Speaker Q&A (2019): Mark McCulloch, WE ARE Spectacular

Our next speaker Q&A features Mark McCulloch, founder and CEO of creative brand and marketing agency WE ARE Spectacular.

In his opening day Keynote, he’ll be sharing expert insights on how, in the age of Brexit, “instafame” and the Millennial, we can attract, recruit and retain the best talent to look after our guests and show them real hospitality.

While on day two of the show, Mark will be hosting a much-anticipated live recording of his hugely popular WE ARE Spectacular podcast – featuring Kate Eastwood (Revolution Bars), Thom Elliot (Pizza Pilgrims), Andre Johnstone (wagamama), Lesley McIlroy (Bill’s Restaurant) and Lucy Harwood (Las Iguanas).

What restaurant & pub operators do you particularly admire and why?

Dishoom – opening carefully, staying true to their brand in every way and one of the only brands to pull off mass niche and take Indian style cuisine national. Effortless.

Brewdog – a modern pub chain at scale that would rather die than stray from its values. New look, new offer and making the pub cool again. Much copied but never rivalled. 100 pubs in 2019. Incredible story.

What do you feel is the key for operators to successfully compete against their competitors in 2019 and beyond?

War for talent due to irrelevance and perception that hospitality is not a career of note.

What do you see as key trends in the coming year?

Closures, mergers and those with weak brands, offers and marketing going out of business.
Few will grasp social but they will finally do it well, at scale and leave the others behind.
Independent style branding of chains.
Brands with real social purpose not commercial greed.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?

Helping people’s people and businesses thrive.

And the most challenging?

All the admin for a small business (expenses etc – boring).

How important is the Casual Dining show to the casual dining sector?

Hugely – it is the only focused show there is.

Describe the Casual Dining trade show in 3 words:

Fun, memorable, informative.

Can you tell us a bit about your much anticipated session at Casual Dining 2019?

I’ll be trying to convert people in the audience to take some tips about how to be and stay an attractive employer for basically anyone from the age of 16-40.

Who or what inspires you to be even better?

Music, comedians, sports legends, media personalities and key people of influence like Gary Vaynerchuk and Tony Robbins.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

You are capable, you are enough.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself that most people don’t know.

My favourite film as a kid was Calamity Jane and my favourite song as a kid was Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody or Bros’ When Will I Be Famous?.

See Mark at Casual Dining 2019

Why On Earth Would I Want To Work For You?: 1.45pm in Keynote Theatre 1 on Wednesday 27 February.

The Casual Dining Marketing Panel – A WE ARE Spectacular Podcast Live: 1.45pm in Keynote Theatre 1 on Thursday 28 February. The session will feature –