How Wendy’s turned a ‘Minions’ tie-in into an employee engagement moment
‘Frontline workers are better marketers than some of the media.’
The recent collaboration between Wendy’s and Minions to promote the series’ latest film, “Minions & Monsters,” has generated plenty of press coverage. The restaurant chain, however, believes the key to translating that attention into business results is its frontline workforce.
“We have realized that, quite frankly, our frontline workers are better marketers than some of the media,” said Pete Suerken, U.S. president of Wendy’s. “If the teams are excited and know what to do and have been trained up properly, all of a sudden the promotion gets way easier.”
Achieving this, of course, is easier said than done. At the end of 2025, Wendy’s U.S. footprint included 5,969 restaurants, according to the company’s latest annual report. More than 90% of these stores are operated by 203 franchisees, adding another layer of complexity to the process of engaging employees.
For Wendy’s, a successful promotion begins with early and frequent internal communication, along with empowering frontline workers to be active participants in the campaign, rather than simply checking boxes.
Suerken elaborates on these three steps below.
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- Start communicating with employees months before launch
For a campaign of this size — the partnership involves exclusive collectibles, themed packaging, new menu items and restaurant-wide branding — Suerken said internal communications begin long before customers see the first social media post teasing the collaboration.
In this case, it started around eight or nine months prior to launch, giving everyone within the Wendy’s organization more time to plan and prepare.
“This is far more complex than what we normally do,” said Suerken.
It’s a lesson Wendy’s has learned from experience. In 2024, the restaurant chain ran a campaign to celebrate the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants. It did so, however, on a tighter timeline than ideal.
“When we did SpongeBob, I don’t know that we gave ourselves enough time to create the excitement and deal with the complexity of the moment,” said Suerken.
- Reinforce messages across multiple channels
To prepare franchisees and, by extension, frontline workers for the upcoming Minions & Monsters promotion, Wendy’s used a variety of channels.
It kept everyone informed through an internal newsletter titled Dave’s Daily, named after Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas. Every two weeks, Suerken and Wendy’s U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Lindsay Radkoski used their system-wide call with franchise owners, store operators and other business leaders to share updates and answer questions about the collaboration.
“It is not a big pomp and circumstance moment,” Suerken said about the regular meeting, which takes place over Teams. “It is live. It is real. At times, it can be a little raw because somebody doesn’t agree with you.”
At the restaurant level, communications continue through the field operations team and individual managers who speak with frontline workers before they begin their shift.
“We call it ‘talking into position,’” said Suerken. “When we talk somebody into position, we’re going to talk to them about the three things they need to do that day in their role to affect our customers’ experience.”
- Give employees a role — not just a checklist
While Wendy’s crew members might know about an upcoming campaign, getting them excited about it is another challenge.
To encourage participation, Suerken explained, Wendy’s aims to make employees feel like they’re part of the action by giving them themed pins, hats and T-shirts, as well as allowing them to film and post their own videos about the experience.
“I want them to be the moment,” said Suerken. “They are the star of the show. They are part of Minions. I don’t want them executing a checklist — that’s terrible.”
Part of this also involves partnering with a brand Wendy’s frontline workers are likely to get excited about. If the collaboration isn’t the right fit on this level, Suerken said, Wendy’s is likely to pass on the opportunity.
With frontline workers acting as the face of the campaign, Wendy’s feels the rest should take care of itself.
As Suerken put it: “Minions brings the customers in; our team members keep the customers coming back.”
