Restaurant Marketing Blog

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: Read this important restaurant marketing article from BrandWeek:

Nowadays the deepest threat to the restaurant industry isn’t food companies advertising the value of their brands, but competitors who promote “deep discounting,” said Drew Madsen, president and chief operating officer of Darden Restaurants, which owns such dining concepts as Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. The company saw first-quarter sales dip 2.3 percent to $1.73 billion, but Madsen remains optimistic that the economy will turn around and that consumers will go back to dining out more. He said the “deep discounting” tactic erodes the value of a brand over time, which is exactly why Darden Restaurants, for the most part, has stayed away from heavy promotions. Instead, the company chose to focus on “value” for family-friendly brands like Olive Garden, and “broadening the appeal” of less value-oriented restaurants like Red Lobster and The Capital Grille. Madsen chatted with Brandweek about these and other changes, as well as the company’s hopeful outlook, even despite heavy consumer cutback.

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Friday, October 30, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: I arrived in Madison, Wisconsin last week to do a restaurant marketing workshop for Sysco and was looking for a place to eat. Obviously in a strange town and no one around to make recommendations, I pulled out my trusty iPhone and downloaded the Yelp app.
 
Immediately, I got hundreds of restaurants with thousands of reviews. I searched for some restaurants in my area where my hotel was located—because Yelp is GPS enabled—read the reviews and made my choice. It was that easy ... and thanks to those who had already visited that restaurant and submitted a review, I made the right choice and had a great dining experience.

This is how many will decide which restaurant to choose—online referrals from other people who have dined at your restaurant.

This experience really drives home the point that your guests can control your destiny. They can make you really successful and fabulously rich. They can create a buzz about you that no one else can. But it’s all up to you.

Ironically, as our guests are moving to “hi-tech” sources for their information and referrals, restaurants need to focus on “low-tech” marketing to be successful. That means, mom and pop marketing, the principles of mayor marketing; making connections, wowing your guest and their dining experience. The list goes on and for those who have been with me over the past years, you know what I’m talking about.

So, while other restaurants are focusing their attention or bragging about building the “largest” list of facebook fans—by attracting customers with discounts galore (that sounds familiar) and truly believing that these “fans” are the end-all and be-all of loyalty to your restaurant, (c’mon, who are we kidding here) ... I urge you to focus your attention on your guests and their dining experience ... from the nano-second they drive into your parking lot.

And what does this have to do with Facebook? Here’s the million dollar tip to having a winning social media program that you won’t find at any workshop (other than mine) or in any book—If you’re successful at Wowing your guests, they’ll handle your social media marketing for you.

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: The most important restaurant marketing summit of the year takes place November 16-18 in New Orleans. Bill Marvin, the Restaurant Doctor and I are holding a two and a half day roundtable with restaurant owners who are already successful and want to get better—who want to take it to the next level. It’s only for restaurant owners that are having a successful year and who have defied the critics during this volatile economy. There’s still space available if you want to join us, but participation is limited for this one time opportunity for the best to be with the best. Click on www.BirthdayBashInfo.com

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Restaurant Marketing: Many family concepts are using the “kids eat free” restaurant promo to increase family business, and it works..that is until you stop the promotion and the families will seek out another restaurant that offers the same event. Just a twist ... why not “parents eat free?”  Put in some stipulations so the promo works. Why not? What if? It’s an exercise in turning the normal upside down. Why not your dog eats free; your babysitter eats free; your landscaper eats free?

Bottom Line: Why are we one of the few business categories in the world willing to give away our product for free? Do we not provide enough value and a great enough dining experience that we have to rely on bargain-hunting cherry-picking non-loyal customers to fill a restaurant?

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: Here’s a restaurant marketing truism: Your guests don’t care about your restaurant until you show that you really care about them. When that’s accomplished, only then have you achieved true guest loyalty and a raving fan.

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