Where can you get great restaurant marketing advice?
Before the recession it was boom-time in UK restaurant-land. Lots of celebrity chefs, lots of new exciting concepts, lots of new openings. Pubs went gastro. There were more seats available at more tables serving more great food.
Then there was the recession. Restaurants could no longer get bank funding. New openings slowed to a snail's pace. Diners thought twice about dining out. Food inflation. Vouchers became common place. It was a triple whammy; higher costs, lower revenues, lower demand. Ouch!
Some smart restaurants have survived and thrived, through ruthless attention to their proposition and adapting their marketing to the new world.
Next up we have VAT being increased to 20%, unemployment coming from the public sector. The tough times are not over yet.
If you're a restaurateur looking for inspiration and advice to thrive in the internet age, you should check out Abbie Hanks' latest post from theblackboard.net, it's a great restaurant marketing blog with loads of tips and tricks, from SEO to social media to website optimisation and everything inbetween.
In hard times, invest in marketing.
Friday, 16 July 2010
Saturday, 12 June 2010
The Economics of Happiness
What's the best use of your money? Would you buy a coffee for £2 from a coffee shop, or buy a teapot for £1 from a road-side stall?
My wife and I were on holiday with the kids recently in a seaside town in Cornwall. After a lovely afternoon at the beach we were walking back to our rented house and we saw a table outside a house with some second hand goods for sale. No-one was at the stand, not even the owner, and there was an honesty box for purchases.
My wife spotted a white porcelain teapot. Plain, white. A teapot. She said, "I really like this, let's get it, it's only £1". I said "A teapot, what do you want a teapot for? We don't even drink tea, and if we give it to visitors we already have a silver teapot we can use".
"I like it - okay?! It's only £1, what's it to you? It will look lovely on the shelf in the new kitchen". I don't know why, but I still resisted. I just hated the idea of owning another object that would need to be moved, cleaned. Perhaps I have a less is more approach to belongings - the more stuff you have, the bigger burden it creates on maintaining that stuff, and it can actually be a cause of unhappiness. That's why I didn't see the point of a £1 teapot that we would never use. It wasn't the cost, it was the space.
My wife said, "I don't complain when you buy a £2 cup of coffee!" (It's true, I like coffee, and I buy one or two a day - that's quite an expensive habit - maybe smoking would be cheaper.) "So why are you kicking up a fuss about a £1 teapot?"
At this point I figured that it was a good time to just lie down and buy the teapot. I realised that it would give her some degree of happiness and that an argument wouldn't help either of us. Mental trade-off made, we bought the teapot.
It did get me thinking though. If you have a choice, is it better to spend your money on things or experiences? Or - give your money away? It seems to me that good experiences mature like good wine. They get better and better in our memories because we filter out the worst bits. Things/objects on the other hand rarely get better, they get worse. They deteriorate, they need repairing. Something better soon comes along and our joy on the thing that was "new" fades quickly. We get used to things and want more. Then - they need disposing of.
Experiences it seems are an investment - they mature. Things on the other hand are like throwing money away. The only alteration to this principle that makes sense to me concerns things that are bought in order to enjoy experiences. Skis, bikes and boats come into this category for me.
I had a lovely coffee that morning on holiday, sitting on the harbour wall and soaking up the atmosphere. In many ways it was one highlight of my holiday. I wonder how my £2 investment will pay off against the £1 teapot? Time will tell.
My wife and I were on holiday with the kids recently in a seaside town in Cornwall. After a lovely afternoon at the beach we were walking back to our rented house and we saw a table outside a house with some second hand goods for sale. No-one was at the stand, not even the owner, and there was an honesty box for purchases.
My wife spotted a white porcelain teapot. Plain, white. A teapot. She said, "I really like this, let's get it, it's only £1". I said "A teapot, what do you want a teapot for? We don't even drink tea, and if we give it to visitors we already have a silver teapot we can use".
"I like it - okay?! It's only £1, what's it to you? It will look lovely on the shelf in the new kitchen". I don't know why, but I still resisted. I just hated the idea of owning another object that would need to be moved, cleaned. Perhaps I have a less is more approach to belongings - the more stuff you have, the bigger burden it creates on maintaining that stuff, and it can actually be a cause of unhappiness. That's why I didn't see the point of a £1 teapot that we would never use. It wasn't the cost, it was the space.
My wife said, "I don't complain when you buy a £2 cup of coffee!" (It's true, I like coffee, and I buy one or two a day - that's quite an expensive habit - maybe smoking would be cheaper.) "So why are you kicking up a fuss about a £1 teapot?"
At this point I figured that it was a good time to just lie down and buy the teapot. I realised that it would give her some degree of happiness and that an argument wouldn't help either of us. Mental trade-off made, we bought the teapot.
It did get me thinking though. If you have a choice, is it better to spend your money on things or experiences? Or - give your money away? It seems to me that good experiences mature like good wine. They get better and better in our memories because we filter out the worst bits. Things/objects on the other hand rarely get better, they get worse. They deteriorate, they need repairing. Something better soon comes along and our joy on the thing that was "new" fades quickly. We get used to things and want more. Then - they need disposing of.
Experiences it seems are an investment - they mature. Things on the other hand are like throwing money away. The only alteration to this principle that makes sense to me concerns things that are bought in order to enjoy experiences. Skis, bikes and boats come into this category for me.
I had a lovely coffee that morning on holiday, sitting on the harbour wall and soaking up the atmosphere. In many ways it was one highlight of my holiday. I wonder how my £2 investment will pay off against the £1 teapot? Time will tell.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Community 101, Drive Usage, Then Monetise
STOP PRESS!!!
Since I wrote this blog, my frustration and objections are now resolved, you CAN now hear what I really thought about location based services on video...
ORIGINAL POST....
Location based services. Buzz words. You hear them a lot right now. But what do they mean?
Simply put then, if I know where you are, can I offer you something that uses that knowledge in real-time?
If your mobile phone tells me your location co-ordinates...
- if I am Google I can show you a map of where you are and what is nearby
- if I am a restaurant booking app on your iPhone (e.g. bookatable) I can show you restaurants nearby
- if I am Foursquare I can present local restaurants and bars that you can "check-in" to and see who else of your friends are there
Three very simple examples then. But what of the future?
What are the implications for consumers and for marketeers?
At a recent plustechnology event run by London lawyers, Olswang, I committed my comments on this topic to video.
A company called Knowledge Peers were videoing peoples thoughts. Today I received an email with a link to a short video on my observations that targeted marketing can be welcomed by consumers rather than seen as obtrusive, and that location-based technologies help with accurate targeting.
Can I share it? No!
I really don't get it. I mean, I REALLY don't get it. What the? Uh?
Knowledge Peers is a members only site. I tried to send a share this link to a friend, they first had to sign in to Knowledge Peers. Fail. They STILL couldn't view the video. Doh - that sign up was for standard membership. Apparently I have full membership and that's why I can view it. Double Fail.
Look, if you want to build a community site, it needs to be viral, self-sustaining. You need to drive USAGE first, then monetise when you actually HAVE a community.
It's all upside down. I should be able to embed the video in this blog post, email it to friends. If they get value from the content, maybe they will sign up and subscribe.
The content on Knowledge Peers is pretty good. I mean, it's like a YouTube for business. But walling it in is route to oblivion.
So much for trying to share my thoughts on location based services with you. Sorry!
Since I wrote this blog, my frustration and objections are now resolved, you CAN now hear what I really thought about location based services on video...
ORIGINAL POST....
Location based services. Buzz words. You hear them a lot right now. But what do they mean?
Simply put then, if I know where you are, can I offer you something that uses that knowledge in real-time?
If your mobile phone tells me your location co-ordinates...
- if I am Google I can show you a map of where you are and what is nearby
- if I am a restaurant booking app on your iPhone (e.g. bookatable) I can show you restaurants nearby
- if I am Foursquare I can present local restaurants and bars that you can "check-in" to and see who else of your friends are there
Three very simple examples then. But what of the future?
What are the implications for consumers and for marketeers?
At a recent plustechnology event run by London lawyers, Olswang, I committed my comments on this topic to video.
A company called Knowledge Peers were videoing peoples thoughts. Today I received an email with a link to a short video on my observations that targeted marketing can be welcomed by consumers rather than seen as obtrusive, and that location-based technologies help with accurate targeting.
Can I share it? No!
I really don't get it. I mean, I REALLY don't get it. What the? Uh?
Knowledge Peers is a members only site. I tried to send a share this link to a friend, they first had to sign in to Knowledge Peers. Fail. They STILL couldn't view the video. Doh - that sign up was for standard membership. Apparently I have full membership and that's why I can view it. Double Fail.
Look, if you want to build a community site, it needs to be viral, self-sustaining. You need to drive USAGE first, then monetise when you actually HAVE a community.
It's all upside down. I should be able to embed the video in this blog post, email it to friends. If they get value from the content, maybe they will sign up and subscribe.
The content on Knowledge Peers is pretty good. I mean, it's like a YouTube for business. But walling it in is route to oblivion.
So much for trying to share my thoughts on location based services with you. Sorry!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Being Human, Implications For Organisations
Here’s where I’m currently at; it’s my belief that there are four key building blocks that form our perception of life:
Language
Emotion
Senses
Memory
I also reckon that if you view an organisation (or company) in the same way, it allows you to figure out how to influence its thinking and behaviour.
This is a tentative conclusion that I’ve reached after discussion and thought over the past few weeks. I’ve been thinking about what elements form the “essence” of our experience and understanding. It started when I realised that we as humans differ immensely from our animal friends in our use of language. Our brains articulate ideas and facts through language and our intentional communication, whether through speech, expression, or text, is rooted in a linguistic thought process. Language is intensely powerful in its ability to convey meaning but if used inconsistently can hide meaning. More about that later.
Then, realising that non-intentional communication (reactive expression for example) is more likely a result of emotion than language, I started to understand that there are some fundamental building blocks that allow the grey matter in our skulls to interact with its environment. There’s language, there’s emotion. Building blocks.
Another core building block (or a set of building blocks of course) are our five senses; sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. These are inputs that guide us on our way.
For us to learn and to put into context our situation, we have memory. Memory, whether physical or mental, allows us to recognise patterns, store knowledge, build skills and interpret emotions.
These then are four core building blocks of being human: language, emotion, senses and memory.
Mastering these building blocks can lead to integrity, success and contentment.
Implications for organisations
As soon as you realise that these four building blocks exist, and that if they are developed and mature it can lead to integrity, success and contentment, you start to assess an organisation against the four areas.
Language
- Do we use inclusive language? I personally am on a mission to remove acronyms and abbreviations from my communication and where possible to remove it throughout the company. If you don’t know what an acronym means, you feel excluded, or just don’t understand.
- In meetings, does everyone understand the meaning of words? This is especially important in a multi-cultural company. I often pick up on complicated words and ask people to explain them for the benefit of the group. I know I understand the word, but I’m concerned that others might not.
- Do we all have the same vocabulary? What we call things carries immense power. Words convey meaning; therefore what you call something (e.g. “team member”, colleague”, “employee”, staff member”, “worker”) determines many things, not least of all how it affects company culture. Personally I detest the use of the word “department” because it conveys compartmentalisation, and I want to build a company culture of teamwork where the best people work together to get the job done. Naming of products, processes, procedures, office areas, events and job titles all matters. Far more than you can ever imagine. Change the language, change the culture.
Emotions
- Knowing whether we are slaves to our emotions or whether we are acting rationally is an important skill as a human being. Knowing when to listen to your emotions is important in life, and therefore this is also the case within companies. Ego, pride, fear, greediness – these for example are all emotions that a company can evoke in the way it reacts to its environment. Sometimes these are useful, sometimes not, but a company needs to be self-aware to understand if it’s acting emotionally and if so, why this is so?
Senses
- Of course, if we are to make business decisions, it’s good to have accurate information about your environment: your customers, your investors, your team, and your competitors. To gain this information, you need to look and listen, and sometimes, taste, touch or smell (particularly useful in the case of a restaurant business for example). Companies that fail to hone their senses, fail their potential.
Memory
- Winston Churchill said, “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm”. By experiencing life we start to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trial and error has always been a certain way to learn. In this context, it’s our memory that serves us, that helps us recognise patterns and to build up intuition.
- As a Firefighter, Chef or CEO, every successful individual has along the way learnt from their mistakes. As a company therefore, how do you help yourself become a learning organisation?
- For a start, recognise mistakes, admit failure. Discuss what could go better next time.
- Also, create methods to store knowledge. People come and go. Whether in the form of documentation or training others, without making an effort to store skills and knowledge, they’ll leak, they’ll fade and you’ll have to re-learn.
If you want in business to create a happy and successful company built with integrity, pay attention to the four building blocks of human experience: language, emotion, memory and senses.
Language
Emotion
Senses
Memory
I also reckon that if you view an organisation (or company) in the same way, it allows you to figure out how to influence its thinking and behaviour.
This is a tentative conclusion that I’ve reached after discussion and thought over the past few weeks. I’ve been thinking about what elements form the “essence” of our experience and understanding. It started when I realised that we as humans differ immensely from our animal friends in our use of language. Our brains articulate ideas and facts through language and our intentional communication, whether through speech, expression, or text, is rooted in a linguistic thought process. Language is intensely powerful in its ability to convey meaning but if used inconsistently can hide meaning. More about that later.
Then, realising that non-intentional communication (reactive expression for example) is more likely a result of emotion than language, I started to understand that there are some fundamental building blocks that allow the grey matter in our skulls to interact with its environment. There’s language, there’s emotion. Building blocks.
Another core building block (or a set of building blocks of course) are our five senses; sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. These are inputs that guide us on our way.
For us to learn and to put into context our situation, we have memory. Memory, whether physical or mental, allows us to recognise patterns, store knowledge, build skills and interpret emotions.
These then are four core building blocks of being human: language, emotion, senses and memory.
Mastering these building blocks can lead to integrity, success and contentment.
Implications for organisations
As soon as you realise that these four building blocks exist, and that if they are developed and mature it can lead to integrity, success and contentment, you start to assess an organisation against the four areas.
Language
- Do we use inclusive language? I personally am on a mission to remove acronyms and abbreviations from my communication and where possible to remove it throughout the company. If you don’t know what an acronym means, you feel excluded, or just don’t understand.
- In meetings, does everyone understand the meaning of words? This is especially important in a multi-cultural company. I often pick up on complicated words and ask people to explain them for the benefit of the group. I know I understand the word, but I’m concerned that others might not.
- Do we all have the same vocabulary? What we call things carries immense power. Words convey meaning; therefore what you call something (e.g. “team member”, colleague”, “employee”, staff member”, “worker”) determines many things, not least of all how it affects company culture. Personally I detest the use of the word “department” because it conveys compartmentalisation, and I want to build a company culture of teamwork where the best people work together to get the job done. Naming of products, processes, procedures, office areas, events and job titles all matters. Far more than you can ever imagine. Change the language, change the culture.
Emotions
- Knowing whether we are slaves to our emotions or whether we are acting rationally is an important skill as a human being. Knowing when to listen to your emotions is important in life, and therefore this is also the case within companies. Ego, pride, fear, greediness – these for example are all emotions that a company can evoke in the way it reacts to its environment. Sometimes these are useful, sometimes not, but a company needs to be self-aware to understand if it’s acting emotionally and if so, why this is so?
Senses
- Of course, if we are to make business decisions, it’s good to have accurate information about your environment: your customers, your investors, your team, and your competitors. To gain this information, you need to look and listen, and sometimes, taste, touch or smell (particularly useful in the case of a restaurant business for example). Companies that fail to hone their senses, fail their potential.
Memory
- Winston Churchill said, “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm”. By experiencing life we start to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trial and error has always been a certain way to learn. In this context, it’s our memory that serves us, that helps us recognise patterns and to build up intuition.
- As a Firefighter, Chef or CEO, every successful individual has along the way learnt from their mistakes. As a company therefore, how do you help yourself become a learning organisation?
- For a start, recognise mistakes, admit failure. Discuss what could go better next time.
- Also, create methods to store knowledge. People come and go. Whether in the form of documentation or training others, without making an effort to store skills and knowledge, they’ll leak, they’ll fade and you’ll have to re-learn.
If you want in business to create a happy and successful company built with integrity, pay attention to the four building blocks of human experience: language, emotion, memory and senses.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
What Makes A Start-Up Worth Investing In?
I saw in Wired magazine this month a short article about a company that had received VC funding via Seedcamp. One of the founding shareholders in Seedcamp is Robin Klein.
What I found very useful was a short list of checkpoints given by Robin on what he seeks in a start-up.
I've listed it here because I think it makes so much sense...
1. A team excited about what they're trying to achieve
2. A big vision with understanding of the issues involved in achieving it
3. A team that's already achieved a lot with very little
4. A differentiated product or service that meets a need
5. A project with global reach addressing a large market
There's one other point I would add for good measure; a business that can scale. By scale, I mean a business that will see exponentially increasing returns on the assets deployed as it grows.
Conclusion? If you are going to invest your heart and soul into a start up or join a start up team, make sure the answers to the above points are all "yes!"
Time will always tell course.
To the dealer, "I've made my bet and I'm sticking, thanks. I think I've been dealt a great hand".
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