Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Today's Specials:

SOCIAL MEDIA: Increasing Your Restaurant’s Reach with Facebook Live

Live streaming is becoming a more normal part of our lives, with tools like Facebook Live gaining a ton of popularity. Here are some ways to implement Facebook Live into your social media strategies, so you can boost your restaurant’s Facebook reach and follower engagement.

DID YOU KNOWS…

“It’s a Turd in a Fedora”

Denny’s new menu mascot has been the butt of some hilarious jokes. The classic diner introduced a new mascot that was possibly intended to be a friendly breakfast sausage. The social media reaction has called the new character everything from a “turd” to the “Denny’s after-meal slams.” The truth in advertising.

Pizza Hut: No Missing Shifts During Irma

A Florida Pizza Hut has generated some anger and backlash after a sign posted to their employee was seen on social media. The sign threatens any employees that miss work while fleeing Hurricane Irma be considered a “no call/no show” and would be written up. Twitter users immediately called out the Hut for putting profits ahead of its employees’ safety.

Tinder for Restaurants

A Montreal-based entrepreneur has created an app using the same swiping approach as the dating app Tinder to help users easily select restaurants near them. Feed Me lets viewers tap restaurants to see pictures and menu options as well as Yelp reviews. Essentially, users will swipe left for rejection or right to “Add to Favorites.”

MAGIC: WATCH, AS I MAKE THIS MENU DISAPPEAR

Why it matters to you: Is Chili’s on the right path by deeply cutting their menu mix?

When a chain the size of Chili’s cuts its menu by 40%, that’s news. Granted the Brinker International managed system is only dumping items that were, in their words, “chased the foodie fads.” While Mango Tilapia sounds good and certainly improves your culinary chops, the truth is that their customers weren’t as interested in that as they were the Chicken Fried Steak. Let’s face it: Guests come to you for a variety of reasons, but they always vote with their wallets. If you have been injecting quinoa and kale in your menu mix and you haven’t seen a rush to buy them, then you’re likely wasting your time and your guests’ for that matter.

When reviewing your own menu mix, the numbers really matter. If your version of Mango Tilapia is selling as well as your Chicken Fried Steak then, by all means, keep it around. However, in today’s ultra-competitive restaurant landscape, having dogs on your menu is just plain dumb. Have the courage to serve your guests what they tell you they want. That being said, you should still be trying to innovate and you can include your guests in that enterprise. Whether you try adding smaller sized entrees or run special as a way to test guest interest, you can always be tweaking. Just never stick with an item if it doesn’t perform.

GRUBHUB “IS NOT A DELIVERY COMPANY”

Why it matters to you: Restaurants have reaped more marketing benefits from GrubHub rather than overall profits.

Food delivery apps have become a trend in the restaurant industry that’s caused restaurant owners to evaluate and restructure their existing operations. GrubHub is among one of the top food delivery apps that have grown to exist in cities across the US. Recently, however, GrubHub has been brought to court over whether their drivers were considered independent contractors or as W-2 employees. In COO Stan Chia’s testimony, his interpretation of GrubHub brought up some noteworthy points about the company’s identity. Chia claimed that GrubHub was not a food delivery service, but a marketing and discovery tool for restaurants and for diners to discover establishments they wouldn’t otherwise have known about.

One of the foundations of GrubHub requires offering delivery to restaurants that don’t normally over such services. Not only has this swayed the restaurant industry over to a more delivery-focused concept, but it also provides a restaurant with exposure into an entirely new market. The company has provided restaurants with a game-changing service, but at a price, considering restaurants are responsible for managing the delivery orders. Overall, GrubHub technically does boost a restaurant’s brand exposure as a “discovery tool” which could be worth more in the long term than its tangible profits.