I know, I know – SORRY for the horrific photos of my body and condition.  I am only trying to be authentic (despite the embarrassment) of what it was like to experience Hong Kong head-first.

Hong Kong is not China.  As an American I thought they were the same.  It’s like saying New York City is America or Dubai is the Middle East.  The are quite different in culture, cuisine and currency.

As an international restaurant consultant I can say with confidence that Hong Kong is one of those places anyone in the trade should see first hand.  I feel it is just scratching the surface though.  Perhaps one day Mandarin will be as common place as English.  We should all start warming up to the cuisine not just because it’s likely to be a global cuisine in 20 years but because it’s a wonderful cuisine and culture steeped in history, tradition and delightful culinary sensation.

Restaurant Consultant Aaron Allen

The new iPad is all the rage these days.  In just its first two months over 2,000,000 units were sold.  Does the iPad have a future in the restaurant business?

Microsoft made a bet on tablet technology and saw great commercial application potential.  The fragility of the hardware/system and lack of software kept the early tablets from reaching their full potential.  Apple has effectively fixed the software issue by partnering with industry and developers to create “apps”.  There are more than 200,000 apps in the iTunes store and more are added daily.  The apps developer conference mints more new millionaires than any other conference (according to news reports).  It is widely agreed that now the tablet technology will lead the future of computer industry growth.  Consider – there are 1.5b Internet users on the planet yet there are 3.5b cell phone users.  Smart phones are the new handheld computer.  The limitations of size are part of what has lead to this new computer category which is essentially a hybrid of the power and functionality of a personal computer with the ease of use and portability of a smart phone.  The iPad is selling currently at a rate of 1m per month.  It took two years for the iPhone to reach the sales volumes the iPad posted in just two months. Impressive. The surface has only been scratched.

1. Microsoft Surface – We waited in anticipation for years for the launch of Microsoft Surface. The video/microsite launched prior to the first 3G iPhone. It looked like Microsoft would take the touch-screen technology adapted by Apple (first introduced at the T.E.D. conference in 2006 – amazing how far we have come in so little time) 

Apple has advanced the technology so fast that it has seemingly gained credit as having invented it (that credit belongs to Jeff Han).  The uses of Microsoft Surface technology had amazing potential in the restaurant industry.  So much so, in fact, that the pre-launch promotional videos seemed focused on restaurant use.  My firm was put on a waiting list to help bring the product to market in trials and pilots for the restaurant industry.  The call from Microsoft never came.  The technology raced past Microsoft.  Just this May (2010) I saw the first Microsoft Surface in use.  It was in The Sheraton lobby in Chicago and got barely any attention.  There were no noteworthy applications and the functionality included just a basic game of checkers, chess and kid-like drawing pad.  It was perfect illustration of how Microsoft has fallen behind and that if we are to see application of touch-screen technology in the restaurant industry anywhere similar to the fairytale portrayed in the Surface video, it will come from Apple and its legions of app developers.  It’s not the hardware that makes iPad successful, it’s the hundreds of thousands of applications.

2. Inventory – To think through the potential future uses of an iPad in the restaurant industry, we just have to envision the things we do on the go.  Inventory is certainly one of the potential range of restaurant industry uses.  Inventory in the old days was done with a clip board and then manually input in a central computer system.  In recent years we have seen bar code scanning tools and other hand-held devices created by industry or Point of Sale  (POS) companies, but these cannot compete with the iPad once inventory applications are developed for it.  An iPad can be purchased for just a few hundred dollars and custom app developers can create tailored software for as little as $2,000.  I believe we will certainly see the iPad put to work with restaurant inventory jobs using both subscription-based applications created by developers and also proprietary software developed by restaurant companies specific to their own needs.  Primarily the larger restaurant systems will be the ones to develop their own software but the development costs are actually within the range of small regional chains, not just the national restaurant systems.

3. Surveys – Gaining customer feedback in the field is another activity that is mostly mobile in nature.  Going to shopping malls, running exit interviews with customers leaving the restaurant, going table to table, and showing new creative/brand materials to solicit feedback are well-suited for the iPad.  It can be difficult these days to get customers to agree to written survey forms or lengthy in-person interviews.  The novelty of an iPad – at least for a window of time – will spur interest and curiosity which should result in higher yields of survey participation.

4. Training – Training in the restaurant industry has long been an issue in need of new approaches and more technology.  There was a movement with the iPhone and iPods to usher in a new generation of training deployment in the restaurant industry.  It didn’t really catch on.  Part of the reason was screen size and the associated restrictions.  With the iPad Area Developers can take their training on the road; meeting one-on-one with restaurant general managers to demonstrate a new approach, policy or quick instructional tutorial. GMs can be issued an iPad which automatically synchronizes with the corporate communication system; automatically downloading rich content such as performance dashboards, videos, slideshows and other company data.  Using the iPad as a distribution tool for such content can make the content easier to access and protect over the traditional out-dated restaurant P.C. in the back-office.  In fact, for a period of time before the novelty wears off, issuing GM’s an iPad also sends a brand message of the company commitment to technology, investment in its people and boosted sense of morale among their management ranks.

5. Kiosks – While the iPad is the latest rage and has a multitude of potential uses in the restaurant industry, it shouldn’t be the only techno-tool restaurant chains consider – particularly in the QSR segment of the industry.  The touch-screen technology and improved applications available in mobile form are also being adapted to kiosks.  In certain circumstances, a kiosk may be a better tool than an iPad, and so both should be considered.  For instance, it is unlikely the iPad will gain traction as a menu ordering system in QSR’s.  A kiosk would be better in ordering than a portable iPad.  Additionally, kiosks are great tools for providing menu information such as nutrition, serving as a portal for submitting applications electronically at the unit level, and also a wide range of other creative in-store marketing uses.

The iPad will very likely be the first generation of a new form of personal computer which will grow from novelty to category giant.  Many predict the iPad is the future of personal computing.  Whether they are entirely right or just partially right, what the iPad offers can be put to work in the restaurant industry immediately and its usefulness is only likely to grow.

Restaurant Consultant Aaron Allen

Panera Bread Opens Donation Model Restaurant

During the peak of the recession we all read of many restaurants around the world attempting donation only promotions to draw in customers. This tactic was largely used as a publicity stunt which worked very well. The first reports of this I heard were from Europe and then a spattering of U.S.-based restaurants jumped on the free media bandwagon. When the media interest died down, so too did the notion of customers paying what they want.

Panera has reinvented this publicity tool in a smart way. By going 100% donations as a concept for the pilot – which they hope to expand – they have essentially created an ongoing tax shelter, publicity machine and powerful method of building their catering business.

Far too many restaurants are non-profit not by choice, but by circumstance. The average restaurant in the United States pulls down just 5% profit; which is not a large sum when you consider how capital and labor intensive the business can be. Leave it to a billion-dollar chain to figure out how to euthanize poor performing stores while simultaneously gaining free press and investor confidence.

Many will remember the punishment Starbucks took when they shuttered 600 under-performing units. Wall Street walloped the stock and a bruised Starbucks has yet to regain the former glory and favoritism among investment media. Imagine if instead of closing units though, they had converted select units to a pilot similar to Panera where units are community fund-raisers.

Panera can effectively convert low-performing stores into this new donation concept and instead of units looking like failures, they can look like corporate philanthropy attempts. The units are put in a non-profit classification, the losses are 100% tax deductable, the press flows in graciously (within a week of this story, I counted more than 300 national media press mentions for Panera on this story alone), and to top it all off, the new approach creates an angle to build relationships with powerful community organizations and allies (who later become some of the better catering accounts for the donation-model units).

I actually think this concept is brilliant. Congratulations, Panera. You were the first to figure it out. I am certain other billion-dollar-plus chains will watch closely and a few of them may actually see the greater long term potential of this concept. The off-shoots of this pilot can grow in many favorable and profitable directions. My head is spinning in contemplation of how much further this concept could be taken – both from the standpoint of actually helping communities as well as the standpoint of restaurant marketing strategies for large restaurant chains.

Aaron Allen
Restaurant Consultant

Travel is a Blessing – Especially for Restaurant People

My father was a 2nd generation restaurant owner.  Every day for 30-years he unlocked and locked the doors on his restaurant.  It’s where I grew up.  The restaurant was open 7-days a week in season and closed on Wednesday’s during the off-season.  That was my fathers only chance to go out and explore other restaurants and cities that would offer inspiration and reprive.  There were only so many places he could get to within a 24-hour limit.

Growing up, one thing I dreamed of as much as contributing to the restaurant industry was travel.  It has been a tremendous blessing to explore all 6-continents that have restaurants (Antartica is on my list of places to see, but it was in last place since it isn’t really a place of inspiration for restaurant people).

Growing up in a small town in the Florida Panhandle, world travel seemed like a distant fantasy.  I am so proud to have had the mentors, dreams and blessings that lead to my dream coming true of exploring the distant corners of Earth.  As of July 10, 2010 I have explored 42 countries on my way to a goal of 70 (world’s largest airline goes to just 67).  I encouage and support anyone who pursues their dream (especially if they dream of travel or contributing to the restaurant industry).  Please email me if I can help in any way.  Hope the slideshows offer inspiration for those dreaming of seeing new places.  More to come – stay tuned!

Restaurant Consultant Aaron Allen

The restaurant service you receive today is a direct result of our collective willingness to complain yesterday.

The United States of America was founded on complaining.

In the American Revolution, ragtag bands of complainers came together to shape the future of our country and our culture.  In those days, “Taxation without representation” was the call to arms.  13 colonies united in complaint that it was unfair to send the fruits of our land to a foreign nation.  It was in this spirit of complaining that Americans overthrew a monarchy and established a democratic system of government that was unique in all the world.

Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi – all complainers. The U.S. Civil Rights movement was a righteous complaint that was finally heard, and that helped amend more than a century of injustice.

Every inventor, innovator and entrepreneur who has ever brought something new into the world was ultimately acting out a kind of complaint – saying, “This isn’t right – the world needs to change!”

Despite this proud history of effective complaining, it seems to me that today in our experience as restaurant patrons, Americans have lost our will to complain.  It’s become almost impolite to complain when we have a bad experience at a restaurant – as if, as customers, it’s not our place to judge. We have become a nation that hugs failures (like a mean ol’ grandma) because it’s more in fashion to swallow down bad service than to complain about it.

There was once a time that restaurateurs shivered at the thought of a complaint.  A complaint, in those days, like a virus, could multiply.  A complaint that was left unaddressed could metastasize into an incurable cancer on the business.  The mere threat of receiving a complaint from an unhappy customer kept service people on their toes.  My, how faint of heart we are today.

Complaining in a restaurant today may get you looked at like you’re a grumpy old man who is too uptight.  “Just relax…it’s no big deal,” your faint-hearted friends will say.

But here’s the problem with that attitude: if you’re a customer at a restaurant, and the restaurant provides you with an egregious service failure, you are perfectly right to complain.

If a waiter spills food on you, or your entrée is served at an unsafe temperature, or your salad is wilted and drowned in oily dressing, or you have to wait a ridiculously long time for a table with no communication from the surly hostess – all of these situations are well worth complaining about.

Not only do you have the right to complain, but I would argue that all restaurant patrons – especially the ones who genuinely care about the restaurant business – have a duty to complain.

That’s right: you as a restaurant customer have a duty to complain when your experience is anything less than satisfying.

When you complain about a bad experience at a restaurant, you are not being rude or “high maintenance” – you are actually doing that restaurant a favor. Every smart restaurant manager wants to hear from his/her customers – and real restaurateurs aren’t afraid to hear some less-than-positive feedback along with the cheery compliments. After all, if they don’t hear the complaints, how are they ever going to improve?

If you have a bad restaurant experience and you decide not to complain, you’re not being “polite” – you’re actually participating in keeping that restaurant from being all that it could be. By choosing not to complain, you may actually be contributing to the restaurant’s eventual decline and failure – which would ultimately mean the loss of jobs for everyone who works there, and the loss of investment by the restaurant owner. Don’t you think the owner would have rather heard some complaints along the way – that would have helped the restaurant improve – rather than only hearing niceties (“Everything was just great!”) and then losing the whole ship?

Whenever you complain, not only are you doing a favor to the restaurant, but you are also fulfilling a responsibility to the other diners who will come after you.

Tonight, as I write this, I am recovering from a ridiculous drinking experience inflicted on me by an F&B manager at a prestigious hotel in Dubai.  The manager insisted, rather belligerently, that a martini was made from a “mix” and that it should be four (4) parts “mix” to one (1) part liquor.  He thought that Martini & Rossi was a “mix” and didn’t realize that Martini & Rossi was just a ”brand” of vermouth, which is only a minor ingredient in the modern day martini.  Any current or former bartender in the world knows that a martini is more parts vodka  (or gin) than it is vermouth!  And certainly anyone in the beverage business would know that there is no such thing as “martini mix.”

So I complained to his manager, who needs to know about his employee’s cluelessness and belligerence toward a paying customer. If it were not for my complaining, this same manager would be the man to place final judgment on your issue.  So unless you want to be drinking a vermouth martini and choking down poorly cooked steak, surrounded by shabby décor and indifferent service, I strongly encourage you to join me in embracing our collective responsibility to complain.

It’s not rude, it’s not petty, it’s not “picky” – complaining is honest, honorable, and ultimately helps to create better dining experiences for all of us.

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

Fostering a good client and agency relationship is just like fostering any other relationship: it takes work. And the kind of work you put in will affect the kind of work you get out. The most important thing to remember is that both parties are bringing their expertise to the table. You know your restaurant. They know the restaurant marketing business. After all, that’s why you hired them.

Here are some things great clients always keep in mind:

• Be a champion of creativity: Your job is not to write the press releases or create your restaurant’s logo. Your job is to give your agency the room and resources to create these things for you. That’s what they do best.
• Make the difficult choices. Things move quickly in the restaurant industry. If reservations are down, you can’t wait two months for an ad. However, they say in marketing you can get something great, fast and cheap, but only two of those at a time. As the client, you need to make and understand that choice. Your agency creatives are not magicians, and they’ll appreciate it if you don’t expect them to be.
• Be honest and realistic about your expectations. Maybe you want to be the top steakhouse in your city. That’s a great goal, and you need to communicate that to your agency. They can develop a roadmap, but only if they know the destination.
• Understand the limitations of your resources. Restaurants rarely have large budgets for marketing. Your agency will do their best to maximize every dollar, and they’ll let you know what you can and cannot afford. But don’t expect to get great creative for a bargain price. Why would they sell themselves and their ideas short?
• Set clear ground rules. Be upfront with any creative mandates. If some rules can be broken, state that. If some rules cannot be broken, state that, too. Your agency needs to know what they have to work with before they explore creative solutions.
• Simplify the problem. Your restaurant may be tackling various issues at once, but whittling down the situation to a clear and simple statement will do wonders for finding a solution.
• Be open to creativity. Once the problem is simplified, avoid solving it yourself. This will foster preconceived notions that’ll interfere with your ability to accept and appreciate your agency’s work.
• Make changes at the beginning. The initial rounds are for brainstorming and revising. If you constantly insist on making changes in the final rounds (sometimes this is necessary and that’s understandable), expect delays and additional costs, not to mention the ire of your agency.
• Forget you like the color blue. Your personal stylistic tastes are irrelevant. This is about the brand and the brand’s personality.
• Champion the creativity, again. Run interference in meetings when less enlightened colleagues trash the work. You need to stand up for what you helped create. Otherwise all inspiration will go out the window.
• Hire the right agency. You want someone who knows the restaurant industry as well as you do. All marketing isn’t the same, get a relevant expert with proven results.
• Say thank you. If you show your appreciation for the hard work, your agency will walk on water for you.

All in all, a successful marketing campaign is almost always the result of a successful client and agency relationship. Be a great client. It’s in your best interest.