Boosting Restaurant Revenue
PART FIVE: TOP 50 MENU ENGINEERING & DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

The single most important marketing collateral a restaurant possesses is its menu. One of the surest ways to effectively and measurably increase sales, profits, and guest satisfaction scores in a manner that is both quick and sustainable is to roll out a new menu. The menu should function as a tour guide and prove to be the best salesperson in your company. Menu engineering and design is the perfect marriage of both the science and art of successful restauranting. If you look at any lauded and successful restaurant turnaround, you’ll see signs of the CEO focusing on the inside and working outward; and find more specifically that a new menu was at the heart of the brand renaissance.

Each of the below considerations links to a short description (brand-new blog post) on the topic. Each topic below is focused on approaches and important considerations specific to menu design and engineering for restaurant companies large and small. I don’t expect you to read each and every point/post, but if you are about to endeavor on launching a new menu strategy, I am certain you will find lots of goodies in this list that can have a meaningful impact on your efforts. If you’re not embarking on a new menu strategy but know someone who is, please forward this to them and hopefully they will thank us both. A lot of hard work went into creating this list which is the culmination of experience having represented more than 10,000 restaurants spanning six (6) continents and 45 countries. It is my privilege and pleasure to share this kind of original content with you and your company. Your feedback is very much welcomed and appreciated (consider it blog and newsletter fuel!).

Here goes…click on any and all that catch your interest…

1.         Brand Platform – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/brand-platform/

2.         Meaning of Color – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-meaning-of-colors/

3.         Use of Colors – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-use-of-color/

4.         Food Photography – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-food-photography/

5.         Nested Pricing – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-marketing-blog-post/menu-design-nested-pricing/

6.         Don’t Use Dollar Signs – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-dont-use-dollar-signs/

7.         Different Languages – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-different-languages/

8.         iPad – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-ipad-other-tablets/

9.         Digital Menu Boards – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-digital-menu-boards/

10.      Negative Space – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-negative-space/

11.      Icons – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-icons/

12.      Kindergarten Class – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-kindergarten-class/

13.      High-Rent Areas – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-high-rent-areas/

14.      Copywriting – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-copywriters/

15.      Short versus Long Descriptions – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-short-versus-long-descriptions/

16.      Highlighting Specials – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-highlighting-specials/

17.      Season’s 52 Dessert Program - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-seasons-52/

18.      Exterior Menu Displays – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-exterior-menu-displays/

19.      Menus ToGo - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-menus-to-go /

20.      Item Names –  http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-naming-menu-items/

21.      Trademarks & Copyrights -  http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-trademarks-copyrights/

22.      Pricing Strategies –  http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-engineering-pricing-strategies/

23.      Menu Ads – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/advertising-on-restaurant-menus/

24.      Sponsorships and Supplier Logos -http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-supplier-logos-and-sponsorships/

25.      Cooperatives -  http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-marketing-cooperatives/

26.      Readability - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-readability/

27.      Brand Personality - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-brand-personality/

28.      Brand Story - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-the-brand-story/

29.      Brand Promise – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-the-brand-promise/

30.      Brand Positioning - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-brand-positioning/

31.      Locations - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-location-considerations-for-multi-unit-operators/

32.      Durability – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-durability/

33.      Menu Covers – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/custom-menu-covers/

34.      Menu Engineering – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-engineering/

35.      Personalized Menus - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-idea-personalized-menus/

36.      Table Tents – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/table-tents/

37.      Menu Stuffers - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-stuffers/

38.      NEW – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/new-menus-how-often/

39.      Placemats – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/zone-merchandizing-placemats

40.      Glossary - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-design-ideas-glossary-of-terms/

41.      Zone Merchandizing - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/zone-merchandizing/

42.      Adjectives versus Superlatives – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/adjectives-versus-superlatives/

43.      Source – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-strategy-sourcing/

44.      Educate - http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/restaurant-customers-want-to-be-educated/

45.      Approachable –http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/you-can-never-make-it-too-easy-to-buy-from-your-restaurant/

46.      Production – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-production-how-many-menus-should-we-print/

47.      Modify, Kill or Reposition – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/kill-modify-or-reposition/

48.      Modifiers -http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-modifiers-when-less-is-more/

49.      INVEST – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/menu-investment-and-budgeting/

50.      Hire Smart – http://aaronallen.com/blog-post/restaurant-menu-design-engineering/hiring-a-menu-consultant/

We adamantly believe menu engineering and design requires multi-disciplined team approaches. The process must be rooted in your operational capabilities, brand platform, and culture so it demands involvement from nearly all departments (finance, culinary, marketing, operations, etc). It can’t be done in a vacuum and yield its fullest potential. That said, hiring outside experienced and specialized help can expedite the process and facilitate more cross-departmental collaboration, contribution and buy-in. If you’d like a complimentary assessment of your menu – send us the current in-use version of your menu and cover letter. We’d be happy to proffer some thoughts and suggestions.

Restaurant Consultant

How many menus should you produce? Great question. It’s not an exact science, but there are some rules of thumb and planning considerations. One rule of thumb for printed menus which are reused (i.e. in vinyl slip covers, hard bound menu covers, etc) is to produce 1.5 times the number of seats you have (this is cutting it close and conservative). In addition to what you need for just normal operations, consider also printing extras over the 1.5x seat count allotment for: replacing bad menus (defects, wear/tear, etc), stolen or missing menus (maybe you did something so nice it grows legs and becomes a souvenir), and then also consider providing full menu to local businesses, food writers/media, and local concierges (these constituents can deliver big group business so it doesn’t pay to skimp and send them a photo copy of the menu – why not give them a full hard bound menu if that’s what you offer your customers). In addition to those uses, also consider a less expensive version which is intended to be taken away such as putting in the bag with all to-go orders, in takeout bags, deliveries, and at local events you may participate in. It is often much more economical to print/produce too many than to have to go back for a second-run printing or order replacements at a higher price per unit.

Restaurant Consultant

In marketing, you don’t merely want to be considered the best of the best, you want to be considered the only one who does what you do. As Winston Churchill famously said, “Once you have a point to make, don’t try to be subtle or cleaver; hit the point once, twice and then a third time with a tremendous whack”. Applied to brand positioning, this means that once you have zeroed in on what makes you “different” as opposed to “better” the job next is to reinforce that message at every touch-point possible. Applied more specifically to menu design, this means communicating what makes your restaurant different in a way that also expresses the personality and promise of the restaurant. The approaches therefore are dramatically different and entirely unique to each and every individual restaurant brand. In the case of one high-end restaurant client (the most expensive restaurant opening in Florida history), the message was about engaging all of the senses and showcasing El Bulli inspired Alta Cocina in an environment that is decadent modern luxury and sophistication. To communicate the positioning, we were commissioned to create heat sensitive menus and press kits that, under the warmth of touch would reveal hidden messages and art. In addition to the sense of touch, the sense of smell and sound were also engaged with a sound chip embedded in each unit and an aromatic fabric. The intent was to create a sense of discovery, engage the senses, and invite the customer to more carefully observe their environment and experience. Now the budget for this project was well above average for sure, but the intent is the same regardless of budget – to use the menus as yet another opportunity to communicate your point of difference and to impress upon your customers that you pay attention to the little details. The “wow” is found in the little details. More often than not, the best impressions are made not by spending big budgets but by thinking creatively and offering something unique that renders a very brand-relevant and customer-oriented experience to your guests. For more on: Brand Positioning

Restaurant Consultant

Restaurant Consultant

Just as the old timey photo books gave way to motion pictures, so too will static printed menu boards fall to the more engaging digital menu boards. Digital menu boards are particularly popular at QSR’s and fast-casual operations, but there are also still uses for casual dining operations with printed menus. Digital boards can be used for promomotional messaging (remember the old chalk boards when you walked in an Applebee’s?), training, and for zone merchandizing. Menu design must now take in to consideration design techniques for printed output, for static digital output, and for animated digital output (there are considerations unique to each execution). Click here for a more complete list of Digital Menu Board benefits.

Restaurant Consultant

Studies show digital menu boards are far more effective than the yesterday version of printed boards, magnetic boards, and movable text.  One a per unit basis the math is clear and gives an easy justification for making the switch to digital boards:

The digital signage and professional display market will grow to US $13 billion by 2010, a 3.6% compound annual growth rate from US$10.9 billion in 2005 (Source: iSuppli).   By 2011 the North American market for large flat panel displays will be worth more than US$3.5 billion (Source: Frost & Sullivan).  Digital Signage have 47.7 percent effectiveness on brand awareness, increase the average purchase amount by 29.5 percent, create a 31.8 percent upswing in overall sales volume, generates 32.8 percent growth in repeat buyers and pull in 32.8 percent more store traffic. (Source: Info Trends)

For chain restaurants, the savings and benefits are even more pronounced.

• Menus can be updated at a fraction of the time to implement and cost to roll-out.  Rather than weeks of working with a print house, working with a fulfillment house and cost of manually changing out the menus, digital boards can be changed out as fast as sending an email.
• Many digital menu board systems offer tools to manage menus regionally.  This can be done much more effectively with digital menu boards than with printed boards.  In addition to managing geographically, the menus can also be managed based on time of day.  For example, as the clock rolls by each time zone, the menus can change to reflect content intended for a specific time period.  For example, as the clock strikes 11:00 AM in each market, the digital menu boards can change from a breakfast menu to a lunch menu.
• Limited Time Offers (LTO’s) are also much easier to manage digitally.  In the old days, if you wanted to run a promotion, you could expect weeks or months of lead-time to get the promotional materials in the stores.  With digital menu boards, you can implement a promotion as soon as you have new creative and have prepped the operations teams.  Much faster!  In fact, you can prep the operations teams by streaming training to the units via the digital menu boards during non-operating hours.
• Compliance is usually very tough in restaurant franchise systems.  Getting franchisees to put up the correct promotional materials, switch out menus between each day-part, and getting all locations to launch a new menu on the same day can be very challenging using the techniques of yesterday.  With digital menu boards, the franchisor/headquarters remains in control and can manage all of the menus from one central control panel.
• Static boards are just that – static.  Digital menu boards allow for movement, rich graphic design, animation, and rotating messages.  That type of functionality allows restaurant marketers to employ more techniques to build the check average, unit sales, communicate the brand positioning and personality, and stretch their marketing budgets and effectiveness even further.  Digital marketing is the new frontier for restaurant marketers and it is only natural that – as pervasive and effective as digital marketing is – that it would find its way to the menu.

There is no doubt as the cost of digital displays continue to come down and the industry catches on to the power of digital menu boards that we will increasingly see the old coming down to make way for the new.

Cheesecake Factory Menu Advertising

January 4th, 2010

Some restaurateurs are innovating new ways to find capital.

If you’ve been to a Cheesecake Factory, you probably noticed that the menus were filled with advertising.  I first noticed this fact myself when running marketing for a luxury resort and placed an ad to promote our spa services.  It was expensive!  Around $9,000 for six (6) months, at the time.  As a chain, Cheesecake Factory – which also happens to have a $10.9m average unit volume – pulls in millions selling ad space in their menus.  Suffice to say, it more than covers the cost of the printing.

With a $10.9m average unit volume, this restaurant chain could more than afford to print their own menus.

Even back in my small home town in north Florida, I found that my favorite oyster bar (hole in the wall) sold space on just about everything they could think to put an ad on.  Their menus and now even their tables have advertising.  You can bet the value of the advertising paid for the furniture and then some.  In fact, the little oyster forks they brought out were plastic Nathan’s Hot Dog forks (not sure how they ended up in this here).

So, the question: Is it a good idea to sell space in your restaurant to raise capital or does it damage the brand?

My opinion is that Cheesecake Factory should run the numbers again and come to the conclusion I did – you can make more money and better reinforce your brand by putting your own ads in the menu, not a local car dealer.  In the case of the quirky oyster bar, I think it adds to the charm.  The decision really is situation-specific.  In general it’s risky.  In some cases, it may actually pay off and furnish your restaurant at a profit.

Aaron D. Allen