4 Storytelling Principles from Wendy’s Investor Day
With real-slide examples from their presentation
We’re in the thick of Q2 earnings season. For teams planning an Investor Day later this year, this is around the time storytelling planning starts. Worth revisiting a piece we shared previously.
This piece looks at Wendy’s 2025 Investor Day, led by Aaron Broholm, Wendy’s IRO (and a friend of Outkreate). We didn’t work on this one, but it stood out for its clear storytelling, a tightly aligned strategy across presenters, and a well-paced design that never felt overwhelming, even at 120+ slides.
Here are four ideas we think are worth keeping in mind for your next Investor Day.
1/ Lead With the Strategy, Then Show How Every Team Aligns to It
The strongest Investor Days don’t just articulate a strategy to hit long-term goals. They show how every business unit and leader is aligned to that same strategy.
In Wendy’s case, the leadership team repeatedly reinforced three strategic pillars: (1) Fresh, Famous Food, (2) Exceptional Customer Experience, and (3) Global Growth. But this wasn’t repetition for the sake of consistency. Each function and segment (Marketing, U.S. Operations, International, Finance) showed how its specific goals and actions mapped back to the broader company strategy.
That kind of alignment is powerful. It makes the narrative more memorable for the audience and reinforces that leadership is unified and working toward a common direction.
The visuals below show how the Strategy pillars repeat through each presenter’s (CEO, segment leaders, CFO) sections. Each did a great job to align their plans to the main company strategy.
2/ Beyond Stating the Strategy, Clearly Show Why It Will Work
Often, leadership does a good job stating the strategy of a business unit. Bringing it to life through opportunity, proof and quantified commitments to shareholders is the harder part.
Let’s use the “International Segment” of Wendy’s I-Day presentation as an example. First, the segment leader spoke about traction (proof) and opportunity across the key geographies (Canada, LATAM, Europe, APAC). Then he outlined a clear “how to” in the form of a repeatable playbook: scale the supply chain, build strong local teams, and tailor the menu. Throughout, they showed real progress (proof), including 14% systemwide sales growth and over $3 million in AUVs in Canada. Finally, he shared the Long-term Goals to put a stake in the ground.
Money slides from the International Segment below reflect this approach.
Consider this: The same approach works across any business segment. When you are highlighting a priority area, pair the strategy with how you plan to execute it, and include proof that it is already delivering. That combination builds confidence and credibility.
3/ Simplify Complex Ideas With Clear Frameworks
Wendy’s tackled complex topics like customer segmentation and operational strategy by simplifying them into clear, structured models.
One example was the Consumer Model introduced by the CMO. She began with the size of the prize by identifying Wendy’s most loyal customers. Then she focused on three key growth segments: families, the multicultural demographic, and Gen Z. For each persona, the team applied a proprietary three-step approach:
1. Identify the opportunity
2. Develop tailored initiatives
3. Measure and learn
The slides below capture this well. They’re short, focused, and easy to follow. The CMO’s voiceover did the heavy lifting.
Why it works: This kind of simplicity is often undervalued, but in our experience, it reflects rigor. It forces clarity and helps both internal teams and external investors understand not just what the company is doing, but how they are thinking about it.
4/ Keep Every Slide Focused on One Clear Idea
Wendy’s Investor Day was long (124 slides, if you care about the slide count). However, it never felt overwhelming.
Each slide was designed with focus. There were no walls of text, no crowded layouts, just one clear idea per slide. The flow was smooth, and the transitions from one section to the next were easy to follow.
There’s often pressure to “keep the deck short.” But length isn’t the real issue. Density is. You could compress this entire story into 50 slides, but it would be harder to follow and take just as long to present. Instead, Wendy’s delivered a low-fatigue, high-clarity experience by sticking to the one-idea-per-slide rule. We loved this.
The visuals below highlight how this approach made even a 120+ slide deck feel easy to digest.
Useful resources if you’re planning an Investor Day
➤ How to craft the main message for your Investor Day.
➤ 5 actionable ideas to get creative with your Investor Day agenda.
➤ How Campbell’s used its Investor Day to introduce a bold new vision to investors. [Read the case study]
➤ How Sonoco used its Investor Day to lay out long-term growth targets. [Read the case study]
Learn more about OUTKREATE’s Investor Relations Solutions
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“We brought OUTKREATE in for a critical Top-to-Top with a large grocery customer. They built the story from scratch and elevated the visuals. The presentation landed well and set us up for growth.”
~ Kayla Ward, Brand Manager, FrieslandCampina
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