Selected Archives
Selected stories 2011-2021
At TabletopJournal, we speak often about the need to differentiate your brand and that there are a variety of ways to do that. Companies within the hospitality industry differentiate their brands with varying degrees of success. Steelite International has differentiated itself in a variety of ways in recent years and the results have proven successful as the company has become as a leader in hospitality tabletop sales worldwide. Great customer service has been one of the tenets of the Steelite success plan and a while back Simon Treanor, Steelite's Vice President of European Sales, produced a GOLD STANDARDS Service Charter video describing exactly what Steelite's European customers can expect from the venerable dinnerware manufacturer. We like this video for several reasons: 1. It clearly spells out the goals that Steelite has for customer service to its U.K. and other European customers. Both internal and external customers of Steelite can easily understand and measure the company against these simple goals (i.e., answering the phone in 5 rings or less, getting a sample request out in 24 hours) 2. The video involves company employees in all areas of the company...production, front office, even the security guard. (how many times do you think this was shown in the employees' homes, reinforcing to employees the idea of providing high levels of customer service is important at Steelite?) What a terrific way to build an overall company culture of service! 3. Also, the employees seem to be really enjoying themselves, making Steelite look like a fun place to work. Our guess is videos like this are a help when it comes time to recruit new employees. 4. The simple, but effective signs used in the video create a very visual way of embedding the Steelite service goals in the minds of viewers. Not only do you hear the announcer state the goals, but you also see them in a simple, but memorable way. 5. This was not a slick, overly scripted and highly polished, .... and expensive video. However, it was very well done, straightforward, and - at 4:23 long - it is the perfect length to get people to watch. Products.....price.....quality....all key points of brand differentiation, for sure. But, so is service and by keeping the goals simple and clear....easy to measure......and by involving company employees in all areas....Steelite has done a terrific job to communicate that service and responding to their customers is an extremely high priority. Our guess is Steelite's customers are noticing the difference. Well Done. You can see the entire lineup of Steelite's products by going here: http://www.steelite.com/
We've talked about how food & beverage continues to be an area of focus for hoteliers in all corners of the world. A recent article in HotelierMiddleEast.com by Louise Oakley points out how the Fairmont properties in the UAE view this critical area. The restaurants and bars under development at the upcoming Fairmont Palm Jumeirah will be the “bread and butter” of the hotel’s business when it opens in Q3 2012. According to general manager Martin Van Kan, the hotel will seek to establish itself as a dining destination for local Dubai residents — in much the same way as its sister hotel Fairmont Dubai has over the past 10 years. Van Kan said: “Food and beverage at the Palm is going to be where we hopefully are going to be opening the hotel in great style and for the foreseeable future F&B will be our bread and butter — we will be owning that community as best as we possibly can” He suggested that the hotel would look to topple Fairmont Dubai’s Spectrum on One restaurant “off its number one brunch spot”. "Fairmont’s name in the city in very many respects came out of F&B and one of the big things 10 years ago was its position in brunch and that really helped elevate the F&B status here,” said Van Kan. “There’s no reason why we can’t use that as the platform from which we can all move to greater places. There are some great opportunities and the restaurants that we have are new offerings to the market in that area in which we play,” he said of The Palm. Henning Fries, regional vice president for Fairmont in the UAE and general manager, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, said the restaurants at Fairmont Dubai were an “un-missable” part of the community.
“This property really set the tone for us as a brand, the success of this property was really built on the success of its food and beverage,” he said. “Being really part of the local community and being a place where people meet and socialise and so on. And that will be a very similar scenario at The Palm project. And that is part of our philosophy and drive — that you really build the success of the hotels first on the relationship and success within the local community,” added Fries. Van Kan said they “deliberated for a long time” over whether to develop the F&B at Fairmont Palm Jumeirah in-house or to work with brands. “The marketed/branded restaurants segment in Dubai is obviously very mature, so [there is some space for] coming back to grassroots and creating them yourselves and using the talents that you’re able to resource into creative or concept designs within your outlets,” said Van Kan, who decided to develop the restaurants in-house. The signature outlet will be a pan Chinese bar restaurant concept, There will also be an informal Brazilian restaurant incorporating the Churrasco method of grilling, an all-day-dining located on the beach level with “a breakfast to die for”, and a cigar and malt lounge. HotelsMag.com's Nathan Greenhalgh writes that the U.S. hotel industry reported increases in all three key performance metrics in 2011, according to data from STR.
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry's occupancy rose 4.4% to 60.1%, its ADR was up 3.7% to US$101.64 and RevPAR increased 8.2% to US$61.06. 2011 was the first time since 2008 that the industry ended the year with occupancy of more than 60% and an ADR of more than US$100. However, for the month of December, the U.S. hotel industry's occupancy rose 4.1% to only 47.6%, its average daily rate was up 3.4% to US$99.67 and its revenue per available room increased 7.6% to US$47.48. For the year U.S. hotels reported a 0.6% increase in supply in 2011 and a 5% demand increase for the year. Demand has increased 5% or more only three times since 1987. "2011 was a strong year for the U.S. hotel industry," said Randy Smith, co-founder and chairman at STR. "Room-supply growth continued to drift downward as room demand reached record levels during the year. Though occupancy and ADR were still below 2007 and 2008 levels, it was still encouraging to see the industry experience a solid rebound during a period of considerable economic difficulties." "In 2012 the hotel industry will face tough year-over-year comparisons, though we are still optimistic," Smith continued. "With modest gains in occupancy and stronger increases in room rates, we expect RevPAR to increase about 4.3% in 2012." Among the Top 25 Markets, Detroit, Michigan, ended the year with the largest occupancy increase, up 10.2% to 59.8%, followed by Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, with a 9.7% increase to 60.5%. New Orleans, Louisiana, ended the year virtually flat with a 0.4% decrease to 64.2%. Two markets ended the year with double-digit ADR increases: San Francisco/San Mateo up 13.9% to US$155.14 and Oahu Island, Hawaii up 10% to US$165.05. The only top markets to report ADR decreases in 2011 were Atlanta, which fell 0.4% to US$82.58 and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, which fell 0.3% to US$84.24. San Francisco/San Mateo achieved the largest RevPAR increase, rising 19.7% to US$122.54, followed by Nashville, up 14.8% to US$58.01 and Miami-Hialeah up 14.1% to US$115.65. None of the top markets reported RevPAR decreases for the year. Hotels Magazine is the world's leading publication covering the hotel industry. We're nearly through our first month of 2012......... ....... so, how's the development of your personal brand coming along? Remember....YOU are the chief brand development manager of the brand called YOU.
Speaking of commitment..... We're loving Richie Nakano, the Ramen Renegade from San Francisco, and his commitment to tabletop. Talking to KQED about the spoon tattoo on his forearm, he says "It's an Oneida baguette spoon...they're everywhere, kind of your generic spoon. It was perfect for me because I was at the point in my career where my technique had developed and I was happy with it. I wasn't relying on tongs or other clumsy tools anymore." For Nakano, he feels the spoon tatoo design signified more skill, more finesse, a real coming into his own in the kitchen. You can check out Richie's Hapa Ramen by going here: http://haparamensf.com/ .... or, if you're in the Bay Area, stop by and enjoy some noodles, and check out Richie's spoon in person.
We all like to talk about the newest dinnerware shape or some new shaped serving pieces, but realistically….how many ways can you make square plates? For those chefs who use classic ceramic accessory items (oval bakers, goose-neck gravy boats or shirred egg dishes, for instance) finding good sources of supply can be difficult. Companies like Homer Laughlin with its acquisition of the Hall China line preserved one of the best sources for these types of items.
So, while often the buzz is a about the newest shape, the newest porcelain material, the newest cooking style…..the classics still work. And we can’t think of a better place to go and get the classic tabletop pieces than the Hall China line, now from Homer Laughlin.
Like a man’s blue blazer or a woman’s little black dress, a classic like Hall China is always in style and has been for over 100 years. You can see the entire lineup of Hall China accessories by going here: http://www.hlcdinnerware.com/general/hall-china Izabel Lam's global design impact continues. After the success of her specially designed “Rain” series of porcelain dinnerware for the Blue Rain Restaurant at the Ritz Carlton Hotel at DIFC in Dubai, Izabel’s glass dinnerware is chosen to be used throughout the new Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, slated to be opened in February 2012 – at the steak and seafood restaurant, Lobby Lounge, Executive Lounge, all day dining restaurant, banquet and room services.
You can see the entire collection of Izabel Lam products by going here: http://www.izabellamdinnerware.com/ "When price becomes the focus of a message or a company's marketing activities, you are beginning to undermine your chances to be perceived as unique. What you're doing is making price the main consideration for picking you over your competition."
"That's not a healthy way to go." - Differentiate Or Die, Jack Trout, with Steve Rivkin One great example of product positioning and marketing that we find interesting is Arcoroc (Cardinal it would be in the USA) and their "Ultimate Pint" glass. Using great graphics, and informative brochure, an interesting video, and even its own, separate website - http://www.the-ultimate-pint.com/ Arcoroc is marketing this single item - the seemingly standard size pint beer glass - by differentiating it as totally unique and different from anything previously available. Funny....we thought all pint glasses were created equal and basically the same? Evidently, in the U.K. there is a need for safety in the pubs from both breakage (ok, I get that part) and from glassware being used as a weapon! (whoa....who knew there were 87,000 violent incidents last year involving glassware???) So, the government stepped in a couple of years ago and started an initative to make going to your local pub mare safe. As a result, Arcoroc has their new glass they call "The Ultimate Pint". Using SAFETY, ERGONOMICS, and the RECYCLABILITYof glass as it main points of differentiation, Arcoroc does a really terrific job of postioning their pint glass as THE glass that is safest to use. And, after all....who doesn't want to be safe? And, just for good measure, they also have added a feature which insures that the beer will look good with a nice foam head when the server tops it off, thereby insuring less waste with "over-pourage". And, somehow.....my guess would be is the Arcoroc "Ultimate Pint" is not the cheapest pint glass on the market there, either. This is great example of how you can take what appears to be a generic product - a pint glass - and redefine and re-position it and differentiate it from competition. Then, Arcoroc also does a great job getting the message out with the glass having its own website, video, etc. So, from now on, make sure you stay safe when you have your pint - make sure your pub is using Arcoroc's Ultimate Pint. Nicely done, Arcoroc. Nicely done. Your can see the entire collection of products from Arcoroc, by going here:
http://hotel-restaurant.arcoroc.com/accueil.aspx In America, the Cardinal website is here: http://www.cardinalglass.com/ GOLDEN ......from RAK Porcelain. Designed by Alain and Dominique Vavro, of course. Stunning. If you don't like GOLDEN......then, you probably don't like tabletop. See the entire collection from RAK Porcelain by going here: http://www.rakporcelain.com/
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