Restaurant Marketing Blog

12 Ways To WOW Your Marketing

2008-08-19T00:33:43-05:00

1. Take the ordinary and make it Xtra-ordinary.

2. Take the plain old, boring vanilla look and turn it into a “Ben & Jerry’s flavor.”

3. Do the opposite, or do better than what the competition is doing.

4. Break conventional wisdom and think about “what if.”

5. Take the largest and make it the smallest; take the smallest and make it the largest; take the lowest and make it the highest; and the shortest, the longest.

6. Take what’s straight and even, and see what it looks like slanted and twisted. Take what’s center and look at it off-center.

7. Take everything that’s “just okay” and make it “the best.”

8. Go outside to look at your restaurant inside.

9. Break the rules and dream about how to make it better and more fun for your guests ... and then just do it.

10. Be remarkable—give your guests a snippet, a story about your restaurant ... something that they can remark about to their friends.

11. Go from behind your desk, or out of the kitchen and be the “mayor” in your community, making an impact and giving back.

12. Find your ‘place’ or your niche and be famous for it.

Time Mag Takes Unremarkable Restaurants To Task

2008-08-05T22:52:47-05:00

“Americans who want to peruse oversize menus for oversize portions of unremarkable food in unremarkable settings may soon have to check out Applebee’s or Chili’s or Ruby Tuesday or T.G.I. Friday’s or the scores of other family-style restaurants serving deep-fried mozzarella sticks beneath hypnotically rotating ceiling fans.” Read more in the Aug. 11 issue of Time.

Another Starbucks Goof: Get Ripped Off In AM, Get a Value In The PM

2008-08-05T12:49:13-05:00

Fire the Starbucks Marketing Dept. Here’s another bad one. Visit Starbucks in the morning buy a coffee and then just return that same afternoon—yes that same afternoon—show your receipt for that morning’s purchase and you get any iced grande beverage for $2. Why on the same day? Why not just make this a product promotion during the afternoon with no restrictions at all? That’s the way to increase your afternoon business.

What's Your Promise To Your Customers?

2008-08-02T19:50:11-05:00

Our restaurant promises to deliver you the following:

=> A sparkling clean restaurant inside and out.

=> Great tasting food, freshly prepared that exhibits an overwhelming value.

=> A great staff to serve you—passionate about what they do, friendly and knowledgeable about what they serve you.

=> A few surprises you’d never expect that will WOW you.

=> An interest in our community that we share.

=> A smile; a place you can feel at home—and be treated like royalty.

=> An interest in recycling in order to better our community that we live in.

=> An interest in supporting our troops, fighting abroad to protect our country, and those who serve and risk their lives to protect us locally—police and firemen.

Advertisng Agencies

2008-07-21T13:56:09-05:00

For those who have asked about my other advertising agency online ventures, visit American Ad Agencies and the new web sites, Miami Hispanic advertising agencies and Los Angeles Hispanic advertising agencies

Does a Sports Figure's Name on the Marquee Guarantee Success?

2008-07-18T13:19:49-05:00

“It’s location, location, location for the rule of thumb for any real estate deal. And after that, it’s food, food, food,” said Tom Prakas, of The Prakas Group in Boca Raton, which specializes in restaurant brokerage. “The name adds the kicker, and gets them in the door.”

Salad Creations: Hot Salad Concept

2008-07-12T11:55:51-05:00

Restaurant Marketing

2008-06-23T00:43:14-05:00

The Unhealthiest Drink In the USA

2008-06-08T23:15:54-05:00

Restaurant Marketing Age Of Similarity

2008-05-13T15:24:49-05:00

The web sites are similar, the email messages are similar with similar offers all being sent out at similar times to similar people training them to accept your similar discounts, desperately luring them into your similar restaurant.

The direct mail pieces are similar; the newspaper ads are similar, the birthday clubs are similar.

Do your guests enjoy similarity? Enjoy isn’t quite the word. Ignorance may be bliss, but with the exception of fine dining, they don’t know of anything else—until they experience something better than similar, and then it’s good-bye to you.

Is your restaurant an average, mediocre restaurant that people visit because of convenience or a coupon? Is anyone talking about you in a positive fashion? Do you have raving fans?