Monday, October 16, 2017
Today's Specials:
GUESTS: Is Your Restaurant Raising These Red Flags?
No one knows better than you it can be tough to operate in the restaurant industry. From razor-thin profit margins, an oversaturated market, and near-constant staff turnover, business is tough. So, it’s important not to scare away guests. Here are four red flags restaurants often send, scaring away repeat guests.
DID YOU KNOWS…
When in Doubt, Blame Millennials
Millennials get blamed for a lot. And now, we can potentially add craft beer to the list. Vinepair took a look at how the most-blamed generation could possibly be killing the craft beer industry. One thing is for sure, beer has changed a lot over the past years and has evolved into brewery-tap room concept that Millennials crave. Take a look at the evolution.
BK Tweeting Dirty
Twitter is the new battleground for top brands. Burger King is the latest chain to execute sophisticated Twitter tactics to dominate their competitors. Recently, BK has begun promoting tweets about people complaining how Wendy’s discontinued their spicy chicken nuggets. Fitting because BK has just added them to their menu. Promoted tweets are paid for to reach a bigger audience. Playing dirty.
Bad Luck for Fox Sports
Now that the US men’s soccer team has failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Fox Sports is likely to take a big ratings hit. In 2011, Fox Sports spent more than $400 million to outbid ESPN for the rights to the four FIFA World Cup tournaments from 2018 to 2022. Now they will air the network’s first men’s World Cup without a US team.
CONTEXT CARDS
Why it matters to you: Snapchat’s latest feature just boosted its marketing value drastically.
Restaurants have been using Snapchat as a marketing tool mainly to attract younger customers. Now that the app has introduced new features including custom geofilters and external links, restaurants have a better idea of how to incorporate Snapchat into their existing marketing strategies. Last week, the app announced a new way for users to learn about exactly what they see on snap-stories using Context Cards. These Context Cards display information about the Snap you’re viewing while also syncing with TripAdvisor, Foursquare, and Michelin. Essentially, when users take a snapchat at your restaurant and tag the location, their followers will be able to view your menu and reviews, and also call an Uber to take them there.
This is a big break for restaurants. Now operators have the ability to utilize their existing customers’ following without any effort at all. Although Snapchat seems to be a difficult platform to use in restaurant marketing, it is extremely important to incorporate now that these new features have been incorporated. Snapchat has done a spectacular job with their external partnerships, especially in their user experience now that they sync with both Uber and Lyft to make transportation easier. According to Quartz, more than 170 million users spend an average of over 30 minutes each day on Snapchat.Overall, restaurants can greatly benefit from these Context Cards and could easily see a boost in sales after Snapchat users begin interacting with them.
GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL
Why it matters to you: Isn’t it time that sexual harassment went out of business too?
This week the owner of the last Howard Johnson’s was arrested for sexual harassment and endangering a minor. While this likely spells the end for the only HoJo’s left in the nation, no one should feel badly. Owner Jonathan LaRock was accused of sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment, in addition to the other charges as he exhibited a pattern of assault/abuse over the past year. This included offering drugs and alcohol to a minor and inappropriate touching.
Yes, it’s sad that the last Howard Johnson’s lights are going out, but maybe the same type of nostalgia we feel for lost operators should also induce us to make sexual harassment a thing of the past. It’s high time our industry stood up against this behavior. This is especially apparent given the recent revelations surrounding movie studio honcho, Harvey Weinstein. People using their power to coerce and control others has been a staple in our industry. We think it’s high time that notion went out of business too.
