketing Infrastructure for the Brand’s Next Stage of Growth
Jano sees considerable opportunity ahead as Bubbakoo’s expands.
“The brand is still in a relatively early stage of its growth journey, which creates tremendous opportunity,” she said. “We have a differentiated concept, a passionate franchise community, and significant whitespace for expansion.”
Her priorities for that next stage include deeper personalization, continued technology investment, stronger digital engagement, and additional ways to use customer data to strengthen relationships with guests.
For prospective multi-unit, multi-brand franchisees, those investments provide important context. Bubbakoo’s is building marketing infrastructure designed not only to increase brand awareness, but also to help franchisees attract customers, understand their behavior, encourage repeat visits, and establish the brand across new markets.
To learn more about the Bubbakoo’s Burritos franchise opportunity, visit the franchise website and download the Franchise Information Guide.
