Restaurant Marketing Blog

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I pulled up to Wachovia’s drive thru, five minutes prior to their opening, ready to make a huge deposit. When they finally opened and upon completing the transaction, the teller said to me through the loud speaker, “Is there anything else I can do for this morning”? I said, “Yes, I’ll take some coffee!” She replied, “There’s a McDonald’s at the end of the strip center.” This same interaction happened to me on 3 previous trips to the drive-thru.

I finally went inside and talked to the bank manager and explained, “You’re just a bank like all of the other banks. What would it take for you to possibly differentiate yourself and serve coffee to your drive thru customers on certain days during certain hours? Imagine the buzz you would get.”

Her reply—“We’d have to take it to corporate and get their permission; we just couldn’t do it ourselves.” To say the least, Wachovia doesn’t and will probably never get it.

Posted by jcohen in • Restaurant Marketing
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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Was at the Provence Restaurant in Yaletown, Vancouver, BC with ex pro wrestler, Flying Bobby Marshall. Had dessert and jokingly I said to our server that I thought the slice was too small. 60 seconds later, she brought over an additional slice. WOW. Totally unexpected.

Posted by jcohen in • Dining Experiences
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Friday, January 18, 2008

Restaurant Marketing: BFD doesn’t mean what you think. It refers to Domino’s Big Fantastic Deal. Check out their pizza builder site. Build your own pizza online, order it and have it delivered right to you.

Posted by jcohen in • Restaurant Marketing
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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

“Put simply, we are recommitting ourselves to what has made Starbucks and the Starbucks Experience so unique: ethically sourcing and roasting the highest quality coffee in the world; the relentless focus on the customer; the trust we have built with our people, and the entrepreneurial risk-taking, innovation and creativity that are the hallmarks of our success,” Schultz said in a statement.

Is it time to re-focus on your business? Do you have a strategy to be great in 2008? Check out my Secret Restaurant Marketing Sales-Building Videoconference Group.

Posted by jcohen in • Restaurant Marketing
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Saturday, January 05, 2008

Soft customer traffic and a decline in same-store sales in November contributed to a bleak outlook for restaurateurs nationwide.
A comprehensive study, released by the National Restaurant Association showed restaurant activity fell to its lowest level since February 2003.

Is this just another excuse? Bill Marvin, the Restaurant Doctor says, “You can use every excuse in the book to blame lacklustre sales on, but the bottom line is you’ve got to be marketing your restaurant 24/7 and stand up to these excuses.”

Bill has a number of restaurant sales-building tools available on his restaurant marketing web site. You should check them out.

Posted by jcohen in • Restaurant Marketing
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