---
title: "Gold Star Chili and Tom & Chee Stay the Course with Post-Pandemic Social Media Plans"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/395b92da-061c-4544-8e07-942e4a9b5ba0
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/articles/gold_star_chili_and_tom__chee_stay_the_course_with_postpandemic_social_medi.html
author: "Franchise Update Media"
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2021-07-13T12:30:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:27:03.874Z
image: https://imgs.franchising.com/art/articles/6121_plate.jpg
---

# Gold Star Chili and Tom & Chee Stay the Course with Post-Pandemic Social Media Plans

**TL;DR:** Gold Star Chili and Tom & Chee are maintaining their social media strategy post-pandemic, focusing on people and connection. The brands' franchisor, GSR Brands, prioritizes understanding its audience and creating engaging content.

*By Franchise Update Media, originally published in Franchising.com on 2021-07-13. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/articles/gold_star_chili_and_tom__chee_stay_the_course_with_postpandemic_social_medi.html).*

## Story

*We asked Jessica George, Vice President of Marketing at GSR Brands (franchisor of Gold Star Chili and Tom & Chee), the following: “After adapting your social media to Covid, what changes are you considering as restrictions lift?”* The short answer? We’re not changing anything about how we operate.

Let me explain. Social media at its core is *not* media. It is also *not* digital.

It is *not* tech. Sure, it lives in the digital sphere, it’s supported by tech, and you can certainly leverage it as a paid media channel. But at its core, social media is not any of those things.

Social media – at its very core – is people. People connecting, sharing, reacting, and engaging. To effectively market within social media, your mindset must be people first – and channel/tech/digital second.

Because our mindset is people first, our priority is on understanding the people we intend to communicate and engage with. So we create a social experience and content that intersects with who they are and what they need (versus interrupts). Our priority is experience and content that invites engagement, as opposed to simply advertising it.

Because knowing our audience and what they need, want, and desire is central to our social media marketing strategy – we change nothing as Covid restrictions lift. Before and during Covid this is how we approached social media. We will continue to pay attention to our consumer’s needs and engage accordingly.

We will continue to listen, learn, and adapt. We will continue to meet our consumers where they are, and respond to their needs with the same compassion and hospitality we’re known and loved for.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- social media marketing (topic)
- brand strategy (topic)
- post-pandemic plans (topic)

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Originally reported by Franchise Update Media, Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/articles/gold_star_chili_and_tom__chee_stay_the_course_with_postpandemic_social_medi.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/395b92da-061c-4544-8e07-942e4a9b5ba0).