Panera’s marketing strategy contained three distinct initiatives. The first aimed to raise the quality of awareness about Panera by focusing on quality crave-able food the consumer can trust, and by enhancing the appeal of its bakery-cafés as gathering places. The second initiative focused on boosting awareness and trials of Panera at multiple meal times. The third initiative was to increase consumer’s perception of Panera as a dinner option. Throughout the entire marketing strategy Panera avoided hard-sell, in-your-face advertising. Panera preferred consumers “gently collide” with and discover the brand. As Panera performed well financially in past years, this marketing strategy was successful. However our analysis led us to conclude there was an untapped potential in the soft-sell marketing technique. This was a weakness that Panera must bolster to pursue industry opportunities.