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Panera Bread is spending millions to overhaul its menu in an attempt to lure back the customers its lost in recent years. In a downward fast-food spiral, Panera hasnt significantly increased its revenue since 2023. Now, the company says its putting money back into better ingredients, staff, and its cafés. The St. Louis-based chain, known for its sandwiches, soups, and salads, hasnt been delivering on its signatures. Panera last year started using the cheaper iceberg lettuce in its salads, for example, and customers werent happy. You know what guests told us? said Paul Carbone, CEO of Panera Brands, the parent company of Panera Bread, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Caribou Coffee. No one likes iceberg, and no one gets that and says, Oh, my god, that white salad, it looks so appetizing. Now, full romaine salads are making a comeback. In 2023, Paneras sales reached $6.5 billion, which is still about the highest it has been. The company said today that its goal is to clinch $7 billion in annual sales by 2028 from the roughly $6 billion it brings in currently. After surveying its customers, Panera found that they wanted better portions and improved cafés. The chain plans to increase portions and food variety. Its introducing drinks like frescas (fruit drinks) and energy refreshers (lower-caffeine beverages), and increasing salad toppings to eight ingredients from the regular five. Guests will notice that avocado halves and cherry tomatoes will be sliced, not whole, starting early next year. We make the guest chase the cherry tomato around the bowl, said Carbone, who assumed his role in March. Panera is also vowing to update its cafés, an important effort as around 25% of meals are eaten within restaurant walls. It had invested in kiosks for ordering, but it got to the point that customers couldnt find human employees, said Carbone. Now, the restaurant is pouring money back into labor and renovating the older café locations. What does the café of the future look like? Carbone said. Were doing a lot of work around that, were going to test different things. JAB Holding Company, the investment firm that owns Panera Brands, had planned to take the company public in 2021. The deal was broken the next year, and Carbone said its off the table until Paneras sales increase. Ava Levinson This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
Category:
E-Commerce
AI image generators used to be terrible at handling text. Even once the models mastered hands with five fingers, the presence of mangled, nonsensical, vaguely Cyrillic-looking text was a dead giveaway that an image was generated by AI. Not anymore. Todays most advanced image generators have slowly improved their text generation. OpenAIs image generator within ChatGPT handles basic text tasks fairly well. And design-centered models like Ideogram are great for simple, practical text tasks like creating video thumbnails. This week, though, Google has released Nano Banana Pro, an updated version of its wildly popular AI image editing tool. Nano Banana Pro, like its predecessor, is middling when it comes to generating realistic AI photographs. But its absolutely amazing at creating beautiful, informative, accurate infographics. In fact, the model is so good that it can turn literally anything into a professional quality infographic in a matter of seconds. Dont Read To Me Personally, I absorb very little of what I hear. Im a visual learner, so if I listen to a presentation without taking physical notes or seeing some kind of visual aid, most of the information dissipates into the ether before my brain has any shot at absorbing it. Add background noise or a presenter who mumbles, and Im totally screwed. I love infographics because they take complex information and lay it out in a way my brain can grok. I can glance at a graphic and absorb more information than Id get in a two-hour lecture. In my testing, I was therefore thrilled to see Nano Banana Pros remarkable ability to take pretty much anything I threw at it, and turn the data into a bespoke visual aid. First, I started with some practical use cases. I fed Nano Banana Pro data on the recent performance of a YouTube channel Ive been developing called California Dad Reviews. Based on my analytics data, Nano Banana spun up an infographic showing whats doing well on my channel, several standout videos from the last month, and its recommendations for what to shoot next. In this case, I gave the model unique data from my channel. But because Nano Banana Pro is integrated within Googles Gemini 3 chatbot, it can also perform background research on its own. In another test, I asked the model to research the best times to cross the San Francisco Bay Bridge, and then present its results visually. Its impressively comprehensive and useful. Graphics Get Personal These kinds of informative graphics are helpful. Im sure that bloggers will be tripping over themselves to integrate Nano Banana Pros infographics into their SEO optimized posts. But in my testing, I found that the best uses for the tools new visual capabilities are more personal. I recently took my senior dog, Lance, to the vet for his annual checkup. He got some routine bloodwork, and his vets report was laden with medical terms and specifics. I fed the whole thing into Nano Banana Pro, and got a clean infographic summarizing the findings. Spoiler alert: hes doing great! The model is especially powerful because its able to process nearly any kind of input data. In planning a day trip for a large group in downtown San Francisco, I copied and pasted a long WhatsApp chat with lots of logistics into the model. It spat out a pretty graphic summarizing the days plans, complete with a bespoke map of the city. I shared it to the group, and people loved it. Show me the Visuals Again, as a visual learner, the ability to conjure up an infographic in a few seconds (and for free) from essentially any input data is incredibly valuable. Its also easy to do. You open the Gemini app, paste in the data you want to process, select the Create Image option, and let Nano Banana Pro plug away. Beyond dg health visualizations, though, Googles new model says a lot about where visual AI is going. In the early days of image generators, creating fun, bizarre images (Ballerina Cappuccina, anyone?) was enough to hold users attention. You can only generate so many AI cat photos or Hunky Jesus memes before the tech gets old, though. In response, AI companies are increasingly specializingcreating image generators that solve bounded, real-world tasks. Again, tools like Ideogram are tailored to designers. Adobe has a whole suit of generative tools built into its iconic Photoshop and Premiere products for photographers and videographers. And ChatGPTs models are perfect for things like making event posters. For Google, though, the endgame has always been about processing tons of information and summarizing it for users. We saw that in the companys classical 10 blue links, and more recently in its wildly popular AI Overviews. Now, Google appears to be using its AI image generation prowess to summarize and present information visually. That evolution means were almost certain to see Nano Banana generated infographic images appear within other Google toolsfirst AI ones like NotebookLLM, and later within live search results presented to everyday users. With my brains preference for visuals, Im thrilled to see this new direction play out. To get the ball rolling, I fed this entire article into Nano Banana Pro. True to form, the infographic is beautiful:
Category:
E-Commerce
Below, Tim Elmore shares five key insights from his new book, The Future Begins with Z: Nine Strategies to Lead Generation Z as They Disrupt the Workplace. Elmore is the founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, a nonprofit dedicated to developing emerging leaders. As a speaker and coach, he has helped organizations from universities to Fortune 500 companies connect more effectively across generations. Whats the big idea? Many leaders are scratching their heads over Gen Z. The old playbook doesnt work anymorebut figuring out how to engage and collaborate with this generation is what turns good leaders into great ones. Listen to the audio version of this Book Biteread by Elmore himselfbelow, or in the Next Big Idea App. 1. Turn frustration with Gen Z into hope According to a survey by Resume Builder, three in four managers agree that todays young employees, from Generation Z, are the toughest generation to lead. I believe Gen Z is frustrating to us because they seem so very different, and often unexplainable. I think its because of a phenomenon I call the Peter Pan Paradox. Peter Pan could mysteriously fly into London and sprinkle Pixie dust everywhere to make magical things happen. On the other side of the coin, Peter Pan wanted to live in Neverland, where boys never have to grow up. Over the last decade, Ive noticed something magical and tragic happening in culture. The Age of Authority is decreasing. Gen Zers often come in with an authority that doesnt require a title. They are intuitive about using AI. They see where culture is going. They know how to monetize social media, and they have visibility on future customers. At the same time, the Age of Maturity is increasing. They often come in behaving unprofessionally. The pandemic delayed their growth. Their social and emotional skills are delayed in development. Employers are saying 26 is the new 18. Almost one in three employers fire them in the first month. So, how should leaders respond? We must listen more than we used to listen to young staff. We must coach more than we used to coach young staff. Maya was hired right out of collegeand immediately her team could tell shed never had a full-time job before. She wore flip flops to work and often arrived at the office 10 minutes late. Maya spent most team meetings quietly, glancing at her phone from time to time. Her manager spent extra time coaching her on the fundamentals, hoping shed catch up. Then, one day, the payoff happened. Maya burst into her managers office with a big smile on her face. She told him shed been thinking about a problem their team had been discussing for months. Maya had an idea on how they could use AI to solve that problem. It ended up being an incredible solution. No one had known what was going on inside her head. You might say, Maya became her own version of Peter Pan. 2. Gen Z ROI is well worth it In 2018, Colin Webb graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, he served four terms as class council president and now serves his alma mater as a member of the MIT corporation, the schools board of trustees. Upon graduation, he was offered a job by General Motors. Colin was asked to serve as a design, release, and development engineer for their Cruise autonomous vehicle program. He helped make smart cars. He quickly realized he was part of an old industry with a traditional style of getting things done. Obviously, he and his young teammates brought some new ideas, but when he bounced them off his supervisor, he was told to keep his head down and his nose to the grindstone. Soon after, however, Collin did something audacious. He emailed Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, and shared his ideas for improving the company. Mary replied and agreed that his ideas were good and that shed take them to her executive team. They, too, agreed his ideas were good. But when those ideas made their way down the organizational chart, they died on the vine. Again, Collin was told to keep his head down and nose to the grindstone. In fact, he was told it would take about eight years before hed get the chance to lead anything. They might as well have told Collin to leave. Within a year, Collin had left the company, even though he is not a quitter. Since then, he has started three companies and sold one of them. Hes doing very well, working hard and living his dreamworking with AI. Sadly, similar stories happen all the time. Too often, supervisors miss what Gen Zers bring to the team for three reasons: When were comfortable, we default to: Thats not the way we do it here. When were scared, we become more concerned with procedures than with progress. When were experienced, we assume theyre young and dont know much. In 2017, a woman walked into a New Hampshire thrift store looking for a picture frame she could restore. She found one for four dollars and thought, Even if I cant use it, the price is inexpensive. She bought it. When she got home, her family examined it and said, The frame is nice enough, but the painting inside looks like its from a famous artist. You should have it evaluated. When the woman did, she discovered it was an N.C. Wyeth painting that later sold for $191,000. Not a bad trade-off. In many ways, this is an analogy for Gen Z. We usually dont spend a lot on them right away since all we can see is their frame. Later, we realize its whats inside of them thats so valuable. Lets stop treating them like expendable commodities and begin treating them like currency worthy of investment. Lets find a way to connect with and get curious about them. This may be key to thriving in the future. 3. Relationship and trust mean everything to Gen Z Many Gen Z team members enter their careers directly after college, without having had a full-time job before. Parents encouraged them to focus on academics, but we all know that the classroom rarely resembles the office. Four in five Gen Z job candidates go so far as to bring their parents with them to the interview. At the same time, they also bring with them a new perspective on authority. Much like Generation X some 35 years ago, they are suspicious of corporate leaders, political leaders, educational leaders, and even religious leaders due to stories of corruption. This has fostered a significantly different view of authority than that held by seasoned business veterans. OLDER GENERATIONS Position gives you right to influence. Older folks have wisdom. Systems offer order to chaos. We must listen to the man at the top. The top dog wins the debate. The leader is a gatekeeper. YOUNGER GENERATIONS Connection gives you right to influence. Older folks may be irrelevant. Systems must be disrupted or grow. Top people should be listening to us. The best idea wins the debate. The leader is a guide. Relationships and trust mean everything to most members of Generation Z. While research confirms they dont trust most traditional institutions, they do trust peopleeven people from older generationswhom they get to know. So, here are the shifts we should make: Dont think control, think connect. Dont think inform, think interpret. Dont think what, think why. Dont think inputs, think outcomes. Dont think tell, think ask. Dont think manage, think mentor. We dont know much about the future, but we do know that Generation Z will be there. Lets build bridges of relationship that can bear the weight of honest disclosure. Everyone will win. 4. How to hire Gen Z Thousands of companies are struggling with the diminishing number of job candidates. I describe what lies ahead in a metaphor I call A New Kind of Storm: We are facing a blizzard. Young people often wont take traditional entry-level jobs as they did in the past. This blizzard is part of a new winter season. A smaller population, plus issues with addiction and incarceration, reduces the employment pool. This may be part of a larger new ice age. Within a decade, there will be more 65-year-olds than 16-year-olds in the U.S. So, what can we do? Make your organizations offering more attractive. Make their job the best first job to launch their career. Approach your role as a mentor, not a manager. Gen Z seems to know its a buyers market when it comes to getting a job. Sally hosted an interview with a Gen Zer (well call him Owen). In the interview, she asked Owen to describe a time when he faced a challenge and was proud of how he made it through. She was pleased with his response and, three days later, asked HR to extend an offer to Owen. His response? He said, Are you kidding me? Theres no way I will work for that woman. She triggered my PTSD when she asked me to talk about a challenge of mine. It didnt feel psychologically safe. We need a new approach to job interviews, especially with Gen Z candidates. For many, its a new experience, and employers can use this acronym to get acquainted: PPreferences: What do you wish to be true about the job?EExpectations: What are your assumptions about the work?RRequirements: Any demands or deal breakers?KKeys to their heart: Get to know them beyond their role as a worker.SSalary: Clarify, and possibly negotiate. This is your chance to build a bridge. Dont miss the opportunity to do so. 5. Not all Gen Z myths are true Many bosses (or people over 45) see Gen Z behave in certain ways, dont understand it, and then stereotype them. During my research for this book, I shared some of these stereotypes with Gen Z focus groups. I will never forget meeting with one group and communicating that many leaders believe that Gen Zers dont really want to work. After all, they leave right at 5 p.m., and dont stay a minute longer. They often leave a task halfway done and head out. It feels like they dont like to be there. One 21-year-old, full-time team member replied, Dr. Tim, do you know why I leave right at 5? I rush out because I need to get to another job. I dont make enough to pay the bills at this first job. Then, I go take care of my mom, who has stage 4 cancer. Suddenly, I realized this Gen Zers work ethic is just fine. There is, however, one stereotype thats not a myth. Millions of Gen Zers can be fragile, especially when receiving feedback. It seems that hard is the new harsh. Some have never had to hear firm feedback face-to-face with a boss. One of the most challenging situations leaders must face is hosting difficult conversations. Many supervisors avoid them. I created another acronym for sitting down with and correcting a teammate: AAsk: Asking questions makes them feel valued.LListen: Listening makes them feel heard. Gen Zers want to have a voice.EEmpathize: Empathizing makes them feel understood.GGuide: This is when you can provide the necessary feedback. The correction was communicated using a bridge, not a badge. Enjoy our full library of Book Bitesread by the authors!in the Next Big Idea App. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Category:
E-Commerce
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