Thursday

Jeffrey the Marketer

McCain has Joe the Plumber, allow me to have Jeffrey the Marketer.

Jeffrey isn't a symbol of hope for restaurants, he's a symptom of futility. He's looking for the silver bullet that will enable him to buy his own island, keeping his hands clean the whole time. Jeffrey is an ivory-tower marketer, all 'brand' and 'polish' and culture.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a brand and polish and culture fan, too, but I don't look down my nose at shaking hands and kissing babies. A coupon has a purpose and the right offer can modify behavior and begin new habits (habits that benefit you).

Gaining market share can be a dirty business, but Jeffrey thinks it can happen via shiny magazine ads instead of rubbing elbows with the hoi polloi.

Jeffrey thinks all you have to do is extol your virtues and present images of what the consumer wants to be. If you do that, surely the customers will eventually try your food and they'll love you and you'll have them forever.

I'm glad there are Jeffreys in this world. Given the choice of competition, especially in this economy, I want a competitor who is all about branding because my brand is me.

In this economy I want someone who relies on awareness-based advertising because I'm going to give customers an offer that puts butts in seats (my seats).

At the end of 2006, there was one restaurant for every 662 people in the US (depending on how you define 'restaurant'). Thanks to the poor economy, that number has gone up and is likely to go up further. Poor locations are first to go, but the Jeffreys of the world are next.

Go get yourself some market share from the Jeffreys near you.

Monday

Dakota Blue, 6 Feet Under, Applebee's

Intown neighborhoods are usually pretty tight groups. They're a lot like the suburbs I grew up in where neighbors know each other and when someone is sick the social network springs into action to supply meals and support.

Case in point: Dakota Blue in Grant Park. They work with a local church so that, when the church is scheduling meal drop offs to a family that has recently had a death, a birth, or a traumatic experience, they call him first.

He volunteers for the first night. He cares about them, they care about him. (Another restaurant I work with does this same thing and has received at least 3 catering orders specifically because he does this for the church.)

Six Feet Under rose to the occasion when the Grant Park Conservancy was restoring a fountain. Donate $2 and get a cut-out fountain to write your name on and post to the wall (like Shamrocks for MD). Cheesy, a little. But the local press picked it up and the local residents already knew he was doing it.

Lastly, Applebee's franchisees report increased customer loyalty due to community involvement and events, of which the company did more than 15,000 last year. A company spokesman said that franchisees are "involved for all the right social reasons" but "we also think there's a very strong strategic reason to be involved."

If you're not involved with your community, or you don't have a local store marketing plan for your restaurant...why not?

Thursday

Wachovia...Stealing Your Money?

A couple of examples of how to surely piss your customers off and guarantee that, if you do make it through the financial slump, you won't have any customers left when you reach the other side.

Wachovia has apparently started taking payments for lines of credit (unsecured lines of credit), and presumably for credit cards, out of savings or checking accounts without customer approval. If the payment is late, they just reach in and help themselves. Hopefully that won't mess your automatic payments up too badly.

Not sure I would allow those foxes to be in charge of my chickens.


Example number two: blaming the customer, calling them thieves, liars, or idiots, won't win friends or influence people.

A local franchisee of a regional chain has posted signs that he will not accept BOGO coupons in his unit. Apparently the coups were distributed by another franchisee and a few of them have made their way south. Customers who try to redeem the coupons, which expired earlier this week, are confronted with angry counter staff.

When you turn away a coupon, you're effectively telling the customer you think they're either too stupid to read (wrong unit, expired coup) or you think they're a cheat ('you're trying to pull a fast one on me!').

You want to engender negative word of mouth, the easiest way is to call your customers cheating idiots.

Behold! The power of word of mouth!

Friday

Being Better Neighbors

Rubio's Mexicana Grill offers spirit nights and fundraisers for local schools and organizations. The key to their increased customer counts during such events - give away a higher percentage. 10%-15% is standard, but Rubio's goes up to 20%.

"It brings more people in," says Larry Rusinko, senior vice president of marketing and product development.

I think the trick here, and something that Mr. Rusinko has clearly grasped, is that the effort is the same whether you offer 10% back to a charity or organization, but the return is so much different. Goodwill, customer support, and charity/organization satisfaction (along with that of your own), are much, much higher when you don't skimp on the donation.

Think like a customer, not like an owner. Give away what you would want to receive, not what you're hoping to get away with.

Case in point, Shane Thompson, Shane's Rib Shack, used to donate a night's tips to a local charity, cause, or person in need. He would match the "employee contribution" from the tip jar out of the till every night. Customers on subsequent weeks would ask when he was going to do it again, and would thank him for caring about the community.

That's customer loyalty. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Monday

Community Giving: Fight for the Cure

Grand Traverse Pie Co. ran a promotion where a certain percentage of sales went to the Komen Research Foundation. Beginning on National Pie Day in January and ending on Mother's Day, company representatives said that sales were up about 10% during a time of year that is normally a lull in the pie business.

Apparently there are some franchisees won over to the dark LSM side.

PJ's Coffee did something similar. Not only did a franchisee sponsor the Relay for Life and back it up with their own store team, but they sold coffee at the event (proceeds to the event) and took donations in-store.

Community goodwill, and a little press, went a long way toward increased customer counts lasting for more than a month.

Delta Air Lines has a big pink plane, flight attendants don pink uniforms during the month of October (men wear pink pocket squares) and they sell pink lemonade onboard flights to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Their employees want to be involved and Delta is supporting the causes their employees support.

Next up, how all of this giving actually increases sales (imagine that).

Give to Get

Apparently it's catching on. In our little in-town neighborhood, restaurants giving to charities and organizations is pretty much par for the course. It's how things were when I was growing up (1970s), too.

But bigger and better were all the rage. "I'll just advertise and then BAM! I'll be printing money!"

OK, so it didn't work out so well, and the industry is headed for a shake-out, but there are some folks who are a) making a difference in their communities and b) reaping the rewards from the exposure they get from making a difference (novel concept, eh?).

Over the next few days we'll give a shout out to Rubio's, Dakota Blue, Grand Traverse, Six Feet Under, Boudin, and Applebee's.

It's what I've been sayin' for years (to anyone who would listen, really): when you care about the things that your community cares about, they'll care about you. Being a good neighbor is good business.