Dawn Boulanger is a 30-year veteran of the restaurant industry with experience in marketing, operations and franchising. She has spent the past 20 years leading the marketing functions for both quick service and casual dining chains. Currently working as VP of Marketing at Tri Star Energy, one of the Mid-South’s premier convenience retailers, she’s leading the development and launch of a new local coffee shop, White Bison as well as the marketing & branding efforts for the Twice Daily convenience stores. We’re super excited to hear her discuss convenience and shifting target audiences, as it’s clear that women are very much looking for fast and convenient solutions when it comes to food and coffee.

Representing women appropriately in marketing is important to Dawn because she feels that opinions and stereotypes that many adults have for others are established and can be difficult to change. She believes it is important that advertisers and marketers help mold the minds of our children by creating content that represents females in a positive way.

“I feel that young boys and girls need to see and hear depictions of women of all races, ethnicities, shapes and sizes in real situations to reinforce the message that women are strong, deserving of respect and equality”, explained Dawn. “These positive portrayals will help young people develop a more positive attitude about women – helping to lessen the negative stereotypes boys have of girls and helping girls to have more confidence and a stronger belief in themselves!”

Prior to her current role, Dawn was Vice President of Marketing for O’Charley’s, a regional varied menu casual dining chain. In addition to managing the marketing and product development functions for the brand, she served as a key member of the executive management team helping to formulate the company’s strategy and business plan development. During her tenure there, she supervised a major brand positioning project that helped to ensure consistent branding execution across all consumer touch points. Dawn has also served as VP of Marketing for Back Yards Burgers and as Director of Marketing for Captain D’s Seafood.

Want to hear all about convenience and finding your target audience? Dawn will share key research and case studies at Red Letter Day on Friday, August 17th in Nashville. Register here!