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“The number one problem haunting big and, sadly, not so big business today is the failure to act. Only a strategy of constant, fast-paced experimentation with everything stands a chance in today’s turbulent marketplace.” - Tom Peters www.tompeters.com Recently, we were asked if the only hospitality tabletop products we were interested in were the "brands"....and by that, it was meant to be the "well-known brands" in the hospitality tabletop world. The very quick and short answer is "No". We do admit, however, to being interested in new, creative and innovative approaches to hospitality tabletop....but, we also admit to having a love for classic, time tested products which help define dining for many restaurants and their guests. So, we will stay with our "No" response to the question on being only interested in "brands". But, it is not that simple. And, the reason it is not that simple is....everyone has a brand. Every manufacturer, every dealer, and certainly, every restaurateur - no matter how large or, no matter how small - has a brand. It's just that smaller manufacturers (dealers, restaurateurs) don't often think of their brand. They think merely of their product, their list of customers, or their single unit restaurant on the corner in their neighborhood. And, if they're truly small, they are likely more focused on the important issues of the moment like satisfying customers, making payroll, getting the food to the table, etc. But, without a doubt....everyone has a brand....no matter how big or small it may be. What really piques our interest is when we see new approaches to established norms. Whether it be in the tabletop products themselves.....the way they are brought to market....or how they are used in the guest dining experience....when we see a different - think differentiation - way of doing hospitality tabletop, that's when it becomes interesting. And, we think it also becomes interesting for the dining guest. And, that is what we prefer to think we are most interested in....the guest dining experience - and the role that tabletop plays in the dining experience. So, if you think that we're only interested in well-known hospitality tabletop brand names...it just might be because they are the ones producing the new and innovative products.....or, it just might be that they are the ones who are good at getting brand their story out. Getting the story of your brand out to your prospective customers......now that's another great topic for another day.
Rochelle Moulton is a marketing expert skilled at making brands unforgettable and distinctive. In her video shown here, Rochelle talks aobut how to not let your brand personality be sucked out of you or your business. Listen to what she has to say and ask yourself....does your brand really have the personality you want it to have?
If not, here just may be an idea or two to help you get it back on track. After all, nothing could more important to a brand than making sure your brand has exactly the unique and distinctive personality that you want it to have. For more information or to learn more about Rochelle Moulton, check out her website by going here: http://rochellemoulton.com/ From the SlideShare.com blog page comes this interesting article on how to develop the right culture within your organization. At TabletopJournal, we speak often about the guest or customer experience making the difference for successful companies and often the guest or customer experience is driven by the culture of the company delivering the experience.....just ask someone like New York restaurateur Danny Meyer about how important culture is.
Culture is the backbone of every organization. But how exactly do you create great culture -- a place where people thrive and create great things? Four years ago, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings infamously gave insight into how he hires, fires and rewards employees, in his "Netflix Culture" SlideShare. Now three more companies are joining the discussion and revealing their secrets to being some of the best places to work: The Motley Fool, IDEO and Asana. For more information or to read the entire article "Culture Code: What Makes Companies Great?", go here: http://blog.slideshare.net/2014/01/08/culturecode-what-makes-a-company-great/ Sometimes good thoughts bear repeating and this is one of them. In today's overheated world of 24-7 marketing hype, buyers of all types are seeking AUTHENTICITY in making their choices. You don't have to look further than the success of sites like YELP, Trip Advisor, or the review sections of Amazon to realize that we are all looking for the "real inside stuff" when determining where we are going to spend our money. Studies also show that we are likely to also trust the opinions of strangers through social media more than the hype from various marketing platforms. However we determine it, we all want to know the truth about the brands we are choosing. We want the brands we choose to be AUTHENTIC. And, remember, the desire for AUTHENTICITY goes beyond the product itself and extends to the brand experience. If are a restaurateur and your restaurant is promoted as a premier dining hot spot, but in reality the overall food and service is something quite less, you've got a problem. With today's social media, you'll be outed in minutes - with pictures. If you're a tabletop manufacturer positioning your company or brand as a high-quality, high-end manufacturer of wineglasses or dinnerware and in reality, your product is so-so or you give a low quality customer service experience, chances are you're going to be perceived as a less than authentic brand, no matter how slick the website, brochures, and pictures that you had printed are. And, if you are a tabletop dealer who touts their high levels of customer service, but are perennially out of stock, have average quality sales and customer service staff, can't provide the right solutions for your operator customers, and generally is only interested in selling more stuff without regard to helping your customers be more successful...you're going to hard pressed to get people to believe your brand message of customer service. You're NOT as advertised. You're not AUTHENTIC. In today's internet world, there's too many choices for operators to buy products from for tabletop dealers to get away with being less than AUTHENTIC. Why does AUTHENTICITY in a brand matter? 1. Authenticity builds trust. Consumers, B2B buyers...all of us, want to believe in our brand choices. We want to be able to trust the decisions we make ...whether it's the restaurant we choose for dinner, the wineglass we choose to serve our wines in, or the dealer source we choose to buy that wineglass from. Nobody likes to feel like they made a poor buying decision and that's what happens when we find out that we made a decision to go with a "less than authentic"choice. Make your customers feel good about their decision to go with you. Be AUTHENTIC. 2. Building trust through being authentic builds brand loyalty. All of us tend to return to the brands we trust when spending our money and retaining loyal customers is a lot easier - and cheaper - than gaining new customers. Build loyal customers. And show them you appreciate them. Be AUTHENTIC. 3. Being authentic is easier. Being who you really are is always easier - and, often less expensive - than pretending to be something you're not. Don't try to "X" if you are really "Y". If you are really "Y" no amount of marketing hype or slick advertising is going to make you "X". So, just go be "Y"....and be a great "Y". But, most importantly, be AUTHENTIC. Finally, while bad news may travel faster than good news - positive reviews on brands still travel. A positive review on YELP or Trip Advisor helps make first time restaurant customers more confident that they're making a good dining choice. Chefs certainly talk about tabletop brands and a positive comment from a colleague or friend goes far further in helping make a choice on which tabletop products to choose....and where to get them ... than any trade show booth or literature a manufacturer may produce. And, social media is today's word of mouth when it comes to AUTHENTICITY. So, whatever you are, your company, or your brand is....be sincere. Be honest. Be AUTHENTIC. Your customers will appreciate it more than you know.
Q: Why did you decide to use such unusual serving pieces – that some people might consider formal - for casual, finger foods? A: I always talk about the balance between the content and the container. Several times, if the container, which is the utensil, is too flashy you might fall victim of the ridiculous and viceversa. Finger food doesn’t happen by chance in haute cousine. There’s an elaboration work behind. Q: What kind of feeling or emotion are you striving for your guests when your server delivers the snack foods on such unusual pieces? A: The most beautiful thing is when the guest doesn’t perceive the beauty of the object at first sight but eats the finger food instead and then lays bare the inner beauty of the utensil afterwards. Q: How do you decide what serving pieces to use with each menu item? A: The problem is that the large amount of changes due to the product ‘s seasonality forces us to reuse the crockery that we already have. I’d love to have new crockery for each new dish we elaborate but for that I would need two things: time and money. Q: Where - and, more importantly, how - do you find such unusual and unique pieces….are they made especially for 41˚? A: In two ways: by looking on the Market and the other one I do them myself by working with different artisans. Unique serving pieces help to add to the total overall guest experience at 41º ExperienceSommelier Cristina Losada, who is in charge of celler and provides the Experience menu harmonies at 41ºalso happened to have studied and attained a Bachelor´s Degree in Fine Arts in Basque Country University. but when she went to Barcelona decided to become a sommelier. Experienced in top restaurants such as Comerç24, Bravo 24, and Routa, Losada has also contributed to Albert’s restaurant new opening, the Peruvian-Japanese restaurant Pakta and the vermouth bar Bodega1900, creating the wines, sake and tea menus. Cristina is currently in charge of the cellar and provides the Experience menu harmonies at 41º and collaborates with her friends’s restaurants in the Barcelona area. Q: You also serve sake, and we’ve learned that you have help to create the serving pieces for the sake, along with the coffee and tea sets….how did that come to happen? A: Since I was in charge of wine, sake & tea's menu so first I asked to myself about the restaurant. "What are we offering in a Peruvian Japanese restaurant? What sake am I going to include in the menu? Do we want to sell by the glass, per bottles, half bottles? I decided to sell by the glass and tokkuri (flask 180ml, 1/4 bottle of 720 ml. The best sake is served in a glass of wine, but the warm is served in ochoko (ceramic cilindric cups). So I contacted Carme Balada, ceramic craftswoman who I know since I worked in Comerç 24, a few years ago. I chose the designed and she created sake set, tokkuri and ochoko. About the tea, we only offer Japanese tea and herbal tea made with Japanese ingredients. Sencha green tea, Genmaicha green tea with toasted rice, sakura, ginger & lime. I focused on the best way to enjoy a cup of tea and I concluded that a chawan (tea bowl used in Asia) provides warmth in its texture and preserves the temperature. It can be argued that few regions of the world have influenced the dining out experience like Spain has in the past few years. And the name Adrià is attached to much of that change.
To make your reservation and get the famed 41º Experience yourself, go here:http://en.bcn50.org/ In addition, Constructing Albert, the Albert Adrià documentary produced by Trueday Films, which premiered on November 20 at the IDFA Forum in Amsterdam. This documentary explains the life of a chef who wanted to be a footballer or filmmaker, and has revolutionized global cuisine, with his brother Ferran Adrià. Many business owners equate branding with marketing. However, as Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Therefore, it is not only a marketing concern, but can have legal implications, as well. Here are a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to designing your brand.
Thanks to Marty O'Neill from The Alternative Board for sharing. The Alternative Board® (TAB) is an exclusive, membership-based organization that helps business owners achieve more – more profitability, productivity, and personal fulfillment – through an unmatched combination of peer to peer insight, private coaching with TAB-certified coaches and TAB proprietary tools, and resources that connect business owners to thousands of their peers around the world. You can reach Marty here: [email protected]
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