4 Takeaways from Wendy’s Investor Day that any IRO can use
We didn’t work on this one.
But over the past few weeks, we’ve been reviewing several recent Investor Days. Wendy’s 2025 Investor Day stood out.
It stood out for how it was built: clear storytelling, a tightly aligned strategy across presenters, and a well-paced design that never felt overwhelming, even at 100+ slides.
The event was led by Aaron Broholm, Wendy’s Head of Investor Relations and a friend of Outkreate, along with his team. While we weren’t involved, we found ourselves saying, “More IROs should be doing this.”
So we pulled out four takeaways we believe can apply to any public company preparing its next Investor Day.
1. Anchor in the Strategy, Then Cascade the Message
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 / segment (e.g., 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 these pillars appear throughout the deck, from the CEO’s intro to the CFO’s close.
2. Don’t Just State Strategy, Back It Up with Proof Points
Often, a segment leader does a good job stating the strategy of a business unit. But bringing it home with a compelling what, why, and how is not always effective.
For its International segment, Wendy’s took a textbook approach to strategic storytelling. First, they painted the opportunity across key geographies (e.g., Canada, LATAM, Europe, APAC). Then they outlined a repeatable playbook: scale the supply chain, build strong local teams, and tailor the menu. Throughout, they showed real progress, including 14 percent systemwide sales growth and over 3 million dollars in AUVs in Canada. They showed how the playbook and frameworks were used in action.
The visuals below reflect this structure clearly, moving from vision to execution to results.
Tip for IROs: This 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. Break Complex Ideas Into Simple, Repeatable Frameworks
Wendy’s tackled complicated 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. To focus on each persona, the team applied a proprietary three-step approach:
1. Identify the opportunity
2. Develop tailored initiatives
3. Measure and learn
The slides shown below capture it clearly — short, focused, and easy to follow. The CMO’s voiceover is doing 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. One Slide, One Idea
Wendy’s Investor Day was long (124 slides if you are interested in slide count). However, it wasn’t 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 124-slide deck feel digestible.
That’s it.
We didn’t work on this one, but there’s plenty here to learn from. Hope these takeaways help as you plan your next Investor Day.
If you’re curious to see some of the Investor Days we did work on, check out Campbell’s 2024 Investor Day for another example of bold storytelling and strategy alignment across all segments and leaders.
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