When pfchangs says "speed of culture," they mean it: five Great Wall of Chocolate cakes delivered to a viral creator's fake cake business in under 24 hours. Filmed, posted, picked up by PRWeek, and eventually turned into an official brand deal. It's also partnering with Staples Baddie before Staples did. And getting to Jacob, the viral Marriott wine pour guy, before Marriott. NONE of this is luck. This month on Handling It, Patrick Benson, Director of Marketing Communications at P.F. Chang's, walked me through how his team is actually built for it: 1. What it took to earn a CMO's full trust to move fast 2. A team structure unlike anything I've seen: 2 in-house, 3 freelance creators who can walk into any restaurant, 3 agencies The results speak for themselves: 200 million views on influencer work year-to-date. The full interview also covers the metrics he actually reports on, how he decides between hiring in-house vs. agency, and the summer menu item designed to be a viral mom...