Cathy Chavenet: Elevating Franchise Marketing at Paris Baguette

As chief marketing officer and head of R&D at Paris Baguette North America, Cathy Chavenet is helping steer one of the fastest-growing bakery café franchises toward a bold new era. With a unique background that blends hands-on entrepreneurship, culinary expertise and high-level franchise leadership, Chavenet brings a deep understanding of both sides of the franchisor-franchisee relationship.

“Franchise marketing allows us to collaborate with individual franchisees while contributing to the growth of a unified national brand,” Chavenet said.

Before joining Paris Baguette, Chavenet led global marketing strategies at Duck Donuts and regional initiatives for powerhouse brands including Dunkin’ and The Wendy’s Company. Her 13-year tenure at Dunkin’ — where she transitioned from operations to marketing — cemented her franchise marketing philosophy: collaboration, localization and adaptability are key.

Cathy Chavenet: Franchise marketing allows us to collaborate with individual franchisees while contributing to the growth of a unified national brand.

Chavenet: Create a localized marketing plan to further enhance the broader national messaging. This helps to strengthen the individual franchisee’s community connection while driving profitable sales and traffic.

Chavenet: Creating an environment where franchisee collaboration is fostered to develop robust strategies and programs.

Chavenet: A combination of both traditional and non-traditional tactics to attract multi-generation purchase intent.

Chavenet: Marketing is a continually evolving landscape. In order to remain competitive, brands will need to stay nimble with the ability to pivot quickly.