Series: After Coupons, Part 2

Branding. The term has been relied on very heavily by people who may, or may not, understand what it means or what it takes to do it effectively.

Branding is everything about your restaurant. Menu design, menu pricing, and menu content all indicate your brand to users. Staff uniforms, appearance, and professionalism contribute significantly.

However, most restaurants only focus on print materials or logos as their brand. That stuff is important, but by not realizing what the brand is, people waste money by spending cash on advertising, and skimping on research and hourly wages.

For independents and franchises alike (though most new franchisees disagree with this), the most significant branding element you have is you, the owner/manager. Love me, love my product. People don't buy products from people they don't like or people who show ambivalence toward them. You might get them once, but restaurants are a game of frequency.

If you support the community, the community will support you.

The second reason most "branding" efforts fail is not knowing what it takes to be successful. Nike is all about the brand and you want to be, too. Never mind how much Nike spent to burnish their sign on consumers' minds, do you know how many local road races they sponsored? How many pairs of shoes they gave away to opinion leaders in the running, basketball, and golf communities?

Branding takes time, effort, and money. It's worth all of those things, but it also takes patience. Just because you opened your restaurant doesn't mean everyone will flock to it. Just because you bought the ads doesn't mean people saw them.

Branding is a process that needs to begin prior to opening, and then be consistently applied forever. Coupons (see previous post) can help fill the gap until your branding efforts take hold.

But when it comes right down to it, knowing (and liking) the owner is the most powerful brand message anyone can have.