2026 marketing trends, from food influencers to AI

(upbeat music) Welcome to Takeaway with Sam Okus, a podcast for leaders of growing restaurant companies, looking to take their businesses to the next level. In nearly two decades covering restaurants, I've gained access to some of this industry's most influential decision makers, and I'm letting you in on the conversation. On today's special bonus episode, I'm talking with Kate Finley, the founder and CEO of Bell Communication, a food service PR agency with expertise in earned media, influencer relations, creative strategy, and consumer insights. We've partnered with Bell on their really platform, which offers unique insights into food influencers and how to leverage them for your business. Kate and I chatted specifically about marketing trends for 2026, and how restaurants should evolve their strategies as it relates to social media influencers and other digital marketing opportunities. Note that this is the final episode of Takeaway for the year, and we will be taking the next two weeks off to recharge for what is short to be a huge 2026. I invite you to dig into the incredible conversations that we have in our archive, and as always leave some feedback wherever you're listening to this podcast as it helps to spread the word to other restaurant leaders. Happy Holidays and enjoy the conversation. - All right, sitting down once again with Kate Finley, the founder and CEO of Bell Communication, Kate, welcome back to the podcast. - Oh man, these are my favorite podcasts to do. Don't tell anyone, we're not recording this, right? (laughing) - Yeah, we won't tell all the competitors out there that this is the best one. - Yeah, I love it. I love it, I love it. It's always great to talk to you, and I'm excited to talk about what's been happening in marketing and what we're looking at for 26. - Likewise, Kate, we've enjoyed this great partnership this year with your really platform, and you and your colleagues have come on and really helped our audience understand more about the state of marketing, and especially the state of influencers, and the role that influencers are playing within food service marketing today, within B2B marketing, that's something we'll really get into today, and something that you and I both spend a lot of time thinking about. - Yes. - And this is the end of the year. It's December, this will drop right before Christmas, and so I'm sure lots of folks listening to this are maybe driving home for Christmas, or out doing their shopping, last shopping, whatever, but they're wondering, how do I make sense of 2025? This was a crazy year in a lot of ways, and that's true too for food service marketing. So when you take a step back, Kate, and you look at 2025, how do you think this year will be remembered from a marketing perspective? - Well, we've certainly faced a lot of pressure, and I think we've had to make decisions as an industry on how do we do more with less? I think this year was also, we were starting to see AI affect our industry, and when it hits, it hits quick. And so I think it's really, what we've seen is that we have to get smarter about our marketing, our resources. We have to get smarter about what does the consumer actually want and need? What does the operator therefore want and need? And how are we relating to our audience? And there's no longer room to toe dip into social media, for example. If you're still not, if you don't have your social point at this stage in the game, your competitors are eating your market share. So I think it's how, my big takeaway for this year was like, okay, tighten things up, focus on what really matters and build on that. So we look at the traditional tactics and how do we build where you need to go deeper? It's like that narrowed a deep. I think that's what that pressure really created. We had to get rid of a lot of the fat and the fluff and really focus on where is the ROI. - Yeah, well you said something interesting there that just about how things come fast, right? And I've had a lot of conversations recently where people stress the urgency of things, the urgency of moving. And I know sometimes there's mixed messages out there because I would tell a lot of people, well, you need to really understand what you're doing before you jump in if you first into something. But I think with marketing, I'm inclined to believe that you're right that there are some things especially AI that are moving so fast that there is urgency here. Tell me about that because for those, especially operators who are listening to this, the urgency with which you think they need to move when it comes to social media, when it comes to marketing, when it comes to embracing AI. - Yeah, and I think that speaks to a lot of the trends. So we just released a 2026 marketing and trends report and playbook. So I'm a big fan of, yeah, I'll speak aspirationally what's the big picture, but I also wanna know, how the heck do I do it? I need to do it. I'm listening to this podcast, what can I do now? What can I implement? And so in particular, what we're seeing with our findings is that, and we interviewed, you know, leading chefs for this, operators, suppliers and trying to understand, what do we do? What do we do in marketing this? And noise is everywhere to your point. It feels very urgent. It can be the thing that keeps us awake at night. And I've gone through, you know, ups and downs with that, just being candid where it's like, oh my gosh, so much kind of like a COVID. Oh my gosh, there's so much pressure. I have to figure out the future. What is it, what is it, what is it? We are not bots, we're not the AI. So we cannot hold ourselves to the standard of, we've got to figure this out today. But we should hold ourselves to the standard of, what does the data say and how do I apply that data? So I think when looking at the data, a couple of things I would call out is that we heard in our report that if you're not visible in multiple channels and not building an emotional connection to operators, you're not creating pull. And if we're not having that pull through, you're letting the competition step in. Right. So of course, yes, we know that, good. How do we, how do we apply it? And I think that, you know, a lot of times now we're getting hit with if we think about from the operator perspective, I really want to remember and remind that we are people at the end of the day. And so this consumer behavior, we follow that behavior too. The leading source of, you know, operators on social, when they're looking at things and they're vetting, it's Instagram, for example. So I can take that data and know, okay, I need to actually, I can hone my social and focus more on Instagram. So I think that's where we look at the data and to your point about influencers early on, something that we saw this year, which, okay, so first of all, chef partnerships, that's something that's hot and new, but not so new. And the reason I say that is because this, from last year to this year, searches for chef partnerships on Google, it went up 1,500%, but that was in October. Since then, since mid-November, I didn't pull the latest data here, but mid-November in like a month, it went up to 2,500. - Whoa. - So we're seeing this rapid shift and like leaning into how do I take that peer insight, the peer review from a chef, from an independent operator, and how do I leverage that to create demand with their peers because chefs believe what other chefs say because their rep is on the line, right? So that's one of the things I would say when we look at, okay, yes, AI is moving quickly, but which tactics can we enhance and which ones are up and coming that we need to tap into? And that can be a, can be a toadip. You can work with the chef influencer and work with one and test something, you know, and see how it plays through. So we saw that, we saw that chefs are trusting other chefs, which we knew, but they're doing it through social. That peer credibility is one of the most powerful forms in food service marketing, not just the consumer side. We also are seeing, and you know this, that independent operators are a hot scalable target. Everything's digital, you can connect directly. And one of the things that I think speaks to maybe feeling a bit overwhelmed is that now we're seeing that self-led and digital research have become increasingly popular among food service buyers. So they're still using relational, like the relationship driven sales, that's still essential, but operators are now engaging more with content in more places. So as on the brand side, that can feel very challenging. How do I actually, you're everywhere? So I have to be everywhere. And we have something where we advise, you know, if you create something and it's really great, you know this in content. You're going to have all these bits of content from one piece. This podcast we're doing is going to be on YouTube. It's going to be on Instagram. It's going to be on LinkedIn. It's on your site. You're going to take sound clips and bits and weave them into the rest of your marketing. And so I think that's something we've learned now. We're seeing it used to be five to six touch points required for an operator. Now it's eight or nine. So they're just, they are trying to be very smart about their decisions because they, we know, they don't have a lot of resources. So I would say those are some of the things we're seeing. And, you know, it informs, and we can talk about, you know, next or soon, that it informs how we go about making these decisions, you know? - Yeah, well, and you know, a lot of what you're talking about here is that, especially for the food service vendor out there looking to get the operator's attention. Operators are trying to get the consumer's attention. I mean, at the end of the day, this is an attention economy, right? And it doesn't really differ much, which you need to get the attention of your end user, whether that, whether you're a vendor trying to get the attention of the operator or the operator trying to get the attention of the customer. So to your point, being on all of the channels in which they are present so that you get their attention that way. But what kind of content? What is, I mean, you said, you know, for the vendor trying to get the operator's attention, that's maybe checked forward content because it's the, you know, shift attention to their peers. For the operator, what's the kind of content that's going to get the attention or has gotten the attention this year anyway of the consumer, which we know is constantly moving on to the next thing. - Yes. So what we look at, the mark, like we look at what we've learned this year where we need to, well, the reality is we're, we need to be everywhere, everything, everywhere, all at once, right? So we need to do that. Okay, how do we approach it? And I think looking to the future, what we need to do is think about, okay, our marketing mix. How do we build on traditional tactics? So for example, if we're looking at content to your, to your point on social media, their operator use of social media is now a sourcing tool. They're, you may not even talk directly to the operator at this point. They don't have time. Why, why would I take the time to build a relationship with a sales rep when I can use chat to EPT to ask all of the questions and get insight in my competition and get all of the specs and everything. So then it becomes, how do we emotionally connect with the operator, help them see that we understand the consumer and what the consumer wants and means. And then this is the connection. So within social, you know, most suppliers and manufacturers still have not figured this out. That's what I've seen this year, right? We're still saying, here's our product, here's our specs. And the operator's like, yeah, okay, great. That's what everybody's saying. So how do I know that I'm getting something different? And how do I end? Okay, look, if we're all, for apples to apples, obviously there's tons of apples, but if we're all gala apples or whatever, then I have to decide as an operator, what does your brand look like? How are you, how are you gonna create pull through for the consumer and what they want and need? And how are you gonna help educate me to promote and connect the product to the consumer demand? So we're seeing on this player side, there's, and I think this is emerging and will happen more in 26. How do we bring insight to the operator? How do we help educate them beyond product specs? Buyers don't just want product details, they want connection, they want proof of concept. How does something perform in a real kitchen? Again, chef influencers, let's see how it performs. What does it look like? What are the ins and outs? How can I use it? How does it save me money? But all of that is through social. I don't have time for a conversation. I've got, I have time for your 32nd video. And that, so I think that's something when we look at 26, we are all facing so much more time pressure at this point that we have to be very smart when we're going to our audience and how do we save them the time, educate them quickly, make the emotional connection, and then they're contacting you. - Right, yeah, I mean, and I always remind, especially when I get into conversation about sort of the B2B side of things that, at the end of the day, the operator is also a consumer. I mean, that's kind of the beautiful thing and crazy thing about this industry, is that everybody in this industry is also this industry's consumer. - Yeah, for people. - Yeah, we're all human being, we're all people. So we're also consuming content from our favorite restaurants and we're, and so I wonder if that, you know, when you think about that B2B perspective and what you've just said very eloquently about how a vendor can, you know, get the attention of the operator, is it the same, is it the same for how they get the attention of the guest? Because again, if this is what they want out of their content on social media, is that also then what they should be expecting to give in their content on social media? - 100% and I think that's actually one of the advantages that we have now. If we're thinking like that end user and we just pull that through all of the marketing, we have to stop thinking about a B2B buyer. I think we just need to think about a buyer, a person. And we, how do we tell our story? How do we use video to tell our story? How do we use, when we look at content specifically, and how do we use partners, I mean, like yourself, like NRN, and when we look at, okay, yes, how, and this is more speaks to 26, but I'm already doing an ad campaign, for example, I'm doing traditional ads. Well, how about some sort of editorial component where it looks like, it doesn't look like an ad, it's actually educating and storytelling. So it's not, you know, it's beyond just that visual and the traditional means of the ad. How are we working together and talking to the editorial and ad teams? How do we create a really robust campaign together that feels organic? It feels organic, it's educational. And then, the benefit of that, too, is when we're talking about AI, that is where AI can see consistently. You're telling stories, you're adding value, you're creating content that's not only educational, but it's a bit different, it's a bit creative, it has, it's easily indexed. And so then as, whether it's Google, you know, or AI, it's pulling from sources like NRN, because you guys already have credibility, you've been around for a long time, you have the SEO value, all these things. So how do we take it beyond the print component and really look at the digital? I still love looking at print. When I have, you know, I love that. That's great, and I might not have time to do it as often. So I need to make sure I'm hitting both. And then also, how do you pull it through and build on a trade show? What are you doing to partner and make it really hands-on and why I can have, you know, your demo component? So I think there is an opportunity to think more holistically about how do I, as a marketer or as a restaurant or whatever, how do I like to consume? And very often it's going to be similar to how your audience. Now, if you're going after Gen Z and your Gen X, yeah, might be a bit different, you know. So they use data to support you and partners, you know, to help you understand, but a lot of consumer behavior, we all have similar challenges right now. So I do think that that is a benefit and we can take a step back and not feel like we have to, you know, enter alien territory and figure out how people think. So yeah, I would say that's a shift that we're seeing for sure. - A lot of this kind of makes me think of the idea of, just branding, right? And, you know, we were talking before we hit record about that notion of needing to be sort of the expert in order for AI to source you, right? And that's kind of connected to the same thing, which is personal brand. What's the value I bring as a person, as an editor? What is, what is, you know, what do I represent that is unique, right? And then leaning into that. And we've had this conversation going on, you know, 10 to 15 years now around personal brand, as social media has gotten bigger and bigger. And I want to sort of loop this into a conversation I recently had with a chef friend. And actually you're a part of this too, 'cause I was meeting with my chef friend on site at her restaurant. She's part of this great restaurant group. And we did a podcast, which will come out on this feed in a couple of weeks. And I told her you should be doing content because she's really smart and she presents really well on a podcast and I said, well, you should be doing more of this. But here's the question I would have for UK and I mentioned Bell and Brillie, because I thought, you know, hey, I should plug you in and I will. - Thank you. - But here's my question for you, which is, does she build her brand as a chef, or does she take that brand into the accounts for her restaurant? So is it the restaurant that is showing her content, or is she showing her content as a representative of that restaurant? Am I not seem like a big difference? But I think about this a lot. I think maybe our audience thinks about this a lot, which is, am I selling my business as myself? Am I representative of my business? What are your thoughts on how to approach that kind of a branding question? - Yeah, I would say yes, both. (laughing) And the, you know, it's like that yes and, right? I love it. So I would say individually that's important in your individual thought leadership because that gives you the opportunity to speak out of fence and you know, look, hopefully our concepts are, you know, they're super successful. However, it's an extremely challenging industry. So I would say you do both. And so what you're creating as an individual, the brand then pulls through. And that shouldn't be hard to do. If you have a good strategy in place, it can tick both boxes. And so then you're actually getting double the content for one effort. So that's what I would recommend because then you're looking at, you know, how do you have tech help you, you know, brand it a bit differently and hold those snippets through, I think it's both. Because, and I think, you know, you're a great example about SAMH, so you have a wonderful network and you have your own brand, you know, but then you also it's all pulled through enter in and they feed each other. And so then what it does is it benefits the brand and the individual. Now, the times where that becomes risky are when, you know, it's not, you're like, when a brand is saying, we want to feature a chef. And this chef is not, you know, the founder, the operator and the chef could move on. Okay, so that's where you need to think about when I have a spokesperson, what are the risks of that spokesperson? What's the longevity of that spokesperson? Do our values align? Do the visuals align? You know, all of those kind of things and what's the expectation? So that's more getting into the traditional PR piece when we work with brands on, how do we pull spokesperson people? We're highlighting a CEO. Maybe we're highlighting a innovation officer. Maybe we're highlighting the marketing director. It depends on what we're saying. More, if you have the resources, having multiple spokespeople is great. Because then you're not, and you understand this on the editorial side, you're not, you can experience a lot of constraints with one individual being the spokesperson. You know, so you have to do what you have to do, you know, if it's just you, then I would say maximize that time. So you're, for example, you're in your kitchen, you're doing a demo. And then maybe while you're doing the demo, you're talking about different things, like you're talking about not only what you're creating, but you're talking about how you approach food, at what sort of experience you try to create. Like when you're thinking about, I'm doing this one piece of content. How much can I get from it? And I will say that having obviously an agency partner is amazing if you can't use AI. I'm not, I'm definitely someone who has and will continue to embrace AI, not only personally, but professionally. I see it as, you know, we, it's the, you know, I don't wanna say, what's the better way to say this? Eat or be eaten. - Oh sure, yeah. - Yeah, you know, so, you know, you want to cannibalize yourself before someone else does. So I would rather look at something and say, okay, you know, how does my team need to evolve? How does my approach need to evolve? And with chefs in particular, you know, they have both the B to C and B to B play. So again, look, two more boxes we can take here. You're going to relate to the consumer, the operator, and then as we pull through to that supplier. So that's using chefs, when I look to 2026 and recommendations, experiment with chef thought leadership, experiment with chefs as influencers, collaborate with them, look at tap into their networks, with you mentioned, really, and so with our really insight platform, you can get opinions from chefs, you can get insights from operators, you can get insights from the, you know, and consumer through influencers, because influence is not just someone on social media who's built up their career as an influence. No, influence has been around forever. And so when we look at our industry, one of the best influencers you can use, those are chefs. So yeah, and I think there is, we are only scratching the surface at this point. And I think we're going to continue to see those numbers increase in 2026. - Yeah, before I get into that, I am curious, 'cause when I think about this concept, even for myself around sort of a personal brand, I often get really caught up in the sort of weeds of it, which is, if I, for example, it's embarrassing how long it can take me to write a LinkedIn post. 'Cause I like-- - Oh gosh, it's the same. - Right? And, you know, thankfully AI can help, but then on the other side of things, you know, everybody's starting to call out all that AI generated content on a LinkedIn. But, you know, so I spent all this time worrying about am I saying the right thing, because I want what I wanted to represent of my personal brand, but I had a great conversation with Megumi on your team and Professor Pizza a few months ago, and, you know, he said something that stuck with me, which is like, I just hit record, and, you know, I just let, I give them an authentic. His audience, he gives an authentic look at him in the kitchen, he doesn't worry too much about it, looking great or saying the right thing. He just says, this is me, and this is what you get, and that his audience really likes that authenticity. Tell me about that, and sort of the state of all consumers of content on social media, especially, and how much this sort of idea of authenticity can play into the personal brand. - Yeah, so I think authenticity is important, I think relatability is important as well, knowing who we're speaking to, and that's why in the beginning, I said, let the data guide you. Don't be stressed about being all things to everyone. Know your data, and you can use AI to help you with this, right? We know our data. We understand what the consumer is wanting and needing, and then you think about, what are, what am I really passionate about, right? And that's gonna be authentic. If I go on, you know, LinkedIn, and sort of talking about pizza, I don't know, but if I go on LinkedIn, and I start talking about growing a business, leading a team, those kind of things, thought leadership, you know, that's authentic. So you have to, when we're thinking about our own thought leadership and the brand thought leadership, I think it's good to look at the strategy and say, okay, what's topics are authentic to us, and doing a bit of the pre-work. Some of it, you can just kind of hop on social and try. It feels so high stakes, and it feels so like, you know, oh my gosh, I could take the brand down, if I make one misstep, and it, I mean, look, it does happen sometimes, but that's someone who already has a ton of thought leadership, typically, like they're already being looked at. So if you're starting out, you have so much flexibility and freedom to experiment, you know? And so I think the hardest part is pressing record, a lot of times, right? And that's what I love when you can, when you can speak to what you really know, and you're speaking to who you know, and you're seeking to help. That's something that's helped me chime in again, whether I'm doing a speaking engagement, or a podcast writing a LinkedIn post, I am here to create value. I am here to help. And so that's what we're doing. If we can shift our lens to be instead of I am here trying to sell. No one wants that anymore. They can see through that, you know, of course you want to sell. Of course you do, but help me get to know you, you as a brand, you as a person, and help me understand that you see me, and you know what I need. And that's what, when we look at authenticity, absolutely, you know, beyond it being a buzzword, you know? How do we really create meaningful connection through what we're doing, whether it's a trade show, whether it's an ad, because you can still do it, or whether it's through, you know, my, the stories that I'm telling through social, through traditional media. So really thinking about authenticity, for sure. Yeah, I mean, and it's funny, 'cause again, thinking about AI. Yeah. It's sort of ironic, but in this age of AI, humanness is all the more important, right? And I think that's what we're kind of getting at with that authenticity. I mean, you know, for example, when I linked in, for the longest time, I really resisted doing anything quasi-personal, for example, with my family. Yeah. Just because I was like, well, this is professional. It's not, you know, they don't need to see my wife and kids. And then, you know, I started to bring some of it in, especially with some of the work we've done around charity, and my son being involved. And that stuff always does the best engagement, is when I sort of ladder a little bit of my humanity. It's really long. You know, and there are some parameters to that. You don't want to overdo it. And certainly there are all kinds of things around protecting my kids' image or whatever, but legitimately, I know that it's because people care who I am as a person, in as much as they care who I am as an editor. And that's true of everybody here listening, which is they care who you are as a franchisee, as a chef, as an executive, as a vendor, as much as they do as that role specifically. And that's why I think that's the kind of content that tends to pop. And there's a way to do it strategically, though, right? There's a way to kind of bring those two worlds together. Yeah, I agree. And I think that, you know, this is something we haven't said yet, but it's been around for a while, but social listening, right? Going back to some of those tried and true practices here, what are people talking about? What do they care about? What pain points do they have? We, there's actually an example from a client, which you know, golden waffles. So they use, you know, traditional PR like earned media. And so they basically aligned the idea with waffles, with a growing, not only the flavor trend, but consumer trends of addressing cost concerns with operators. So then what they ended up doing that, it was pretty creative because they introduced waffle nomics, I think it's called. And basically they started talking about, it was not self-promotional. It was thinking about how this is a great value ad and could be part of your venue. And actually it's cost saving and tapping into, you know, the TikTok trends, right? So we're thinking about, okay, there's a need. And a need that can feel very broad and unattainable. Like, okay, yes, margins are tight. What do we do with that? So then we get creative and think about, okay, well, actually this could, this doesn't need a need, which everybody would say my product needs a need, of course. But how do we actually tell a story and connect to that need? And that's when you talk about the personal side of things who, you know, everybody can relate to getting waffles at a hotel or whatever, you know? So just thinking about that. And I do want to touch on AI for a minute because it's really important. So on the one hand, well, and I just look talking about it. But on the one hand, yes, it's like coming for our lunch. You know, I recently did, I created an advisory board, which is something we talk about later, but an advisory board through AI. And one of the things it did that I gave it a task and the first thing it said was, you know, gave me an answer real quick. And I was like, clearly you're being lazy, you know? And I said, get me, how did you get to this answer? Yeah, and did you actually do what I said? And he replied and said, I almost said he, it replied and was like, I understand why you would think that because you're a human, but I'm AI and I do want me to show you. And I was like, yes, you should better show me. And I looked and I was like, wow, it had all, it did everything I wanted and it had this whole dialogue and they debated back and forth to give me the right answer. And so we needed to make sure, I say that to say, yeah, I am a human. And this thing is going to eat a lot of our lunch. So how do we use it to, you know, go where we want, you know? And so with that, I want to bring up the staff that was really, from our report that was really striking, shocking, I think to me, actually at the time, already more than half of the people who use Google are now instead of using Google, they're using AI search, they're not different. So that's more than half, I feel like, you know, yelling that, like already that consumer behavior has shifted overnight. So then if I'm just focusing on traditional SEO, I'm missing half of the people. So now I need to think about, okay, how do I actually, when someone's, how does that work? Okay, so if you're using AI search, how do I get people to know I'm there? It feels very foreign, but it's really not actually that complex. What AI is doing, it's looking for credible sources for the information. So if I'm looking at, okay, I want to, what are the beverage trends for 2026? Okay, it's going to say, "Oh, look. Enter and did an article because you have the domain authority and the credibility as a media source. Trade media is sourced very often within AI." And so then it's going to look and say, "Oh, look, they did a report on 2026 beverage trends." And oh, look, they talk to, you know, we'll say co-pull. They talk to Coke. And so now they're citing you and Coke in that. And so what that is, that's traditional PR earned media and it's being sourced by AI. So that behavior shift is, we have to remember, we have to factor that in. It's not just having things keyworded anymore. It's about not just being sourced, but what am I saying? Am I actually speaking to the pain points and the trends and the challenges and the opportunities within my industry? And so it's also, you know, it's also sourcing social. So if I'm having this steady drum beat of relating, creating content that relates and solves problems, then I'm more likely to consistently be sourced in AI. And then the other thing is every 28 days issue or give or take, it looks again. It re-indexes. So that means even though, yeah, maybe it pulled this article. It's going to every month look again. So you need to give new content because someone could, you know, obviously pass you up. So I just want to say that. And then the last thing with that too with NPR right now and this could change, but press releases are having a bit of a resurgence. I know this one was really surprising to me. So because AI is, you know, it's figuring things out and it's looking at domain authority. If you put a press release out, it is actually going and using that as a credible source. Now I don't know how long that will last, but I say capitalize on it while it's there because you control that message and get it out. So it's got a balance, of course, but we know AI has bias. And let's use the bias in our favor. But the key is that it uses patterns of visibility, credibility, and the message reinforcement. So multiple sources saying the same thing that is credible as far as it can tell. And of course, it has all of the internet at its disposal. So it's just all the internet. Yeah, the mind or thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, all the good free of information and data. Yes, other than that. So you mentioned influencers. I want to talk about them because, you know, obviously so much of our conversation around branding and social media, all of this filter is really up to the concept of the influencer. Yeah. Now look, it would be foolish for me to ask, hey, are those here to stay? Because yes, of course, it's totally changed marketing and social media for it. But I'm curious just about how you feel like influencers changed in 2025. How did not necessarily what they're making, but who becomes an influencer and what that sort of model for business looks like. How did that all change in the past year? Yeah, so I would say that we talked about Jeff and influencers. Obviously, that's something that's emerging. I think that we're seeing in a way we're returning to our roots. We're looking at peer credibility. It's still one of the most powerful forms of marketing and within food service marketing, that is absolutely the case because we're looking at, you know, I trust other operators. I trust other chefs. And so we're continuing to see the build on the B2B influencer and creative activations. So how do I actually, this is interesting. So one of the things I noticed on LinkedIn, they have this feature. Last I checked, I have to disclose that because, you know, by the time this goes live, it might be gone. But right now, what you can do on LinkedIn, you can do a partnership. So I could do a partnership with NRN. It looks like an organic post because say you want to, you want to reach more women, you know, business owners. You want to wait in the industry, right? So you want to do a partnership with me. And I have a really engaged audience. And so I would write a piece of content. And I would talk about, you know, how what trends I'm seeing this year, similar conversation, maybe what I'm seeing in leadership, whatever in the industry. And so then that post would then, in a very tiny disclosure, say it was in partnership with you, not even noticeable. Like people do not even notice it. And then I'm actually talking about and plugging your upcoming conference. So that's something where we're seeing LinkedIn and that evolution within B2B sh*t because it seems, I mean, I don't, I'm not sure how they can have a structure the way they do. I don't know the answer to that right now. If there's going to be some sort of FTC component at some point within LinkedIn. But right now, that disclosure is so minimal, no one would even realize it. So that's like a little life hack if you capitalize on that now. Yeah, before it's gone. But I think we're looking at how do you get more creative with influencers? How do we use influencers to create content? So that way, I don't have to have all of these FTEs on staff for marketing. I can say, you know what? You're exceptional creating content. Come, come in store, come in the shop, come, like, do demos. And then we're creating all this content with the influencer. And often we're seeing influencers create ad and value, similar to your traditional ad setup. We're also seeing the use of influencers within train shows. We're also seeing them being used to create menu items. If you think about like dirty sodas, right? Dirty drinks, you know? And like we look at all of that, that's really just started from a consumer trend. And influencers enhanced it all the way up to the, you know, at the NRA show everybody was doing dirty sodas, right? We don't know. We'll see what's the next. But so yeah, I think just building seeing them as ongoing brand partners, not just a one-off attempt. And look, budgets are a factor. It's expensive to work with influencers. So brands are trying to get creative and do we do the pay to play, you know, quick turn influencer activations. And you know, there's space for that, I think. But then also you get a lot of value partnering with the same person over the course of the year. And then what we've seen in our partnership together is that when we ask, we can use influencers to help tell us what's coming next because they're on the pulse of what's trending or what's a fad. And sometimes the data that they've given us and we've shared that, you know, every month, it's surprising. Oh, I thought that that would be a trend. Oh, okay, it's not actually that big of a deal. So I shouldn't focus my marketing energy there. So that's what I would say. I think we're going to continue to see a lot more of leaning into how do I work within an influencer that's right fit speaks to my target audience very well, whether it's B2C or B2B. And how do I leverage that relationship? And, you know, again, budgets. You can turn it off and you can turn it on. It's beautiful. It's not this ongoing build that you have to do. You can experiment with it. All right. So you mentioned how the influencer has been able to look into the future. Let's look into the future ourselves. We've been talking about a kind of this whole conversation, but let's really take a look at 2026, a couple of weeks away. And, you know, I think one thing that's always so funny is for the last five years, we keep saying next year will be better because we've been having these terrible years. We go, it'll be better. And then it was totally different and disappointing. Now that, you know, certainly good things along the way too. But I've learned not to say 2026 things will be better. I've learned to just say, Hey, 2026 things could be different and they'll evolve and it'll come with its own challenges. But it will also come with its own opportunities. Okay. What do you see as being the opportunities of 2026 and the ways in which food service marketing might change? Yeah. You know, I think one of the things we saw in our report, we not only asked like, Bell, we talk a lot about now to next. We understand our constraints right now, but what's coming next? Okay, we're focusing on this strategy now. How do we just push it a bit to what's next? Maybe we're not ready for a total transformation here, but how do we step our way? And I think it's more important than ever because information has never been more accessible, right? Because we can use a resource, keep saying it because I mean, it's just reality. We can use AI to do a lot more things, right? We get a lot more bang for a buck. So I think one of the things we'll see on a marketing side is how do we use AI to replace more cost-effective counsel? Or so, you know, like coaches and, you know, marketing strategists and how do we use that to even balance like my agency is saying this? Okay. I also want to look on my own and test and tweak and all that. Okay. PR, I don't have a huge team, but I could bring on someone like a partnership with a media member or I could bring on an agency and they can help build the strategy and then we are no longer spending all this time creating content. So I think that's one of the things that's shifting back. The content shift has already started to happen and we'll continue in 26. We don't have to spend all of this time creating content. We can work with a partner and AI to create this hub that is very specific to our brand and knows the voice and knows the brand guidelines. It understands what we like to speak to and it doesn't even look. There's no emojis, there's no endashes, you know, like there's no giveaway, you know, takeaways there and oh it's AI and it's a co-creation. So that's the thing I think we'll continue to see. We have to co-create with AI to survive, we have to do that and not only hopefully to survive, to thrive, right? So I think that's something that's going to affect our social, it's going to affect how we approach trade shows, it's going to affect the kind of content we create. Yeah, yeah, that's, I mean it feels overwhelming, but at the same time, I think going back to something that you said earlier is sometimes you just have to jump in, you kind of have to do it, you have to hit record, you have to embrace it because if you're not, you're already far, far behind all of this. All right, Kate, last question for you. As we move into 2026, what would be, assuming that folks who are listening to this have started, they're on social media, you know, they're at least dabbling. What is your, your main piece of advice for anybody who's really looking to leverage contents, influencers, social media in their marketing? What's, what's the biggest takeaway or biggest piece of advice you would give to them for really leveling up in the gear ahead? Yeah, I think it goes back to making sure that we're telling a story and we're leveraging the media to tell about story that relates to our audience. I, at this point, there really is not an excuse to, there's just no excuse to not be very engaged on social because when you say, well, we've got constraints on budget or and straight with other resources like people, now we have tools at our disposal that, that surpass those constraints, those are no longer, we are no longer limited by the amount of people we have or the amount of dollars in our budget because chat GPT is $20 a month. So I think, I think that's the thing we need to shift our thinking into, okay, there is a path to do this. I just need to commit some time. We have to be willing to make that shift. So we're, I would say that's the biggest takeaway. You have to dig in. Roll up your sleeves. This is going to take some change. It's going to take some creativity, but the result that you get at the end of the day in assessing your marketing mix, trade shows, social media, I would say chefs, the chef endorsement piece, the chef influencer piece, earned media and search. If you have all of those, according to our report, those are the big ones. If you have all of those boxes ticked, you know, you're moving forward in all of those pieces, you're going to have a very strong marketing mix and you're likely going to be ahead of the majority of your competition. Yeah. Those are wise words. Kate Finley of Bell communication, as always, appreciate your time. Thanks so much and happy holidays. Thank you, you too.