The Triple Dipper Takeover: Chili’s Comeback Story 🔥

Isha: You wear a lot of hats at Chili’s. Can you share what your role is and what your day-to-day looks like?

Jack: I’m the Social Media Manager at Chili’s, which means I lead just about everything that touches social—from creative strategy and content to community engagement and influencer marketing. Our in-house social team is pretty small, so I rely on our agencies for creative, influencer activations, etc. We truly see the agencies we work with as extensions of our internal team, not just outsourced partners.

Honestly, no two days look the same. Some days, I’m in full-on content review mode, making sure our creative agency is aligned with our vision. Campaigns take a ton of coordination, from creative direction to making sure activations hit social in the right way. Other days, I’m deep in influencer strategy, working with partners like you guys at Kale to figure out our next big push. And then there are the days where we’re just putting out fires—whether it’s a viral moment, a customer crisis, or a sudden trend we need to jump on.

Isha: Chili’s social presence has been on fire lately. How is your internal marketing team structured to support that?

Jack: My team sits under Luz Infante Bickert , Director of Digital Advertising, who reports to Jesse Johnson , who oversees all things creative marketing—social, brand activations, and advertising.Then we have a separate menu strategy team focused on food innovation and a CRM team managing loyalty, email marketing, and paid media.

Everything that a guest sees externally—whether it’s on social, TV ads, or new menu promotions—flows through Jesse’s team. What makes it work is the trust and autonomy we have. The approval process is short, so we can move fast, which is why we’re able to jump on trends and activate influencer content quickly.

Isha: Let’s talk about the Triple Dipper phenomenon. It has been everywhere! How did it happen, and what role did social play?

Jack: The Triple Dipper has been on our menu for a while, but last year, it completely took on a life of its own. It all started with a single cheese-pull video that blew up organically on TikTok. Seeing the momentum, we leaned in by activating influencers through Kale, keeping the Triple Dipper top of mind and on people’s feeds.

To build on that excitement, we introduced a secret menu item—the Nashville Hot Fried Mozzarella—and that’s when things really took off.

But we don’t view this as luck —it was the result of a long-term strategy. Many brands chase virality, but real success comes from consistently staying relevant. For a year leading up to this, we focused on embedding Chili’s back into culture, making sure it was a fun, buzzworthy brand people wanted to talk about. That foundation set the stage for the Triple Dipper’s breakout moment.

Rather than relying on one big influencer, we took a different approach. Through Kale, we activated hundreds of smaller creators, ensuring a steady drumbeat of content that kept the Triple Dipper in conversations and, ultimately, in restaurants.

Isha: How does user-generated content (UGC) fit into your strategy?

Jack: UGC is the holy grail—it’s real people talking about your brand because they genuinely love it. It is almost like real-time PR coverage. If people are creating content about you organically, it means your brand resonates with them.

For Chili’s, UGC fuels everything—from social listening to campaign strategy. We track what customers are raving about, what menu items they’re requesting, and even how they’re talking about our competitors. That intel feeds directly into our campaign briefs, helping us tap into trends—like the cheese-pull moment—faster and more authentically.

That’s why Kale has been huge for us. It’s a volume play—rather than putting our entire budget into one big-name influencer, we generate hundreds of influencer videos per month, keeping Chili’s constantly in people’s feeds. That steady stream of content makes a bigger impact in the long run, ensuring our brand stays relevant and top of mind.

Isha: Speaking of Kale, how does a  tool like Kale fit into your workflow?

Jack: Kale is a big part of our overall influencer strategy. Think of it like a volume play—we don’t just want a handful of influencers posting about Chili’s once in a while. We want a ton of credible voices constantly sharing authentic content about the brand. Kale helps us activate lots of creators at once, so Chili’s stays in people’s feeds, day in and day out. With a traditional influencer campaign, you might spend a huge budget for maybe a dozen big names. That’s fine for a big splashy moment. But outside of that, you need consistent, real content to keep the brand top-of-mind. Kale gives us that evergreen presence.

Isha: Let’s talk about trends. How does Chili’s decide what to jump on?

Jack: Trends are everything on social—if they’re not a core part of your strategy, you risk slipping off people’s radars. But you have to be smart about it. Just hopping on every trend can make you look out of touch. The key is picking the ones that fit your brand identity and making them feel natural.

We always look at influencers first—not other brands. If I see five other restaurant brands already on a trend, we’ve missed the boat. Social moves too fast for brands to sit and overthink things. That’s why speed matters.

That said, you don’t need to jump on everything. I’d rather we do two trends a week really well than force our way into ten just for the sake of it. The goal is to show up authentically—we’re not going to force our way into a TikTok dance just because it’s viral. But if there’s a trend that aligns with Chili’s and makes sense for us culturally, we’re on it.

Isha: A lot of CMOs are obsessed with virality. Do you get that pressure from leadership?

Jack: The worst question in social is, “Can we just make it go viral?” It’s not a switch you flip. Virality happens when you’ve put in the work—spending months (or even years) building a social presence that people love, engaging with fans, and showing up daily. Then, when the right moment comes, it takes off because you’ve laid the groundwork.

That’s exactly what happened with Triple Dipper. It didn’t just randomly explode—we’d already spent a year rebuilding Chili’s social credibility. So when something truly resonated with people, it caught fire.

Isha: What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken with Chili’s social?

Jack: Our Twitter presence, hands down. We used to play it safe, but playing it safe gets you nowhere.

A month after I started, Nicki Minaj dropped Super Freaky Girl. I was sitting in my apartment, hungover, thinking, How can we make this a Chili’s moment? I came up with: “He want a Fried Pickles and Cookie Skillet”, formatted to spell out F R E A K.

I sent it to my boss, and she was like, “Let’s rip it.” No approval, no overthinking. We posted it, and then—Nicki Minaj herself quote-tweeted it. That single tweet got over 10,000 likes, which was huge for us at the time. That moment taught me something big: being fast, playful, and on-trend pays off. We decided early on that Chili’s would have fun with pop culture moments, and this was proof that when you move quickly and authentically, social media rewards you.

Isha: Which social media brand accounts do you admire right now?

Jack: I love what Dunkin'​ is doing. Every post looks native to the platform but still aligns perfectly with their brand vibe. They get that they don’t always need perfectly polished assets—sometimes it’s a fun photo with a witty copy, and that’s all it takes. They also nail their partnerships, picking timely collaborators who truly resonate with their audience. It’s a great balance of brand consistency and playing into the zeitgeist.

Isha: Last question — what do you love most about your job?

Jack: Hands down, the best part of my job is visiting Chili’s restaurants and hearing team members say, “We’re making more money because so many people are coming in from TikTok.” When something goes viral, people don’t just talk about it—they show up. More traffic means busier shifts, higher energy in the restaurant, and better tips for servers who are on their feet all day.

Knowing that the work we do on social media translates into real, tangible benefits for the people working in our restaurants is the best feeling in the world.