A restaurant blog and retail blog sharing thoughts on increasing brand identity, guest counts and guest satisfaction for restaurant, retail food and hospitality establishments. A service of Tom Kelley, Steve Ravinski, George Durazzo, Andy Divine, and Bill Fisher, CONCEPT BRANDING GROUP.
We're left scratching our heads over the Bennigan's Chapter 7 filing. Why would senior management let the brand fail in such a tragic way? Leaving team members in the dark until the last minute. Come on! Industry chain CEOs and senior managers need to file their collective egos at some point and reach out for help. Public relations folks need to see the writing on the wall with operators, from small to large, and recommend that operations managers reach out for assistance from outside experts.
What was the problem at Bennigan's? A tired concept? A tired model of sub par food in casual dining?
Again, we continued to be stumped as to why operators, at all levels -- independents and small and large chains, resist reaching out to industry experts. Whether it's the brand, facility, HR, PR, or any number of operation issues, no one can do it all alone.
Our message to operators: don't be afraid to reach out. Let your ego go!
East Bay retailer Mervyns is bidding for one more back-to-school season to
try to reverse its sagging fortunes and avoid bankruptcy.
In recent weeks, officials of Mervyns LLC have been trying to persuade vendors to
replenish their shelves with merchandise for the crucial late-summer sales
season. Mervyns, a mid-priced department store chain based in Hayward and
founded 59 years ago in San Lorenzo, is the largest seller of back-to-school
apparel and accessories in California, according to its officials.
Continuing that trend became more difficult after some of its largest lenders
- CIT Group Inc. and GMAC Financial Services - decided to withdraw
financial support from the struggling retailer as early as last spring,
according to media reports. Suppliers both small and large, including Levi
Strauss & Co., reportedly began withholding shipments of merchandise in
response.
Ironically, the new CEO of Mervyns, John Goodman, joined the retailer in
March, leaving a job managing the popular Dockers apparel line at Levi Strauss.
He became the company's fourth leader since early 2007, when respected retail
turnaround specialist Vanessa Castagna left the top post after two years,
followed by Rick Leto and interim president Chuck Kurth.
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"It
was with a happy heart that the good Odysseus spread his sail to catch the wind
and used his seamanship to keep his boat straight with the steering-oar". Homer (no, not Simpson!)
We all hear the tough
times that the restaurant industry is facing. Rising commodity prices, housing
crisis, high energy costs, competition, for customers and labor…a storm! We are
all sailing the same rough seas but some of us are faring better than others. Some
have better built boats, some have better sailors and some have better
captains. No matter what, we are in a storm and no matter how good the boat or
the crew it’s the captain everyone is going to look to. There are tough
decisions to make and great courage to be shown. We can’t stop and question why
the storm is here – we have to focus on making it through.
In restaurants, the
variables are many and the decisions that captains must make must be quick
and decisive. Do you increase menu prices, reduce staff, advertise more,
coupon? The optimal situation would be to have been ready for the storm; no one expected a storm of this intensity and ferocity.
Here is a quick list of
factors that a captain must consider when making some of the many decisions
required – and many of these decisions are often not pleasant but necessary:
1)Our crew: do we have the right crew on deck…do
they have the right training, are they working as a team, do we have too many,
do any need to be replaced?
2)Have we stopped all the leaks…has every expense
been considered, renegotiated, evaluated. Don’t wait; plug all the holes as
quickly as possible.
3)Are we encouraging everyone …leadership. In rough times we look to our captains more
than ever for inspiration and guidance.
4)Are we making good quick decisions: don’t wait
or the next wave will knock you over. This applies to cost cutting, menu
adjustments, staffing, etc.
5)Stick to the basics…the guest experience. The
end result of our trip is a great guest experience. We want happy customers.
Even though they may be fewer make sure that they are getting the best you can
offer.
6)Get creative…you will have to be more
resourceful than ever.
7)Don’t
be afraid to ask for help – every Captain has a good navigator. There are
restaurant consultants that are veterans of rough seas and their experience can
be a significant asset during these times. Menu reviews, crew training,
operations review, marketing advice, etc.
Most of us are in this
business because somehow, we enjoy challenges. This is the time to rise to the
occasion, meet the challenges head on. In the end, we will all emerge a
stronger and more resilient industry.
We're pleased to announce a website we've dedicated to specifically
reach out to restaurant operators seeking to run a "health check" on
their businesses:
Mike Hurst drew attention to himself the old-fashioned way. He disrobed in public.
At the outset of his speech at MUFSO, the president of the National
Restaurant Association took off his tie, suit coat, suspenders and
shirt.
But he stopped at his T-shirt, which bore the slogan, "We're glad
you're here." The disrobing was a crafty way to wake up a morning
audience with a highly energetic address that pushed the importance of
service and humans over profits and costs.
"The national priority of our business should be customer focus,"
Hurst said. "We have to stop learning to process people and instead
learn to serve them. Hospitality is the gift of friendship, and it has
to begin with the people we hire.
"We have to manage for people, not profit. We have to manage, not from the back door, but from the front door."
Even at summer resort towns, we are hearing about much slower volume at the nation's restaurants. We see it in Boston and even more so here from our Washington, DC vantage point. Over the next several days, we'll post some advice we've provided to our clients that might be helpful to operators trying to get through the dog days of summer.
First is about authenticity. Hope it helps!
_____
Branding: Authenticity is key to long-term success -Tom Kelley and Rick Wolf, Concept Group USA
We hear story after story about companies and organizations trying to reinvent themselves or wondering why they have lost market share or stakeholder support. Often times they are so close to the root challenge that they overlook it and try to advertise or promote their way out of slumping sales. A better approach: look deep to examine and refine your true brand essence and never loose sight of the essential emotional connection your brand must make to each guest, customer or stakeholder.
Over the years we have accepted the challenge of assessing and developing strategies to both launch and expand market share for operators and their suppliers in a multitude of industries. There’s always been a common thread: be true to what made your brand great and never loose sight of what makes you, your product, and your service authentic and unique.
Often times, when business goes south, the immediate reaction is either to slash proactive marketing expenditures or to try to advertise to regain market share. Neither works. What does work is having all principals and operations folks look back to what drove business when expansion was taking place. What products built the company? What did the brand stand for? How was it conceived? What made guests and customers come back?
With increased competition comes a desire or tendency to “act like the Jones’s,” rather than keeping the focus on a unique and authentic brand story. Long-term success, we have found and suggest, is found in remaining steadfast in delivery of a product that is beyond anyone’s duplication. Good managers, in any type of business or organization, will realize the need, every couple of years, to take an objective and impartial view of what message their brand is sending – both by operational execution as well as through visual merchandising in all form of external outreach.
Our advice to operators in today’s ultra-competitive environment: examine and refine your core brand. You may too close to daily operations to see how your original focus has morphed into something that is truly “not you.” Don’t be afraid to call in expert help to look at all that you are doing, internally and externally, to see if you are truly showcasing your authentic core message. Whatever you do, don’t wait until it’s too late or spend thousands on unfocused advertising dollars.
When you stand back and get assistance in taking a hard look at what truly put you on the map to begin with, you’ll realize that same core brand message and product can take you to new heights as well. Just realize that as you examine your brand and your operations, you need to always seek to build emotional connections with your guests, customers and stakeholders.
Great brands aren’t reinvented, just are continually improved and reinforced. When’s the last time you really took a hard look at how true your operations are to your brand promise? Now would be a good time! _________________________ Tom Kelley is Managing Partner and Rick Wolf is an Allied Partner at Concept Group USA (www.conceptgroupusa.com), a strategic brand consulting firm in Washington, DC, New England and Canada. The firm specializes in examining, refining and expanding brands and operations for small and large businesses, trade associations, and non profit organizations.
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