If your slogan goes anything like the above….change it!

There is not a restaurant in America that prides itself on having poor service, atmosphere or food; at least not a successful one. From McDonald’s to famed Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago – they all have good food, good service, good atmosphere and offer a good time. These points go without saying when they are true.

When a restaurant claims these attributes in their slogan it immediately confirms that the restaurant making the claim has so little creative juice and competitive differentiation that they are the restaurant equivalent of a generic paper brown bag. Such a slogan can only be the product of utterly inept brainstorming, marketing acumen and laziness. It immediately confirms market irrelevance.

I’ve traveled the world and have seen some version of this tagline repeated hundreds of times. Typically the restaurants are run-down road-side pubs, a burger joint run by someone that doesn’t really like people so instead of working for someone else they opened a restaurant, or a ubiquitous greasy spoon. Occasionally though, you see a restaurant that has had serious money put behind it and, as if looking after every detail except what makes the restaurant different, the owner thinks of a brainstorm idea of what to put under the name: “I’ve got it! What we sell is good food, good times and good services – let’s use that as our slogan”. Good grief.

Yes, I am a bit exasperated and it is showing. I just cringe when I think of someone putting their investment at risk in such a way.

If you or anyone you know has some variation of “good food, good times, good service” as a slogan, please seek immediate professional help. If you worked with a marketing professional that gave an approving nod to such a slogan, you owe it to yourself and them to put a great deal of distance between you both.

There are 1,000,000 restaurants in the United States all claiming they have good food, good service and good atmosphere. This is just the ticket in to the game though, not a point of differentiation. It’s like a tomato saying it’s better because it grew on a vine. Tell prospective customers something else. Tell them what makes you different.