Ex-KFC U.S. CMO Nick Chavez is building on existing brand love for the beverage chain with culture-hacking campaigns and a loyalty app that is social by design.

Since its 2017 founding, 7 Brew has quickly established itself as a restaurant brand to watch, with a drive-thru model that serves up more than 20,000 possible drink combinations spanning coffee, energy drinks, smoothies and more. The chain, which is mostly franchised, has over 800 stands across 38 states, is on pace to surpass 1,000 units this year and is the fastest growing brand in the U.S., per a Yelp report. 7 Brew’s growth comes as competitor Dutch Bros notched an impressive 8.3% increase in same-store sales in Q2 2026. The drive-thru beverage chains are currently battling on several fronts.

To accelerate its growth, 7 Brew in August launched its first mobile app, streamlining its loyalty program and giving consumers the ability to order ahead. The app hit the top spot on the iOS App Store and remains in the top five as of press time.

Along with giving loyalty members a chance to win 100,000 points, 7 Brew promoted the launch of its app with a TikTok video that parodies “2001: A Space Odyssey,” with the film’s iconic monolith reimagined as a giant smartphone. The video is the latest in a string of similar marketing efforts from 7 Brew, including parodies of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Mean Girls,” that see the chain working to connect with consumers on TikTok, where the company has more than 685,000 followers and 7.5 million likes.

Building on social media popularity has been a key focus of Nick Chavez, who joined 7 Brew in late 2024 as its first CMO after a three-year stint as the U.S. CMO of KFC. Previously, the executive served in a variety of marketing roles at Nintendo and Yahoo.

“It’s been a remarkable period of growth and development in terms of having more 7 Brews in more communities and more places across the country,” Chavez said of his time at the company so far. “That potential is what attracted me to the brand.”

Marketing Dive spoke with Chavez about how he is approaching the CMO role, the loyalty launch and his plans for the chain.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

NICK CHAVEZ: First and foremost, there was tremendous existing talent at 7 Brew. The brand had invested early in social media presence, content creators and social media managers, so we have a great in-house team of creative content producers. I had been aware of the brand before coming in, in part due to its social media presence: It’s a hot brand on TikTok and Instagram.

Source https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/how-7-brews-first-cmo-is-marketing-the-fastest-growing-brand-in-the-us/829781/