GUESTS: Give Your Customers the Entertainment Option that Makes Them Smile [Presented by CHIVE TV]
CHIVE TV was originally created to give bar and restaurant-goers an improved alternative to the entertainment they were often stuck with between major sporting events: talking heads, reruns, and politics. Why don't these options work? They all require audio or reading captions, and the last option can get downright polarizing and dramatic. Instead, CHIVE TV offers content that makes your patrons smile, whether that's through laughter, awe, adventure, or pure and simple cuteness -- all without audio or disruption to your current setup. Sign up to get CHIVE TV for FREE in your business!
DID YOU KNOWS…
Box Office Dominance
After the acquisition of 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, Disney will stand head and shoulders above the remaining four of the former ‘Big 6’ movie studios. With a combined domestic box office market share of nearly 28% (29% if you include Fox Searchlight) since 1995, Disney including 20th Century Fox will be larger than its closest competitors, Warner Bros. and Sony, combined. Considering the prospect of having to compete with such a giant in the future, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Comcast, owner of Universal Pictures, made a counterbid to acquire 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets itself.
Flying Burgers
The FAA and private firms have worked out an agreement to launch meal-delivering drone pilot programs in San Diego and Raleigh, N.C. So, by autumn, hungry diners of both areas could see their favorite meal land in their backyard. Iceland has tried out such programs with drones that could carry 6.5lbs up to 6 miles, but the US trial is looking for drones that can handle more weight than that.
Hanger is Real!
We all know what hanger is right? It’s when you’re hungry and angry at the same time. And while most of us probably already believed in the existence of such an emotion, science has finally backed it up with a study. In short: when you go long enough without food, your blood sugar levels drop and stress hormones and adrenaline to start to rise, making you irritable. Your body also releases a hormone called neuropeptide Y which is directly linked to aggression. Operators can take note of this as a good reason to offer freed bread (or similar app) to help lower guests’ stress levels before a bad experience sets in.
PAY GAP: CEO TO ENTRY LEVEL
Why it matters to you: Examining the pay difference from a company’s CEO to their median workers.
It should come as no surprise that most CEOs make upwards of 100 times what their median workers make. Some even make several thousand times what their median workers make like McDonald’s CEO who made 3,101 times what their median worker did ($21,761,052 to $7,017). Though some CEOs make a truly astronomical salary in comparison to their workers’ other CEOs have a slightly more reasonable ratio. Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. CEO makes $5.2 million while their median employee made $110k (a 48.4:1 ratio). This new pay-ratio measure was first required of companies in their 2017 fiscal year and was designed to help their shareholders when voting on pay policies within the company.
We think this all brings up a more interesting discussion: should this pay gap be so large? Should CEOs care to change this? Would dispersing a company’s wealth more evenly make any difference in the way a company performs? Etc. In general, we think the pay gap at much larger corporation is outrageously large and perpetuates a lot of the economic issues Americans face. But much like how minimum wage hikes tend to get rolled out, we think any change in pay gap within most large companies would have to get smaller gradually over several years, to ease any cultural issues within the company. We think the more urgent pay gaps to fix would be the gender and racial gaps, but either way we have a lot to work on as a country when 35.5% of the wealth is held by 1% of the population.
STARBUCKS HANDLES SOME BUSINESS
Why it matters to you: Starbucks fires a barista who mocked a customer.
The snarky-jerk coffee barista is a stereotype we are all very familiar with since fancier coffee started making its way onto the scene in America. Well one Starbucks barista took that role too seriously after mocking a customer who had a stutter. The barista mocked the guest named Sam by writing “SSSAM” on his cup and mimicked the stutter audibly when bringing up the order. This store is roughly a mile and a half from the infamous other Philadelphia Starbucks that sparked a country-wide shut down and bias and diversity training. Not the best time to be a Starbucks in Philly.
This Philadelphia Starbucks story has a better ending, however. Starbucks took action immediately after the complaint was filed and fired the barista. The regional VP spoke to the guest directly to smooth things over. The guest accepted the apology. The company also plans on focusing their upcoming training sessions on how to treat customers in a way that would make them want to return to a Starbucks. Independent operators should also look internally at how their own staff treat guests. Would their interactions and attitudes to guests make you want to return to your restaurant? If not, some formal training or informal discussions might go a long way of improving the guest experience.
