How Teriyaki Madness and USIM are disrupting fast-casual with AI, sports sponsorships, and data insights

Teriyaki Madness may not be a household name yet, but the fast-casual chain is growing quickly and has big plans.

With about 200 locations in 40 states — and a goal to hit almost 500 locations by 2029 — the brand is making bold moves to stand out in a crowded market.

Recently, Teriyaki Madness released an AI-generated ad in partnership with creative studio Genre.ai. The nationwide campaign — which Teriyaki Madness said is a first for the restaurant industry — includes ad buys on YouTube, Meta, Hulu and ESPN. Sports and gaming are key areas of focus for the brand, along with catering.

In a recent conversation, Jodi Boyce, CMO of Teriyaki Madness, and Christopher Mangarelli, associate media director of the ad agency USIM, reflected on their 18-month collaboration. Together, they’ve executed everything from the AI ad to a franchisee conference in Vail, Colorado, developing strategies to maximize media spend across national and local campaigns.

USIM is managing a national campaign for Teriyaki Madness, along with 20 grand opening initiatives, franchise recruitment efforts and a push to grow the brand’s catering business. While a Super Bowl ad is on the horizon, its current priority is tracking the performance of the AI-driven creative and expanding the brand’s reach in a market dominated by burgers and pizza.

Christopher Mangarelli: What’s the biggest highlight for Teriyaki Madness this year?

Jodi Boyce: I started nine years ago when there were 31 locations. We’re going to hit 200 in the next couple of weeks. So that’s exciting. Also we built the company in a smart way. We have never been backed by big investor groups, so we’ve only grown as fast as our ad fund allows, and our ad fund is based on a percentage of sales from the shops. So we were extremely scrappy the first several years and as the system’s grown, our budgets have grown.

Boyce: I think the biggest highlight for me this year is we are starting right now with another big media buy. Our creative is very fun. We did a 100% AI ad, except for the food of course, which is all real, so I’m excited to see how that goes. It will be live, in what, a couple hours?

Mangarelli: It is very, very, very fresh. We appreciate those companies that stay nimble but also are willing to participate and have that understanding of moving the goal post a little bit further, particularly when we’re launching a campaign and expanding awareness, as well as the conversion funnel.

Mangarelli: It’s really great to see Teriyaki Madness is clearly gaining ground in the fast-casual space. What’s been driving that success?

Boyce: For one, there are no competitors like us in the fast-casual space. We have pretty unique food. We’re Asian fusion. It’s really, really good, first and foremost, but it’s also relevant. It’s healthier. We have gluten-free options, huge quantities, but really high-quality food. And then the flavors are just really unique. And I think a lot of people are looking for something different than the burgers and pizzas and sandwiches out there.

Mangarelli: Teriyaki Madness built not just a brand, but a culture, and it’s really helping our media mix evolve. We try to mirror that authenticity overall and we want to be one with the brand at the end of the day, whether it’s working across CTV with The Trade Desk, whether it’s our social channels or digital channels, we really just try to hone in on that community connection.

Teriyaki Madness is closing in on 200 stores this year. What has helped make that growth possible?

Boyce: We’re 100% franchised. We chose to invest early in our corporate team with the goal of creating processes and programs that are so clear that someone with restaurant experience or not could follow the system. And I think being able to provide these systems and processes that franchisees can follow with or without business or even restaurant experience is how we are almost at 200.

Mangarelli: What separates Teriyaki Madness from the competition?

Boyce: What separates us from other fast-casuals is primarily the food, the quality and the portion size. Our bowls are not super cheap by any means, but you get a lot of high-quality food, so it’s a good price-value equation. Our regular bowl has twice the protein that Chipotle gives. And so I think that does differentiate us. We need to get that message out a little bit more. People get it once they try it, which is why we’re working with you guys to get the word out, because we have some pretty strong followers and people who love the brand. We just need stronger, wider reach.

Mangarelli: There were many roundtable sessions at the franchisee conference and I tried to pick everyone’s brain. The question I always start with is: What brought you to Teriyaki Madness? I asked maybe 15 to 30 franchisees. Every single person said the quality of the food.

Looking beyond growth, what are you most proud of this year?

Boyce: I would say it’s the ad campaign we’re doing right now. We’re growing, but we’re still very scrappy compared to larger brands. There was an article about the AI agency we used and I harassed the director. I reached out on LinkedIn. I was following him on Twitter. I was just trying any way to reach out to him. And we got in and we were able to create a really fun, super unique ad campaign in a fraction of the time that it would have taken with a full-service agency and it was a fraction of the cost. It’s super entertaining. It is memorable. If this works, it’s something I can see us doing a lot more of in the future.

Mangarelli: I couldn’t agree with you more about being nimble and scrappy to collaborate across all the campaigns that we have mentioned — and really focus in on that national approach, as well as localized campaigns to build that strong foundation, which can hopefully build long-term success.

I would like for you to expand a little more on the care your team has shown for each franchisee. How is that culture built and maintained?

Boyce: Our mission is giving the opportunity for success for all. You have to be caring in order to get there. And this is one of the most passionate groups I’ve ever worked with, which is why I’ve been here a long time. Ultimately, if our franchisees are successful, we’re successful. And if we can help all of them do well, then we’re going to do well and we’re going to grow more.

Mangarelli: That new AI creative that came in. We want to see you on much bigger screens — especially within some of that sports calendar timing. There are some catering efforts you are bringing in. I believe you are one of the key catering providers of Ohio State now. Our end goal is sales. We want to see that business prosper, whether we are tapping into March Madness or the Super Bowl many moons down the road. We continue to be scrappy and to work on those opportunities that present themselves, like in gaming. We want to see you guys in more of those interactive spaces because you have that creativity, that dynamic and that diversification overall.

Boyce: One of the biggest things that attracted us is all the data you guys provide. You truly are like an arm of our analytics team. Can you talk a little bit about what you guys do to help slice and dice that?

Mangarelli: We do a really good job measuring traffic and sales and how it correlates to our media buys. We have that good measuring stick and understanding of how we can marry both the media campaign with increased sales and catering orders, along with any franchisee form fills. We specialize in QSR specifically. We want to help your business as much as possible through our analytics arm.

There were two catering sessions at the franchisee event. I attended one of them. It was in a very large theater. It was standing room only, so there’s a huge opportunity.

Boyce: Catering has been something that I’ve been wanting to push for a very long time. It has grown exponentially — something like 115% for five or six consecutive quarters. But the reason it’s so beneficial for us is not just because there’s more sales, but because we know when people try our food, they get it. They get what teriyaki is and it’s delicious. It’s marketing. It builds more sales afterwards. And in feeding 100 people, chances are half of them haven’t tried us yet and that’s why catering is so huge for us.

Mangarelli: You really try to set yourselves up more or less in strip malls, surrounded by businesses and hospitals. That’s only going to help that catering push. As you look ahead to the future of Teriyaki Madness, where do you see the brand going in the next few years?

Boyce: I’ve been in restaurants for 25 years and when I came to Teriyaki Madness, I said, “Yep, this is it. I’m ending here.” For me, it’s just watching the explosive growth. We have that hockey stick chart. We’re going to hit 200 locations now. We’ll be 300 very quickly. We’ll be probably 500 by 2029, which is just a couple years away. It’s going to be exponential. So it’s exciting to see.

How do you guys envision our future now that you worked with us for a bit?

Mangarelli: We’re genuinely energized by the growth we’re seeing. The steady stream of new store openings motivates us even more to continue pushing the brand forward

Boyce: Do you want talk a little bit about the targeting? How you guys did some of that research? We were going to do more in the future, but our research is pretty outdated on demographics.

Mangarelli: We’ve worked closely with Teriyaki Madness to analyze traffic and sales data, and we’re now leveraging our proprietary identity graph, EDGE ID, to further sharpen our strategy.

We’re excited to continue help strengthen Teriyaki Madness to be a disrupter in that fast-casual space. Our partnership is rooted in leveraging data and creativity and cultural insights to keep that brand relevant ahead of emerging trends and to stay ahead of the competition. As we look ahead, it’s clear in the future of Teriyaki Madness, it’s very bright.

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc.