Driving growth for multi-unit brands through scalable strategies and franchise expertise

Crew Research partners with multi-unit brand leaders to drive sustained unit growth, revenue acceleration, and enterprise value creation.

Expertise

  • Design and implement scalable systems for delivering consistently excellent customer experiences across all your locations while adapting to local market needs.

    • Experience standards assessment and development

    • Operations system design for reliable delivery

    • Leadership capability building

    • Customer feedback integration systems

  • Build integrated commercial capabilities that drive sustainable revenue growth through digital engagement, loyalty programs, and sophisticated revenue management.

    • Loyalty program enhancement and development

    • Revenue management integration

    • Digital experience design and optimization

    • Data analytics & framework implementation

  • Develop and execute strategic approaches to enter new markets and accelerate unit growth while maintaining brand consistency and ensuring strong unit economics.

    • Market opportunity assessment and prioritization

    • Expansion strategy and implementation roadmaps

    • Franchise development and territory planning

    • New unit ramp-up and performance optimization

  • Maximize enterprise value through effective portfolio management and cross-brand synergy capture.

    • Portfolio assessment and positioning

    • Synergy identification across brands

    • Operating model design for multi-brand efficiency

    • Growth strategy development for expansion

Our Services

  • Current State Assessment

    We analyze data and research to determine key drivers of performance and underperformance of current portfolio

  • Strategy & Roadmap Development

    We have a proven process for building strategies and plans that do more of what works and less of what doesn’t

  • Organizational Alignment

    We implement methods to achieve organizational alignment to make change achievable, sustainable, and profitable

About
Claiborne Irby

A growth strategist with proven success scaling multi-unit brands in hospitality and food service. As SVP at Focus Brands, I led a team of 70 across seven brands and 6,500+ locations, transforming digital capabilities and loyalty programs into revenue engines that delivered $40M in first-year incremental sales.

At Hilton Worldwide, I led Global Brand Strategy, launching six new brands including the record-breaking Tru by Hilton, expanding Hampton Inn into China, and crafting Hilton's next-century strategy. My expertise covers market entry, digital transformation, customer engagement, brand portfolio optimization, and operational excellence.

Now through Crew Research, I help executives accelerate unit growth and build sustainable competitive advantages through strategic insight and practical, results-driven execution that improves unit economics and drives system-wide revenue.

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