Thursday April 11, 2019
MARKETING: New Profitable Bar Promotions
Adding revenue to your bar isn't really that tough. All you need to do is continue creating new promotions that deliver a good value or a great experience. Here are 5 new profitable bar promotions that we can almost guarantee your competitors are NOT doing, that will give you a competitive advantage over them. So, let’s get to work!
DID YOU KNOWS…
Virtual Influencer Colonel
KFC announced a casting change for its spokesperson, the infamous Colonel. Instead of using a celebrity, KFC is using a computer-generated “bro” that the company refers to as “Virtual Influencer Colonel.” He also comes equipped with a computer-generated girlfriend.
A Mile High Spill
In case you thought you were having a bad day, check out this story. According to Thrillist, an American Airlines flight attendant spilled a tray of drinks all over the company’s CEO on a flight from Phoenix to Dallas. Luckily for her, he was a good sport about it all, and laughed it off.
Loss of Magic
Former NBA star Magic Johnson announced this week that he is stepping down as the LA Lakers’ president of basketball operations. He didn't give the team's owner or general manager a heads-up before the announcement – could be because the Lakers finished their (pretty rough) season as they didn’t make the playoffs for the sixth year in a row.
DON’T KNOW ABOUT HISTORY [Song]
Why it matters to you: Knowing the history of your industry delivers a necessary bit of perspective
The folks at Restaurant Business Online have undertaken an ambitious project and we want you to pay attention. The site has compiled a comprehensive history of our industry by decade covering the last 100 years. They start their review in a turbulent time, the 1920’s. Not only was our industry very different, but there was also social upheaval and the biggest economic downturn of the 20th century. Those circumstances are a powerful lesson for the last 10+ years as we returned to prosperity from the 2008 economic crash.
The more you read about the various 10 year spans, the more you can learn about the conditions that shaped them. Just as early 20th century philosopher, George Santayana said, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it!” Check out the impact of labor in the 30’s that are good analogies to our current situation with unions encroaching on our industry or the social changes in the 60’s that completely transformed our industry. The more you read, the more you realize, we can follow the same path our predecessors did, or we can appreciate the past and avoid them. IMHO
[Source: Restaurant Business Online]
SPEAKING OF HISTORY
Why it matters to you: Our industry has historically been a place where workplace harassment is rampant.
New Congressional sessions bring new Congressional legislative proposals. The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives has been busy proposing transformative legislation like the Green New Deal and Anti-Corruption proposals which are very progressive. Whether that legislation sees a vote or becomes law is anyone’s guess, but a similarly progressive new bill proposed by this new Congress that addresses work place harassment looks to directly change the form and culture of the service industry.
We have long understood that the power dynamic which enables harassment in our industry can be truly toxic…and even dangerous to our staff. This bill takes direct aim at one of those dynamics: the server tip dynamic. Our current system, of direct gratuity as a significant portion of income, promotes a subordinated position for the server. Add to that the pervasive belief that the “customer is always right” and you have a recipe that can be just terrible for many of our team members.
This legislation is specifically aimed at ending direct tipping by requiring full minimum wage for servers, among other goals it has identified. This would be a huge change for 41 states that allow those tip credits. Will it eliminate sexual harassment by guests? Nope, no a bit, but it would empower servers to not feel as trapped by the power dynamic. It’s unlikely this will pass a Republican controlled Senate, but it may be a future bit of legislation if the Democrats take control in 2020. As always, we want to make sure there aren’t any surprises for you as we navigate your legal compliance. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you updates as this progresses.
[Source: Mother Jones]