How Mango Habanero, Metrics, and Masterful Moves Redefined Marketing Genius
Every so often, a guest comes along who doesn’t just raise the bar—they throw it into orbit. Erin Levzow is one of those guests. From the moment she joined The ADOTAT Show, it was clear we were in the presence of brilliance. Erin is a marketing powerhouse, blending emotional intelligence with razor-sharp strategy, all wrapped in a package of humor, humility, and dazzling storytelling. She’s the kind of guest you could talk to for hours and still feel like you’ve only scratched the surface.
Erin isn’t just a marketer—she’s a phenomenon. Whether she’s orchestrating mango-flavored revolutions, leading with radical empathy, or dazzling on the ballroom floor, she approaches every challenge with the perfect mix of creativity and grit. By the end of this episode, we weren’t just inspired; we were in awe. Let’s dive into the magic she shared with us.
The Mango Habanero Revolution: A Case Study in Marketing Genius
Imagine this: a company launches a limited-time flavor, quietly retires it, and suddenly finds itself at the epicenter of a full-blown consumer uprising. This isn’t an exaggeration—it’s the mango habanero saga at Wingstop, and Erin Levzow, the marketing mastermind behind the brand’s response, turned the chaos into one of the most brilliant campaigns in recent history.
“They took out a change.org petition,” Erin said, still marveling at the intensity of the reaction. “That’s like save the whales, but for sauce.”
When Wingstop removed the mango habanero sauce from its menu, Erin’s team didn’t expect much backlash. After all, it was a limited-time offer that wasn’t even a top-seller. But the reaction from fans was immediate, loud, and relentless. Social media erupted with demands for the sauce’s return, and customers didn’t just voice their disappointment—they mobilized.
“We thought about it,” Erin explained, “and instead of coming back to them and being like, ‘Okay, here you go, have it back,’ we talked internally and decided, let’s do this for the people who are really loud about it.”
The team’s strategy was simple but genius: lean into the outrage and make customers feel like part of a movement. They didn’t just bring back the sauce—they launched a guerrilla-style campaign that made fans feel like they were at the center of something special.
“We put together influencer kits and mailed them to approximately 125 people who were very vocal about this,” Erin said. “We got their address by asking them to vote on whether they wanted mango habanero to come back.” Fans who voted were prompted to fill out a form with their name and address, which Wingstop then used to send out the kits.
Each kit was stamped with Viva el Revolución and included stickers, t-shirts, and even a masked character who declared, “We’ve taken over the airwaves to bring back mango habanero.” But here’s the twist: the kits didn’t explicitly say they were from Wingstop.
“There was nothing that said it was from Wingstop, but it was obviously from Wingstop,” Erin said, smiling.
The response was overwhelming. Fans unboxed their kits on social media, posted photos, and speculated wildly about what was happening. “We grew our social reach by a thousand percent overnight,” Erin recalled. “It was unbelievable.”
The campaign didn’t just bring back the sauce—it turned a product recall into a brand-building moment. When the sauce finally returned to menus, Erin noted that it “mixed slightly higher” than before but, more importantly, it drove significant traffic to Wingstop locations.
“We told a story through it,” Erin said, “and people told the story actually on our behalf.”
The Secret Sauce
“It wasn’t just about bringing the flavor back,” Erin explained. “It was about making people feel like they were part of something bigger.”
This story isn’t just about wings—it’s about what makes great marketing. Erin didn’t just respond to customer complaints; she created a campaign that resonated emotionally, turned fans into advocates, and gave the brand a massive boost in engagement and loyalty.
The mango habanero saga wasn’t just a win for Wingstop; it was a masterclass in how to take a seemingly small product issue and turn it into a viral, unforgettable moment. As Erin put it, “We got to make it about them, and that made all the difference.”
The Dance of Data and Storytelling
If you think marketing is all about crunching numbers and analyzing charts, Erin Levzow is here to burst that bubble—and she’ll do it in two sentences flat. “Emotional intelligence and emotional technology really go hand in hand,” she explained. “You have the technology piece—that’s the math base, understanding how to get and when to get to your customer. And then you have the emotional side, the storytelling.”
It’s a deceptively simple idea: blending data and emotion to create marketing campaigns that resonate. But Erin doesn’t just talk the talk; she’s built a career on this philosophy. Whether she’s masterminding a viral campaign or guiding her team through complex strategies, she wields both analytics and creativity with the precision of a Cirque du Soleil performer.
Erin’s approach to marketing is a rare blend of science and art. On one side, there’s the data—the clicks, impressions, and conversion rates that guide decision-making. On the other, there’s the emotional narrative that transforms those numbers into a story worth engaging with. “We have all this data,” Erin said, “but data without a story is just noise. What makes it meaningful is how you connect it back to people’s lives, their emotions, their needs.”
This isn’t just about selling products; it’s about building connections. Erin views metrics as the foundation, but the heart of her campaigns lies in the human experience. Her ability to translate cold, hard numbers into campaigns that make people laugh, cry, or rally behind a mango habanero sauce is what sets her apart.
For Erin, the real magic happens when technology and storytelling come together seamlessly. “It’s not enough to know when and how to reach your customer,” she said. “You need to know why they care in the first place.”
Take, for example, the mango habanero saga. It wasn’t just about analyzing the number of tweets or Change.org signatures demanding the sauce’s return. It was about understanding the emotional undercurrent driving that demand. By tapping into that sentiment, Erin turned a flavor recall into a full-blown cultural moment. “Data tells you what people are doing,” Erin explained, “but it’s the storytelling that tells you why they’re doing it. And that’s where the real opportunity lies.”
Erin doesn’t just analyze data; she orchestrates it like a symphony conductor. To her, every piece of data is a note in a larger melody, and the story she creates from it is the music that captivates her audience. “It’s about making the numbers sing,” she said. “Sure, you can look at impressions, clicks, and open rates, but unless you know how to weave them into a narrative, they’re just stats on a spreadsheet.”
Ballroom Dancing and the Art of Marketing Recovery
Oh, did we mention Erin Levzow is a competitive ballroom dancer? Because of course she is. As if dominating the marketing world wasn’t enough, Erin spends her spare time flipping through the air with the kind of grace most of us can only dream of. But don’t let the sequins and salsa moves fool you—ballroom dancing isn’t just a hobby; it’s a mirror of her approach to work and life.
Take one of her routines, for example—a daring flip where her head was mere inches from the floor. “My partner took a misstep, and I knew in his face my head was about to crash into the ground,” Erin said, recalling the adrenaline and panic of that moment. But instead of unraveling, they adapted on the spot. “We finished the routine as if it was part of the choreography,” she said, laughing at the memory.
If that isn’t the ultimate metaphor for Erin’s career, I don’t know what is. Whether it’s on the dance floor or in a boardroom, Erin doesn’t let a stumble define the story. Her philosophy? It’s not about avoiding failure—it’s about how you recover. “We all fall down,” she said. “It has everything to do with how you get back up.”
This isn’t just a lesson for dancers; it’s a masterclass in resilience for anyone with a pulse. Marketing campaigns flop. Strategies go sideways. Teams make mistakes. Erin knows this better than anyone, but she also knows that resilience isn’t about perfection—it’s about improvisation, adaptability, and finishing strong, no matter how messy the middle gets.
Ballroom dancing may seem worlds apart from marketing, but for Erin, the parallels are striking. Both require trust, collaboration, and a willingness to take risks. And just like on the dance floor, there are moments in her career where the choreography didn’t go to plan. But instead of letting those missteps throw her off, Erin leans into the recovery, finding ways to pivot and turn mistakes into moments of brilliance.
Rick Ross, QR Codes, and Buzzword Burials
Erin’s irreverence for outdated marketing norms is as refreshing as it is hilarious. She’s not here for buzzwords like “omnichannel” or metrics like impressions. “Someone asked me why their impressions were down but revenue was up,” she said, laughing. “And I told them, ‘Who cares about impressions? Your revenue is up!’”
When asked about her favorite marketing pivot, Erin didn’t hesitate to highlight the moment she replaced Troy Aikman—yes, the legendary football player—with Rick Ross as Wingstop’s brand ambassador. Why? Because Rick Ross actually resonated with their 18-to-24-year-old audience. “It didn’t feel relevant or cool to them,” Erin said about Aikman. “But Rick Ross? He made sense. He was already a franchisee and a great cheerleader for the brand.”
And let’s not forget her take on obnoxious trends like QR code Super Bowl ads. “Was it creative? I don’t know,” she quipped. “Was it annoying? A little. But it worked.”
Leadership with Empathy and Radical Candor
Beyond her marketing brilliance, Erin Levzow’s leadership philosophy is a masterclass in empathy and authenticity, the kind that makes you rethink what it means to lead effectively. She doesn’t just manage teams—she cultivates environments where people feel safe to thrive, fail, and try again. At the heart of her philosophy is radical candor, a concept Erin wields with the precision of a sculptor carving out greatness. “If I care about you, I’m going to be direct with you,” she said. “But I’ll hug and love you every step of the way.”
This isn’t some soft, feel-good leadership buzzword. For Erin, it’s about giving people the tools and feedback they need to grow, even when it’s uncomfortable. She doesn’t sugarcoat the truth, but she also doesn’t deliver it with a sledgehammer. Her method is equal parts grit and grace—a balance that’s as rare in boardrooms as it is essential.
Erin also has no patience for the obsession with fixing weaknesses, a mindset she believes stifles potential. She points to Michael Jordan as her quintessential example: “He was the best at basketball, not baseball. Why focus on weaknesses when you can make someone the Michael Jordan of what they’re already great at?” It’s a perspective that’s both practical and visionary. Instead of asking her team to patch up their shortcomings, Erin zeroes in on what they’re already brilliant at, empowering them to excel in areas where they naturally shine.
Her leadership philosophy is as bold and refreshing as her marketing campaigns. Erin isn’t afraid to challenge norms, push boundaries, or ask the hard questions—all while making sure her team feels supported and empowered. She takes the same approach to her team dynamics that she does to her marketing: a perfect blend of logic and emotion, of precision and passion.
And let’s not forget Erin’s sense of humor, which is woven into everything she does as a leader. Whether she’s citing basketball metaphors or admitting that, yes, sometimes you just need a cry-and-White-Claw moment, Erin reminds her team that success isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress, resilience, and learning to lean into what makes you uniquely excellent.
What makes Erin truly stand out, though, is her ability to inspire those around her—not just to do their jobs, but to believe in their potential. She leads with a kind of audacious optimism that’s infectious. “Leadership isn’t about being perfect,” she said. “It’s about figuring out how to get back up after you’ve fallen and helping others do the same.”
The Power of Perseverance: Erin Levzow’s Journey Through Love, Loss, and Lessons
Erin Levzow isn’t just a marketing powerhouse—she’s a human hurricane of resilience, humor, and heart. Beneath her brilliance on the business battlefield lies a deeply personal story that has shaped her outlook on everything, from leadership to living fully. Her husband’s life-altering accident wasn’t just a test of their strength as a family—it was a masterclass in how to endure, adapt, and thrive when the universe throws everything at you, including the kitchen sink.
“Nothing really matters, and yet everything’s important,” Erin said, a philosophy that could only come from someone who’s been to hell and back. Her husband’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury—something doctors said had less than a one-percent chance of happening—isn’t just a miracle; it’s a lesson in what sheer grit and love can accomplish.
But let’s not sugarcoat this: Erin’s journey wasn’t all inspirational speeches and life-affirming moments. “People kept saying, ‘You’re so strong,’ but I felt anything but,” she confessed. “I was a mess. There were days I didn’t want to get out of bed, and the only goal was to sit up, then maybe shower. Baby steps.”
In classic Erin fashion, though, she didn’t just survive—she thrived. During her husband’s recovery, Erin chronicled their journey on a CaringBridge blog, which quickly snowballed into something bigger than she ever imagined. “About 42,000 people read it,” she said, still astonished. “And if I missed a day, people would lose their minds. ‘Is he okay? Are the kids okay?’ It was wild.”
But what really stuck with Erin were the messages she received—people from all over the world sharing how her story had inspired them to keep going through their own challenges. “They’d say, ‘Your journey gave me hope,’ and all I could think was, ‘Me? I’m just trying to get through the day without falling apart.’”
This raw honesty and openness are what make Erin’s story so powerful. She didn’t just chronicle the victories; she let people in on the messy, unfiltered reality of struggle. And in doing so, she gave others permission to admit that they, too, were struggling—and that it was okay.
Even now, the challenges haven’t disappeared. “He still has a traumatic brain injury, and there’s still a lot of trauma,” Erin shared. “The first time I heard an ambulance after everything happened, I collapsed into a corner, crying. I didn’t even know that was PTSD.”
For Erin, the journey has been as much about accepting help as it has been about pushing forward. “People want to help, but we’re so bad at letting them,” she said, a mix of candor and frustration. “Especially as women, we think we have to be strong all the time. But sometimes the strongest thing you can do is admit you need help. Drink a White Claw, cry in a corner, and let people show up for you.”
Her husband’s recovery taught her one of life’s greatest truths: resilience isn’t about being unshakable. It’s about wobbling, falling, and still finding the strength to stand back up. And if that isn’t the ultimate marketing metaphor, I don’t know what is.
Why Erin Levzow Is One of Our Best Guests Ever
Erin Levzow isn’t just a guest; she’s a phenomenon. Her stories, insights, and humor made this episode unforgettable. From mango revolutions to ballroom moves,
Erin showed us that great marketing isn’t about playing it safe—it’s about taking risks, making connections, and always, always staying authentic.
If you missed this episode, drop everything and tune in now. Erin Levzow just raised the bar for what marketing—and leadership—can be.
