Monday, August 7, 2017
Today's Specials:
MARKETING: What You Can Learn from BuzzFeed’s Tasty Videos
We love your food, restaurants. We’re increasingly fascinated with how you make it — it’s why more and more fast casual restaurants, for example, are putting their kitchen RIGHT THERE for us to see. Here’s what to know about creating short demonstration videos.
DID YOU KNOWS…
What Do You Eat After One Night Stand?
A survey conducted by Yelp found that among Millennials, pizza is the official food of a one-night stand. Three-quarters of participants in the survey said pizza is the perfect food for “a post-intimacy encounter” whereas tacos and ice cream also made the list. Keepin’ it classy America.
Cookie Monster Madness
Competitive Eater Matt “Megatoad” Stonie from San Jose CA, recently inhaled 203 Chips Ahoy cookies and one gallon of milk in 27 minutes and 33 seconds. The mountain of cookies weighed 13 pounds and amounted to 12,800 calories. Even better, there’s a video.
Soccer Transfers Bring $$$
Soccer is one of the most popular sports around the world, and with it comes some serious cash money. Teams are shelling out some serious dough to get the best players on their team. This infographic shows the highest fees paid for a soccer player in each season, and it’s a lot.
McKALE BURGER BACKLASH
Why it matters to you: Keeping up with current trends doesn’t mean you need to change your brand’s image.
Top food chains have begun thinking outside the box to keep up-to-date with current trends. Now many customers are craving fresh food made from local ingredients, which has caused brands to adjust course. Most recently, McDonald's has introduced a few new menu options with the hopes of attracting a younger crowd. The Washington Post’s food critic, Tim Carman has had some less than flattering remarks about the McDonald’s incorporating a fancier line of sandwiches to its existing menu. In Carman’s review titled, “McDonald’s New Sriracha-and-Kale Burger Is an Aging Hipster’s Cry for Help,” he pokes fun at how the global food chain is abandoning its roots to keep up with what’s trending.
Overall, the review ended on slightly a positive note, including that the sandwich was not bad, but notes the use of kale which McDonald’s said in 2015 “will never” appear on one of their sandwiches. In the review, he remarks it’s “Kale-bait for the cool kids,” noting that McDonald’s is more focused on making a sale than maintaining their brand’s image. This is a great learning point for us because we can watch to see whether McDonald’s changes pay off in the long term – and consider similar adjustments. The only aspect to watch out for is whether these changes would completely change your restaurant’s brand identity that customers have already grown to appreciate.
SUCCESSFUL SALES STARTS WITH YOU
Why it matters to you: If a server fails to sell, who really is to blame?
Selling is an essential skill that every bartender and server should possess but isn’t necessarily always the case. When a server recently asked, “Is it lawful for a restaurant to reduce a server’s three-table section to a two-table section due to a low wine sales percentage?” they were asking the wrong question. If your manager reduces your section, “should they be judged because they failed in selecting the right candidate, training that person in preparation to serve and managing them while they do their jobs?” is the right query.
Let’s be direct, it’s your job to choose the right people to work in your dining room. If someone is failing to sell your products, then it’s on you. Unless you have done extensive re-training, strictly followed an action plan to improve the server’s performance and given the staffer a chance to improve, then you will always be culpable for their failure. Isn’t it better to just let the server go and try again?
