As the SVP of Marketing at Emmy Squared Pizza, a 29-location Detroit-style pizza chain with a cult-like following, Sergio Pérez has a clear philosophy: stay true to your brand and your guests will follow. Emmy Squared focuses on authenticity—and it’s working.
The Beginning
The Emmy Squared story began in Brooklyn in 2016. Today, every location is designed to feel like a neighborhood restaurant. No two are the same. That “anti-chain” identity fuels Pérez’s mission to make Emmy feel both big and small at once. “Our food is award-winning. Our cocktails are elevated. But most importantly, each restaurant feels local,” he says. That mentality extends to marketing too. Emmy Squared maintains one Instagram account across all locations—a deliberate choice. “It allows us to tell a consistent brand story,” Pérez explains.“
But it means we rely heavily on local influencers to fill the gap with neighborhood flavor.” The result? A digital presence that still feels personal. Before joining Emmy Squared, Pérez led a full-scale digital transformation at Bojangles, growing its digital sales. That experience taught him to align marketing, operations, and tech from the start. “You can’t have marketing living in a silo,” he says. “We all have to work together. Because the best Instagram in the world doesn’t matter if your service or execution in the restaurant is broken.”
More Than Leaders
At Emmy Squared, leadership isn’t just about managing shifts or checking labor reports—it’s about being a voice in the neighborhood. “The general managers aren’t just operators—they’re community leaders,” says Sergio Pérez. That mindset shapes everything, from how stores are run to how the brand shows up online. Instead of putting the burden of content creation on the shoulders of already-busy managers, Pérez and his team lean into local influencer partnerships and curated strategies. “We want our GMs focused on people, not pixels,” he says.
This approach keeps hospitality at the forefront while still fueling a digital presence that’s vibrant and authentic. Each Emmy Squared location is intentionally designed to feel unique, and the brand’s online strategy follows suit. By capturing the natural energy of each restaurant—through the lens of creators who already love the space—Pérez ensures that digital content feels organic, not forced. That’s his definition of digital hospitality: building genuine connections across every platform. Whether it’s a well-timed email, an easy online order, or a personalized upsell based on AI insights, every touchpoint is a chance to make the guest feel recognized. “It’s about using tech to humanize, not automate, the guest experience.
The Right Digital Hospitality
If your website or app is the only way someone experiences your brand, is that a fair representation of who you are?” he asks. For Pérez, digital transformation isn’t about tech for tech’s sake. It’s about telling the right story, in the right voice, at the right time. And sometimes, that means doing less—not more. “Marketing isn’t about shouting the loudest,” he says. “It’s about making sure the people who already love you have a reason to keep coming back.”
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