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Method
Marketing Newsletter: Volume 2 Issue 21
February 22nd, 2002
Research
is The Method. The Result Is The Message
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Synopsis:
Use
research to understand your guest. Take the things the guest
likes and create a personality consistent with your operational
values. The message should reassure your guest that their
feelings are about the restaurant are valid. It also must
reflect the actual experience delivered.
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"Emotional
Branding is based on that unique trust established with an audience.
It elevates purchases based on need to the realm of desire. The
commitment to a product or institution, the pride we feel upon
receiving a wonderful gift of a brand we love or having a positive
shopping experience in an inspiring environment where someone
knows our name or brings an unexpected cup of coffee -- these
feelings are at the core of Emotional Branding."
Marc
Gobè, Emotional Branding
Your
guests define 'value' by the totality of the experience:
the service, the décor, the food and its flavors
and aromas and the cost: all details that create a memory.
The most memorable experiences come from an organized,
well-rehearsed and communicated performance. Great 'word
of mouth' is built note by note, scene by scene, act by
act, so that by the end of the visit your guest walks
away 'wowed'. Or bored. Or, worse of all, disgusted. It's
your choice. |
Your
guests are partners. Your brand and, hence your message, must
engage them on the level of their senses and emotions, not just
their wallet. Eating out is not an intellectual exercise but
an emotional one. The decision process of 'where to go' is based,
only in small measure, on the primal survival need for sustenance
or the economic restrictions of the wallet. Yet, we still see
coupons galore. Are our brands so bankrupt that we must rely
on bribes to attract patronage? What is the matter with this
industry?
We seek communion with each other. We want nurturing and nourishment.
Yes, even in line at the local QSR burger joint. So your message
should be developed with these needs in mind and aimed right
at their heart. It also must speak the truth. Hyperbole has
no place in advertising. If cleanliness is next to Godliness,
then exaggeration is two steps from the Devil.
You endeavor to create an accurate and theatrical experience
that engages your guest and creates a lasting memory. By its
very definition, this is an honest interaction between your
concept, its actors and the audience of guests. But, it is staged
nonetheless. Your message should reflect the spirit of this
interaction, so that a new or returning guest gets the experience
you have promised and they expect.
How to do this? It comes back to understanding your guest. Have
you done the research necessary to understand your guest's emotional
disposition, their attitude toward your concept? So many restaurateurs
rely on 'instinct' and 'feel' to determine these things. The
'feel and instinct' part of the exercise comes in when you have
gathered the requisite information about the guest. There is
an aspect of 'penny wise, pound foolish' at work here. For the
sake of your future success, do your homework, ladies and gents.
I have used the example of Fuddruckers in the past and, here
again, it fits the need. Current and former customers said that
Fuddruckers is the place to get a world class burger, the best
burger, in fact. What makes it better is that they can participate,
by topping it themselves with abundant fresh produce and great
condiments. These are their feelings. The message that comes
from it is to the point and powerful: 'Who makes the World's
Greatest Burger? Fuddruckers and you.' Nine words capture both
the kind of experience offered and its emotional core. The advertising,
merchandising and marketing that comes from this produce sales
results, because the operations delivers on the promise. And
it all started with proper research.
The next issue suggests ways to
create an effective neighborhood-marketing plan. -->
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