Fast food, faster marketing: El Jannah’s two-year transformation
"You look hungry": El Jannah's recent marketing campaign
When Adam Issa joined El Jannah in January 2024, the charcoal chicken chain had spent almost 25 years without a formal marketing function.
By then, the Lebanese heritage brand had grown from a single shop in Western Sydney to a 26-store network, largely concentrated in Sydney, with early expansions into Melbourne and Canberra. The chain — named for the Arabic word for “heaven” — is a mixture of owned and franchise restaurants.
With plans to aggressively grow in Australia’s competitive quick-service restaurant market, El Jannah began investing in a full marketing function, building an internal team, agency roster and digital stack to drive its expansion.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Issa said: “For a [now] 27-year-old brand, marketing as a function inside El Jannah is actually very new.”
“When I joined two years ago, there was no marketing team, but in the past 12 months we’ve built the entire marketing function: the team, the agencies and the systems.”
“We’ve probably achieved in two years what would normally take five in another organisation.”
El Jannah CMO Adam Issa: “We’re only just getting started.”
Previously a marketer for Seagrass Boutique Hospitality, which owns fine dining and fast-casual restaurants, Issa has focused on raising El Jannah’s brand awareness, driving consideration and creating a sizeable new crowd of repeat customers.
“El Jannah has been around for a long time, but there are still a lot of people who’ve never had it before,” he said.
“The core goal is simple: invest in the brand so more people become aware of El Jannah, consider it, and ultimately try it, then come back time and time again.”
Among Issa’s first steps was to hire and build an internal marketing team, now comprising six people who oversee CRM and loyalty, performance and analytics, culinary content and core branding.
The next component of El Jannah’s marketing overhaul is its technology stack, built on Salesforce and connecting point-of-sale, app, loyalty, and online ordering channels to create a single customer view.
As of last year, the brand implemented 14 marketing “journeys”, ranging from basic touchpoints such as welcome messages and sign-up anniversaries, to more sophisticated campaigns designed to manage churn, capture leads and reduce unsubscriptions.
Finally, the brand established a primary agency ecosystem, including Emotive for creative and strategy, Magic for media planning and buying, and, until recently, Poem for public relations.
Emotive recently ran a major tactical campaign for El Jannah, giving away free chicken and adding a human touch — featuring three Lebanese-Australian grandmothers, or “Taytas”, who humorously told the audience they looked hungry.
“Some things need to be outsourced,” he said. “Agencies allow us to learn from the wins and losses of others. We’re looking for partners who share our mindset. This is the fastest-growing QSR brand in Australia, and we want people who understand where we’re going.”
The investment in El Jannah’s marketing capability comes alongside a funding injection from American private equity firm General Atlantic, in a deal believed to be worth close to $1 billion, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Last year, El Jannah is said to have netted $300 million in revenue and added 15 new stores, slightly behind market leaders such as Subway, McDonald’s, and KFC, which each opened 25 or more locations.
But, following the funding, the chain’s growth plan is ambitious: expand from its current footprint of 50 stores to 200, with an eventual goal of taking the brand global.
Meanwhile, a report from Australian consultancy firm Retail Customer Advisory called El Jannah a “genuine cult brand” with a “story most people in this industry are not talking about loudly enough.”
“We’re only just getting started,” Issa said. “The foundation we’ve built in marketing over the past two years is giving us the tools to scale fast. Our focus now is on reaching more Australians, keeping them coming back, and making El Jannah a brand people can’t ignore.”
“It’s not just about opening more stores,” he added. “It’s about creating a consistent, high-quality experience for every customer, every time — whether they’re walking in, ordering through the app, or coming via one of our delivery partners. That’s what will fuel sustainable growth.”
