Beyond Nostalgia: Modernising a Legacy Brand for the Next Generation
Technology transformation is not just about replacing old systems. For legacy brands, it’s about modernising the customer experience, removing friction from operations, and creating the foundations for sustainable growth – without losing what made the brand successful in the first place.
In this episode of CXO Secrets, David McClelland sits down with Tim Newton, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Brand Operations at Long John Silver’s, to explore what it takes to modernise a 56-year-old brand in a rapidly changing market. With responsibility spanning technology, operations and the franchise community, Tim shares how he is helping the organisation evolve its technology while keeping customers, restaurant teams and franchisees at the centre of transformation.
Tim explains why technology should only be built when it creates a genuine competitive advantage, how digital channels and modern drive-through experiences are changing the customer journey, and why reducing friction is at the heart of effective technology leadership. He also discusses the challenges of managing change across a large franchise network, the rise of Shadow AI, and why technology leaders need to know when to step out of the weeds – and when to get right back into them.
Topics include:
- Modernising a legacy brand without losing its identity and customer loyalty
- Using technology to remove friction for restaurant teams and customers
- Why technology increasingly forms part of the brand experience
- Transforming digital channels, kiosks and drive-through experiences
- Building an integrated technology ecosystem across the enterprise
- Why CTOs should build only where technology creates genuine differentiation
- Balancing business demands with practical buy-versus-build decisions
- Managing transformation across corporate and franchise-owned locations
- Communicating change effectively across a distributed workforce
- Using “Why Wednesdays” to build understanding and strengthen culture
- The rise of Shadow AI and empowering teams to experiment responsibly
- How AI is changing the way non-technical teams build business solutions
- Turning executive vision into practical technology and operational change
- Why technology leaders need to know when to “get into the weeds”
- The leadership discipline that keeps Tim focused and effective