Bricks & Clicks
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The Authors: Clifford Hudson and Craig Miller
Bricks and Clicks tells the story of how Sonic Drive-In evolved from nostalgic car hops to a digital age leader. Clifford Hudson and Craig Miller share the key strategies and decisions that drove their success, focusing on reworking outdated legacy systems, rethinking customer engagement, and embracing emerging technologies while staying true to Sonic’s unique branding. Central to their approach was the CuPID framework putting customers first and maintaining the brand’s differentiated value proposition. This book offers valuable insights and guidance for leaders navigating their own reinvention.
Table of Contents
Our Story
Part 1: The Mindset
- Fortune favors the prepared
- Innovation is not a luxury
- New world, new rules, new opportunities
Part II: The Stages
- Oh yeah, it is about the customer after all
- The digital Plumbing
- The messy middles
- Retooling the entreprise: taking it to scale
Part III: The Return on Investment
- The medium is the modus operandi
- Fortune favors the bold
- Epilogue: Missed opportunities
Hudson’s management team pursued varying new methods to reach consumers, many of which theircompetitors were only thinking about.Bricks and Clicksdoes a wonderful job describing their journey,which I was able to observe during my Sonic Board service.Having a bird’s-eye view into the complexityof their thinking and planning and the unique perseverance their team brought to the challenge, it is clearto me that the decisions the management team made during that time paved the way for outstandinglong-term growth!
—LAUREN HOBART, CEO, Dick’s Sporting Goods
Bricks and Clicks brings home the challenges that consumer-facing companies confront in bridging thetwentieth and twenty-first centuries. In the QSR business, few did so like Sonic. Hudson and Miller’s welltold story has a contemporary application most executives can make immediate use of. And the epiloguewill knock your socks off!
—NEAL BLACK, Former CEO, Jos. A Bank Clothiers
Cliff Hudson’s long-standing vision for transforming Sonic through integrated customer engagement(ICE) was innovative for the restaurant industry. The company that acquired Sonic in 2018 is still trying tounderstand its implications. As I readBricks and Clicks, I relived each step of the journey—bringingtrusted partners along, navigating the challenges of the “Messy Middles,”and demonstrating theunwavering resilience needed to overcome obstacles. Hudson and Miller provide a valuable roadmap forthe growth and success for any business competing in today’s digital age. I’mexcited that this story hasbeen shared. It’s a playbook I continue to use today, and I believe it will elevate your career to the nextlevel!
—DOUG COOK, Chief Technology Officer, Jack in the Box
As a consultant in the restaurant industry, I watched numerous brands attempt digital transformations.Sonic is one that truly got it right, by rooting itself in enhancing the unique Sonic Drive-In experience and nottaking a me-too approach. This book recounts lessons from Sonic’s successful strategy and offersprovocative questions and practical guidance for others seeking similar transformative success.
—JOHN BUDD, Former Partner and Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group
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Dive into the inspiring narratives, timeless lessons, guiding principles and universal frameworks for strategic planning and execution with a complimentary chapter of Bricks and Clicks: How We Drove Sonic into the Digital Age. Learn how Clifford Hudson and Craig Miller redefined innovation and customer focus in the digital era.
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Master of None
The Author: Clifford Hudson
In Master of None, Clifford Hudson challenges traditional career advice and the “10,000-hour rule” from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. Drawing from his experience as CEO of Sonic, Hudson shows how versatility, not specialization, leads to success. His three rules—Don’t plan, explore; Don’t specialize, generalize; Don’t keep your head down, turn it up toward opportunity—offer a fresh approach to professional growth.
Hudson argues that in today’s fast-changing world, adaptability is more valuable than expertise. Master of None offers a bold new perspective on thriving in a rapidly evolving work environment, making it a must-read for professionals at any stage of their career.
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