Friday, July 14, 2017
Today's Specials:
HACK: Are You Ready for National Chicken Wing Day? [Sponsored Hack]
Is your restaurant ready for National Chicken Wing Day? Here's how this little known holiday can drive traffic to your bar.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Stock Market Quick Sand
Blue Apron’s stock is at an all-time low and is now cheaper than a Blue Apron meal. The company’s stock now matches Sears’ at $7.08, and Sears is on the verge of bankruptcy. Snapchat’s stock has also seen better days after dipping more than 8% to $15.65 this week.
Stay in School!
An Australian McDonald’s has banned all kids from ordering during school hours. According to the chain, the decision was actually a request by schools in an effort to keep kids from skipping school. Kids now need to wait until 3 pm to order their McNuggets.
Illegal Streaming
TV rights for the Premier League have soared as well as the prices for fans to watch the games on live TV. In a survey from ComRes, this infographic shows that 4 in 10 Premier League fans stream illegally using an unofficial website. 11% illegally stream Premier League games weekly.
MARKETING TO THE MAX
Why it matters to you: Here’s how to rev up your marketing strategy.
It can be hard to differentiate your restaurant from your competitors. Now so more than ever, restaurants are experiencing stiff competition and many of which are fighting to attract the same customers. Marketing efforts are at the forefront of what can distinguish your brand from the others. Restaurant Business Magazine offered tips to rev up your marketing strategy in an effort to move away from the “one-size-fits-all marketing approach.” One aspect that the article highlights involve utilizing your front of house staff to market new items both to their tables and digitally. Once they are fully behind new products, they will have a better idea of how to sell them.
Increasing lines of communication between management and guests are also seen as a key marketing strategy. Some restaurants have set up lines of communication to ensure that any negative feedback goes straight to management and not to social media. Overall, it is important to create brand value through a connection between staff, guests, and the product. It is extremely important to not forget to emphasize a new product’s unique qualities and its story. Restaurants often can miss the valuable concept that diners appreciate the story behind their food and your staff is the direct line of communication that will leave the overall impression.
MEME PROBS
Why it matters to you: Six Jimmy John’s employees have been fired over a meme posted on social media.
Employee benefits vary from restaurant to restaurant. In a few cases, employees express their distaste for a brand’s harsh policies online which is where things can get messy. This is the exact problem that occurred when six employees from a Minnesota Jimmy John’s came under fire after a meme circulated the internet that poked fun of the company’s sick day policy. Directly after the content was seen on social media, all six employees were fired for being “disloyal” to the brand. Removing these employees caused an entire controversy over whether they were exercising their freedom of speech or whether they were “whistleblowing the company.” Eventually, all courts ruled that the Jimmy John’s franchise legally fired their employees.
Jimmy John’s has long received attention for their unusually harsh sick leave policies when pro-union employees attempted to organize a campaign that emphasized employees’ lack of paid sick leave. Most often, when corporate chains make universal policies, there is little the franchisee can do to appease already angry employees. Workers have long argued they deserve employee benefits as well as safe working conditions as a requirement from the Department of Labor. In the US, only 27 percent of low-income jobs, including the fast food industry, receive sick leave benefits.
