Monday, May 1, 2017

Today's Specials:

POLL RESULTS: How Successful is Your Restaurant's Loyalty Program?

Just how successful are restaurant loyalty programs? We polled restaurant operators to see how successful their guest loyalty programs have been.

DID YOU KNOWs…

Drunk in a Tree

Tourists have flocked to South Africa in search of a 72 feet tall, 155 wide, 1,700-year-old baobab tree. The tree called, Big Baobab Tree Bar consisted of a 15 person bar fit inside the naturally hollowed South African tree. Unfortunately, due to old age, the tree collapsed early this year. Now we know where Tarzan really hung out.

DirecTV Goes 4K

On Thursday, DirecTV will provide a 4K feed of the New Your Yankees-Boston Red Sox game from MLB Network. This is a part of a strategy to offer sports in 4K (Ultra HD) to stand out from its competitors.

Jurassic Sausage

Jeff Goldblum appeared inside a food truck in Sydney, Australia apparently handing out free sausages and the photos have exploded on social media. The stunt is thought to promote his return to the “Jurassic Park” franchise in “Jurassic World 2.”

HEINEKEN HOLDS US RESPONSIBLE

Why it matters to you: Heineken’s new ad sparks conversation over opposing political views.

Advertising has become a hot topic in recent days, especially when top brands take on trending political topics. Heineken is the latest brand to feature an advertising campaign intended to bring together political parties based on shared similarities. Heineken has come a long way with their advertising and their recent “Worlds Apart” campaign channels that concept. In the ad, people of different political parties with polar opposite views (without their knowledge), come together to work through a puzzle that has them interacting. In the end, they find out they have been working with their political enemy. The incentive was to show that people are more similar than they are different all while encouraging them to have an open conversation about their views and why.

Heineken presents 'Worlds Apart' An Experiment. Can two strangers with opposing views prove that there's more that unites than divides us? #OpenYourWorld Find out more about the campaign, and sign up to one of our new Human Library events where you can share a beer with someone unexpected at Heineken.com/openyourworld

Recall in recent weeks, Pepsi’s Kendal Jenner campaign sparked enormous backlash for appearing “tone-deaf and tasteless” with regard to issues including police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Heineken does an excellent job of incorporating their brand with an issue much bigger than beer. Restaurants, in general, will see customers with a range of political views, many of whom do not see eye-to-eye. It is important for us to keep in mind that open communication is much more powerful than fighting over who is right. This is a key component to understanding our guests, our staff, and even our management. Most often your staff and guests will have different political views, but encouraging conversation can be key in coming together in a responsible way.

FORDHAM FIGHTS CHICK-FIL-A

Why it matters to you: Chick-Fil-A’s past mistakes are not forgiven by a New York college.

Chick-Fil-A has come a long way with their developing their brand through customer service and leadership strategies. Unfortunately, Chick-Fil-A can’t seem to shake some of their past demons. Fordham University was confirmed to get a new Chick-Fil-A location on their Lincoln Center campus until the college’s student campus protested the chicken restaurant. Fordham’s student government with help from their LGBT advocacy group refused to back the company because they represent “other institutions that work to destabilize and demolish movements for queer equity.”

Chick-fil-A’s representatives offered to “collaboratively run unspecified programming,” in an effort to connect Fordham student’s with the brand’s true intentions; however were shot down immediately. This problem stems from a much larger issue that Chick-Fil-A has had in the past due to comments made by the company’s CEO in 2015. Since then, they have come a long way with making up for their past mistakes. Unfortunately, many times millennials are quite unforgiving when it comes to supporting brands they believe have wronged them in the past. This is a vast reminder of why restaurants should try their best to remain politically neutral to avoid losing guests that have strong political intentions. At the end of the day, restaurants are meant to make people happy; not angry.