By Lucy Britner, senior content consultant, William Murray

2025 will forever be the year of the strawberries and creme sandwich. A viral sensation from M&S, the sandwich was more popular on LinkedIn than a ChatGPT rant. And it didn’t take long for others to jump on the sweet sandwich trend – Tesco followed with a Birthday Cake sandwich, which even garnered a review in The Guardian.

The rise and rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs has also dominated the headlines this year, with millions of consumers looking to the likes of Wegovy or Mounjaro to lose weight. The impact is being felt, with smaller portions becoming more prevalent. We expect this trend to continue into 2026 – and form part of a more nuanced debate, as new studies and habits emerge.

The November Budget was, of course, big news – and another hammer blow for the industry. As Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, put it: “Wage rises, holiday taxes and monumental increases in rateable values have put even further pressure on hospitality businesses, as a result of this Budget.” You can see what our finance director had to say about it, here.

In technology, the biggest story had to be the cyber attack on Marks & Spencer, no doubt leading businesses across retail and foodservice to look more closely at their own cyber security measures. A key consideration for anyone exploring crisis management.

In QSRs, healthy fast food chain Leon hit the headlines after the business was reacquired by its co-founder, John Vincent. There’s restructuring work going on at the moment, with the closure of unprofitable outlets and the prospect of more openings, once the ship is back on course.

Towards the end of the year, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver announced plans to relaunch Jamie’s Italian, six years after it disappeared from the high street. As fashion trends continue to work their way from the 90s and into noughties nostalgia, can we expect more brand revivals from the early 2000s?

Several campaigns also captured attention this year, particularly in the fast food world. Burger King’s Wagyu campaign was a stand-out, as was a Happy Meal campaign from McDonald’s, which struck a more serious note. In November, McDonald’s launched it first-ever blank Happy Meal box, encouraging kids to draw how they feel. The move followed research that found that 42% of kids struggle to talk to adults about how they feel, but 73% find it easier to talk about feelings when drawing.

by Anita Murray, CEO, William Murray  

For food, drink and hospitality businesses, 2027 budgets are starting to take shape. Campaigns are being mapped out and calendars are tentatively filling up with launches, events, content and communications activity. 

Before deciding what marketing activity your business needs next year, there is a more important consideration: What does the business need to achieve – and what could get in the way? 

The more specific the objectives and obstacles, the easier it becomes to make useful, strategic decisions about marketing and communications that will help businesses grow with greater certainty. 

Six questions to take into your 2027 planning 

1. What are our most important growth objectives?

Be specific about what the business needs to achieve. Which customers, markets, products or relationships matter most? Where does growth need to come from, and what would meaningful progress look like by the end of 2027?  

Whether the ambition is to win new customers, enter a market, grow a category or create demand for innovation, the marketing plan needs a clear commercial destination. 

2. What are the biggest obstacles to achieving them?

Where is growth most likely to get stuck? It could be competitive pressure, customer perception, differentiation, credibility, market position, lack of influence or something operational that communications needs to help address.  

Identifying the obstacle changes the conversation from “What should we do?” to “What needs to change?” 

3. Has our market position changed?

Markets move quickly. Competitors evolve, customer expectations shift and propositions that once stood out can become familiar. Ask whether the position that worked previously will still be compelling in 2027. 

That means looking beyond your own brand. What are competitors now claiming? What do customers value? Where has the market become crowded? What new expectations have emerged? 

4. What do our customers actually value now? 

Planning often begins with what a business wants to say. A stronger starting point is understanding what customers need to hear, believe or experience before they will change behaviour. 

Our 2026 From Visibility to Influence research found a clear gap between the messages suppliers believe they are communicating and how those messages can be experienced by operators. Suppliers talked about innovation, sustainability, partnership and understanding their customers. Operators told us they wanted clearer value, practical solutions, proof and transparency. 

That gap has commercial consequences. 

In a pressured foodservice environment, operators are already dealing with labour shortages, cost pressures, sustainability demands and supply chain challenges. Communications that add complexity or make broad claims without evidence are unlikely to earn much attention. 

The implication for 2027 planning is important: understanding customer priorities should shape the communication strategy before channels and campaigns are selected. 

5. Where do we need greater trust, authority or influence? 

Awareness can tell you that people recognise a brand. It tells you much less about whether they trust it, value its expertise or will consider it when making a decision. 

Our research found that operators and industry influencers respond strongly to credible evidence, practical application and genuine industry contribution. 

Innovation, for example, has greater value when it demonstrates how it can make an operation easier, more efficient or more resilient. Sustainability claims become more credible when businesses can show evidence, acknowledge trade-offs and communicate progress honestly. 

For businesses planning for 2027, this raises useful points: Where do we need to influence decisions, and what would give us the authority to do so? That might involve customers, chefs, procurement teams, wholesalers, industry bodies, media or other stakeholders. 

6. Finally, what communications activity will make a difference?

Once the growth objective and obstacles are clear, the role of communications becomes much easier to define. 

Perhaps the business needs stronger thought leadership to establish authority in a category. Perhaps it needs evidence-led communications to build credibility around a new proposition. Perhaps customer voices and practical demonstrations would do more to build confidence than another broad awareness campaign. 

And sometimes the answer will be to do less. The important thing is that activity has a clear job to do. 

Better planning starts further upstream 

Visibility has value, but commercial growth depends on what happens after someone sees you. Do they understand your relevance? Do they believe your claims? Do they trust your expertise? Will they involve you in the conversation when a decision needs to be made? 

Those questions deserve a place in the planning process. 

Before you lock down your 2027 marketing plan, make sure you have identified what is most likely to get in the way of achieving your growth objectives. That gives you a strategic basis for deciding where communications, marketing and other forms of commercial activity can help you achieve growth with greater certainty. 

Our Market Authority & Growth Roadmap is designed to help businesses take that step back: clarify the growth objective, identify the positioning, credibility, visibility and influence barriers that may be limiting growth, and establish where authority-building activity should focus next. 

Planning for 2027? Talk to us about where growth could get stuck before you decide what activity comes next. 

By Rachel Taylor, managing director, William Murray

I had a great day at the QSR Redcat Media and Awards Conference on 22 June 2026, listening to operators, brands and suppliers unpack the future of growth. 

More data. More tech. More channels. More pressure on margins. 

But walking away, one thought stuck with me:   

Most QSR brands aren’t struggling to grow; they’re struggling to matter where it counts. 

Growth in this sector rarely unravels in strategy decks or boardroom discussions. More often, it is won or lost site by site, in local communities and on local high streets. 

Customers clustered in their differing localities don’t experience “the brand” in the abstract. They experience that single location, in a specific moment, in the context of their everyday lives. And that moment is far more fragile than many assume. 

If the experience feels too generic, inconsistent or disconnected, the decision is simple: customers will be indifferent.  And no one wants that. 

So how do you win? 

Look at how the high street is shifting and being redefined. It’s no longer just a place of convenience. It’s evolved to be something more social, more experiential and more community-driven – a space of connection, routine and identity: 

• where people go to break up their day 

• where older audiences seek a sense of connection over something simple such as a coffee and a slice of cake 

• where date nights, small celebrations and everyday rituals play out 

• where younger consumers spend time, choosing brands that say something about who they are because it’s social currency. 

This all points to the evolving role QSR brands need to play. The question has moved beyond: “How do we drive footfall?” It’s now: “How do we earn a place in people’s lives locally?” 

Are franchisees the most underutilised growth lever? 

Many QSR brands are stronger than ever centrally – with sharper positioning to more sophisticated channels.  But that strength doesn’t always translate consistently at a local level. 

This is where the franchisee comes in. 

They sit closer to what’s actually happening in local markets than any central team ever can. They see the nuances: how footfall shifts, how local competitors behave, what resonates culturally, customer profile types and what falls flat. 

That’s the missed opportunity when it comes to your comms programme.  

When franchisees are properly engaged and contribute to their localised comms plan, believe in it and are equipped to bring it to life, the difference is tangible. A QSR branch becomes embedded within its community, teams operate with more confidence and customers respond differently 

Why community comms is the growth boost needed 

This is where communications plays a far more important role in unlocking growth than it’s usually given credit for. 

Getting under the skin of each community to shape bespoke campaigns that capture attention and win mindshare makes a huge difference in a fiercely competitive market.   

Locally relevant comms strategies should not be viewed as a quick customised bolt-on task.  They are a growth strategy because no two locations behave the same or expect the same things. No single playbook can account for every local nuance. 

In today’s market, local relevance is the strategy. 

 

Want to hear more? 

If you’re looking at how your brand performs site by site and where the gaps are between strategy and reality, it’s worth a conversation. 

At William Murray PR & Marketing, we help QSR brands close that gap, building communications strategies that actually drive behaviour, consistency and growth on the ground.