April 2009 Archives

Samuel Jackson's character, Jules, in the 1994 movie, Pulp Fiction, said it best, "I don't dig on swine. "He didn't and we don't either, the flu type that is. With the epidemic growing from food service, airplane travel and just going to school/work, people will become more and more frightened until the flu strain has a cure. It is frightening to see some of the country's smartest people go on television and explain the scope of the problem. However, to date, only 50 people in the US have the strain. That is 50 of 300,000,000 (.0000002%). But it is serious enough that the head of the CDC can declare a national emergency due to the potential of what MAY occur. As we hear more and more about the effects, symptoms and consequences, we can be sure that food service will be affected, most likely, at the QSR and fast casual level. Taco Bell and many others have been through it all before. But remaining cautious and using common sense, we can assume that this too shall pass.

I couldn't agree more with Sherri's comments.  The Mexican chains are likely to feel more of the impact, particularly the non-chain restaurants.  Non-chain restaurants that offer that hole in the wall look and feel won't feel very clean or comfortable to the consumer as they are bombarded with food scare media coverage. 

It's particularly unfortunate for the Mexican category, only days before its biggest celebration, Cinco de Mayo.  The upside is there's always tequila, but I guess it's inappropriate to start a viral message that a few shots of tequila can minimize your risk of swine.  My suggestion for hole in the walls, spend a little time to clean up your stores.  For chains, the consumer will be unforgiving if your restaurant is not spotless, spotless, spotless.  And if you have a health inspection coming up, I would pump up the team for high scores. 

Good luck! 

Everyone is talking about social media and the new crop of celebrities.  It's the new marketing elixir ... to becoming an overnight sensation or a celebrity.

Look at Susan Boyle, the British Talent who until just a few days ago was unknown outside her village of Blackburn, Scotland.  Regardless of whether she wins "Britains Got Talent", she'll likely score a slew of endorsement contracts.  Imagine if she signed up today on eHarmony, found a man to take her from the village to the metropolis.  We would expect to see her on national spots harmonizing eHarmony.  And that's just the first act.

Of course, signing a deal with Susan Boyle in that context seems like a natural, but the strategy behind picking a celebrity to represent your brand can be a tricky one ... and certainly a six-figure venture at that. 

We had a short brush with Internet celebrity for Planet Smoothie when we launched a You-Tube like contest in 2007 and the winner, Joel Moss  went on to become a bit of a sensation, appearing  in The New York Times  and on Jay Leno.  While Joel was great for our promotion, he hasn't quite approached the Susan Boyle phenomenon and so we kept our options open.

We recently came across an opportunity to establish a relationship with a "real" celebrity ... not an Internet one, but a Hollywood one who has leveraged the power of the Internet.  In my opinion, that's the most dynamic one, especially if he or she is channeling his energy towards your customer demographic.  We'll let you in on that one soon enough. 

For us though, our approach to celebrity is very different based on the brand.  For Shane's Rib Shack, the celebrity is Shane Thompson, our founder who has the energy, appeal and camera presence to one day become the next Dave Thomas or Colonel Sanders.  For Planet Smoothie, a little boost from Hollywood to cast our brand outside our market villages as we prepare to roll out major new initiatives, well, we think that's a smart strategy.  The market will tell us soon enough if we are right.   

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to dine with Ludacris at his not so new (one year old) restaurant, Straits.  The fact is, I didn't actually dine with Ludacris, but with my wife and four friends.  But the restaurant is designed to give me the impression that at any moment, Ludacris will sit down and break spring rolls with us.  From the music to the decor to his personal chef who greeted us not once, but twice with his recommendations and his interest in our dining experience. 

So it was the celebrity of Ludacris and a well placed article in Food and Wine Magazine (one can never underestimate the continued influence of print publicity) that led us to the former Spice Restaurant located at on again, off again, on again Juniper in Atlanta's Midtown District.  But beyond the celebrity, it was the food (the best Asian-influenced meal I have had in Atlanta). 

Of course, celebrity owned does not translate to success, but a celebrity who loves food and has the resources to bring in the best ingredients and the best chefs, that's a winning combo. 

When it comes to emerging and social media, it's obvious that the communications landscape is changing at a rapid pace.  The days of the brand being in control are over. 

We're now faced with an environment in which consumers rule.  You will still be true to your brand identity with external communications, however, consumers may read it, rank it, vote for or against it, modify it to meet their needs, or create original communications of their own.  The conversations are taking place.  We can either choose to ignore them or get involved and become a trusted voice in the social media landscape. 

It can be extremely tense when you're not in total control of your message.  But there are very basic things you can do to join the conversations. 

Know your digital footprint.  There are a variety of methods we use for tracking, analyzing and responding to social media chatter.  You have to know where the conversation epicenters exist and who the influential gatekeepers are.  By monitoring your digital footprint, you also become aware of the nature of those conversations - either positive, negative or neutral.  

Analyze.  Define the opportunities and threats to achieving your brand goals. 

Plan.  Develop an action plan that doesn't isolate social media from other, more traditional, activities, but rather, seeks to encompass everything you do, making even your more traditional approaches work harder. 

Act.  Respond as appropriate - realizing that in some instances no response is required.  Engage your customer service, Public Relations, legal and other communications team members in your planning process.  They bring unique perspectives for using social media to achieve results in their respective disciplines. 

Engage.  To have credibility in the social media realm, you need presence in that realm and ongoing interactions with those who follow your brand.  You can't dive in and out, like a hawk, conversing or having an opinion only when things are wrong.  Engagement also requires proactivity.  As you find and engage your followers, use that opportunity to talk about the knowledge you have that may help them, in addition to key information on your brand. 

Influence.  The real key to media (social or otherwise) success is the ability to not only build a following, but to influence them in positive ways.  This is where many consultants or agencies fall short.  They only take you to "engage" and ignore influence.  We believe that if you're not creating mutually beneficial relationships, you're only realizing half the benefits social media can bring. 

I recently read and article in Franchise Times about net lease properties and way they are perceived in today's market.  I have to say that the article only took the investment real estate product type to a certain level.  It did not overstate the obvious that net lease investments are still an attractive alternative to other passive investments. 

For restaurateurs, the outflow of capital to construct your location could be prohibitive, especially now.  But selling the real estate and leasing it back (a sale-leaseback) could be a very viable alternative to bank financing or a tool to pay down debt within one's operations. 

There are pros and cons, of course, but all owner operators should be aware of the option.

There's no such thing as a silent voice any longer.  Give any person access to an internet connection and suddenly, they can communicate and influence behavior across the globe almost instantaneously depending on the significance or the extreme nature of that content.  That's a powerful dynamic that should be treated with great respect.  When new franchisees come through our system and are trained on franchise operations and marketing, many initially don't want to hear about the Internet ... about MySpace, Facebook and the like.  They don't want their employees to know about Facebook, let alone encourage them to start a page.  We tell them, it's too late for that.  You can no longer hide the candy and you certainly can't treat your youthful employees like children. 

We say embrace the technology, empower your employees and let them know you too are engaged -- watching, reaching and participating.  So rather than say, hey, we don't want you on Facebook.  Let's say, I'll offer $50 this month to the person who builds the most fans on our Facebook page.  Of course, many business owners will for the near future use the Domino's situation as reason not to engage in a social media program.  We say learn from it.  Employees have a growing circle of influence.  So if we empower them, treat them with respect, they will in turn surprise you.  The trick is spending the right amount of time during the interview process.  It's critical and it should not be short-cutted in any way. 

Personally, I'm not a big pizza person ... would rather opt for a smoothie, but I may have to order a Domino's tonight to show support for the thousands of good employees whose lives depend on their weekly paycheck from a company trying to do the right thing.  "Domino's, can I take your order ... Yeah, I would like to ..."

Forrest Gump said it best or maybe it was his momma ... "stupid is as stupid does" and thank the higher beings for giving each of us the God-given ability to be stupid in the kind of public way that puts the bad guys and girls behind bars.  That's the beauty of social media.  If you want to be stupid or criminal, please go right ahead and use a social media environment like YouTube to secure a padded cell and some hard time. 

I can't wait for the day when we find ourselves in some version of the Minority Report ... where as you walk down the street, retail stores know who you are and where you have been and whether you have been bad or good.  Ok.  Ok.  I know that's a little extreme so everyone on the left can cool their jets ... seeing that I'm from the left.  But I do love the transparency of social media ... that should remind all of us that life is no longer like a box of chocolates when you play on the Internet. 

With all that said, it's an unfortunate place for Domino's.  Every retail brand in the market is vulnerable to this type of behavior.  I won't beat up Domino's any more than they have by saying what they did or didn't do was wrong.  I will say that I think using YouTube as a vehicle for response was/is smart.  I think there's also an opportunity to use this incident to redefine for America's increasingly influential Millenials and Gen Y what is appropriate behavior and what is just plain criminally stupid.  Heck yeah, let's have some fun because life is too short, too complicated, too stressful, but if we can't do it in a positive way, DON'T DO IT AT ALL. 

Remember when the Domino's concept first appeared on a mass scale in the 1980's?  If you recall, people were leaving white collar jobs to become delivery drivers in order to learn the business from the bottom.  Owning and operating a Domino's franchise was a badge of honor and almost a sure way of solidifying financial security.  The "social network" then was a yellow page ad, some direct mail and most likely "word of mouth" advertising.  Things are definitely different today.  We know that stopping at those "archaic" tactics will truly limit the growth of your brand. 

The variations on electronic interactive/social networking are so vast now that it's hard to know exactly where to focus your energy.  Of course Twitter, blogging and creating videos is almost the norm today, but how can we be sure that we are attracting the population that we intend.  The answer is; we aren't sure.  However, with the ability to reach more people than ever before, it becomes a task of probability rather than targeted marketing.  While Facebook was once seen as pure social experience, my colleague proved me wrong with a multi-million dollar transaction he generated through the platform. 

Reaching millions in an instant has its benefits, for sure.  However, we are learning that there are times when we wish the road to success started with being a Domino's driver.

Of course, it's easy for me to say that.  I'm in franchising.  I want you to read this post and believe it.  I want you to call Tanya who heads up our franchise sales and say, hey, Chris said it's a great time to buy a Planet Smoothie (www.planetsmoothie.com) or a Shane's Rib Shack (www.shanesribshack.com) so that's why I'm calling.  Well, if I could get people pontificating at the top of their lungs about what "Chris said," I would be an eternal optimist like my blog colleague, Mr. Trevelino. 

But I do believe it's a great time.  First, franchisors are offering big incentives.  We are about to hit the road with a Planet Smoothie Franchise U Tour that has us giving away $5,000 in cash the day a franchisee opens his or her store.  And one franchisee will get a $25,000 credit.  We're not the only ones.  Papa John is marketing a 25^th anniversary development incentive program.  Carvel Ice Cream is rolling out new store incentives. And on and on. 

Let's look at real estate deals.  They are available in all forms, from franchisors looking to hand off existing stores to new, qualified franchisees because an existing franchisee simply doesn't have the capital to weather the current environment.  Many of those stores have tremendous potential with the right franchisee.  And guess what, in some cases you may save $300,000+ in build out costs, readying to start your business in weeks.  Let's talk about build-out where it is necessary.  In some cases, you can get a deal from the landlord on build-out or from the local contractor you hire.  Material and labor costs are down, way down.  Mortgage rates are down.  And it doesn't stop there. 

Food costs, down.  Marketing costs, down.  Printing costs, down.  Legal fees, down.  Consultant costs, down.  Sure, all that needs to be tempered with the fact that credit remains tight.  I get that fact, but franchises don't get signed over night and the credit market is showing signs of freeing.  So my advice, file the resume, pull your friends together, make the call to 'dear old dad' for some capital (beats investing in the market) and start looking at franchises that are hot in today's environment because I believe there are some obvious ones - healthy convenience brands, fast casual brands in mainstay food sectors like pizza, bbq, sandwiches. 

And in the words of Ray Kroc, "If you're not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business."

G'day Dean,

Had a fantastic day today. Harvested five vineyard blocks. Sunburnt, legs aching... and very happy. Brilliant fruit so far this year. We are so lucky to have this property. Just finished bottling the 2008's. You are going to be knocked out by them. Unbelievably rich and intense.  We can't wait to share them with you in August.

I love getting emails from wineries.  They are so optimistic about life.  And Molly Dooker  just happens to be one of my favorites.  But I'm not writing so much today about Molly Dooker as I am the idea of a positive sentiment.  My wife says I'm an eternal optimist, in between calling me a crab.  Ain't in the truth.  My optimism feels beatin down by the pessimists of the world who really do enjoy delivering doom and gloom.  And they come in all forms ... media, clients, friends, family ... let's not forget the bankers, economists, politicians.  Here's my proposal.  Send all the pessimists to an island or make them all extras for the show, LOST.  The rest of us we'll stay put and battle the current economy with perserverance, hope and intestinal fortitude.  And as far as the crab reference, I'll vow to keep it on the menu at my next dining out vs as part of my demeanor. 

There's a great line (actually many great lines) from the 1930s Depression-based true story of James J. Braddock (Cinderella Man www.cinderellamanmovie.com ), the eventual world heavyweight champion who became a symbol of hope for a country 'downtrodden' as a result of the market crash.

Braddock's manager, played by Paul Giamatti, tells Russell Crowe, who plays Braddock, he's got to "... beat him from the inside out, from the inside out."

Aside from offering up that motivational two and a half hour reprieve from doom and gloom, I'm clearly partial to having experts from within the industry share the ring with outside experts. We are living and breathing the current environment as owners of franchises, in markets around the country.  We are trying new strategies, new technologies ... relying more on social media to connect with the consumer.  We are about to hit the road with franchise tours design to drive home the message that the American Dream of business ownership lives and that the dream can be fulfilled easier today (in many respects--franchise incentives, good real estate options, cheaper construction build-out) than what we have seen in recent years. And I believe the credit freeze will begin to warm in the coming months.  

We were fortunate enough just two months ago to strike a private equity deal to acquire Shane's Rib Shack and Planet Smoothie.  While that type of deal may be few and far between these days, I believe we will start to hear about more such movement, but you've got to get your brand in as good a shape as you can.  Here's to more Cinderella stories. 

As a principle in my firm, I am constantly looking for new ideas, fresh air, and another perspective. I have found over the years that, while I focus on a very specific niche market, I need to explore other areas and even other industries. It is so easy to operate in the status quo and continue to feel that the "market" will serve your needs. Benjamin Franklin has been quoted as saying that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." However, it was actually a writer named Rita Mae Brown who made that quote in the 1980's. If I didn't search for a new idea, I would have never have known about Ms. Brown.

Some of the best new ideas come when you are looking for some else. Ruth Graves Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie during The Great Depression trying to substitute for ingredients she didn't have in her possession. The Empire State Building was designed and built during The Depression as well; the largest technological advancement since the radio.

The point being that constantly reaching for new goals will always enhance the status quo. Getting outside influences to enhance your projects is not only suggested, but should be required. So the next time you are stuck at your desk, working on something that you've done a million times before, remember that there may be another way, a better way to accomplish what you are doing.

It seems the sentiment is for expertise that outside looking in and experience that's inside offering a hands-on perspective. Ironically, I was just at the SEVC (Southeast Venture Conference) a few weeks back where Rich Karlgaard wrapped up the three day show.  His comments were some of the best and I wrote about it on March 16 on our company blog -- PR-Speak.com www.pr-speak.com. Despite getting his right wing digs into the conversation, I completely agreed with Rich's conclusions that segments of the market will come back soon, but the mass media will continue to play up the negative industry sectors, thereby confusing the marketplace regarding the recovery.

I have also heard and believe that those sectors that will rebound or will continue to hold flat or slightly above include: professional service sectors, wireless, credit unions, healthcare while franchising will be one to rebound sooner rather than later. However, like the real estate market, don't be fooled into thinking that all concepts will thrive. With that said, I think it makes sense for Dine America to have those in-house experts, if you will, who can tell us what is working and what is not.  I think they can round out the conversation nicely as opposed to a number of outside experts where we run the risk of being talked over, preached to or simply misinterpreted. Round it out please.

I don't know that answer, but social media as defined by my agency -- social networks, blogs, microblogs, photo and video sharing sites -- seems to be on everyone's mind, in all the media and at the fingertips of everyone's laptops and blackberries.  Admittedly I'm a novice ... just trying to crank out two blogs a week as my serious entry into this new universe.  I do appreciate the phenomenon every time I take a peek at our Facebook page for Planet Smoothie, a cult-like brand that's approaching 7,000 fans or Shane's Rib Shack.  

What I am beginning to recognize is the power of social media for the restaurant industry.  The idea that most of a restaurant's staff is, well, Facebook age, seems like a golden opportunity.  That  opportunity is to empower the 18-30 year-old group to build your brand in this Web 2.0 world.  It doesn't matter if I or my peers fully understand it as long as we are mindful of the brand and genuine in our communications, why not incent these young people to do more than simply ring up checks and deliver food.  Shouldn't it be a part of the interview process.  "I see that you have five years of fine dining experience, some fast casual and that you've worked in the front of the house as well as the back of the house, but do you have a Facebook page?  Do you belong to FOHBOH and Biteclub?  Sure the restaurant concept needs to have a smart brand, good products, an engaging experience to compete and survive.  But to win, from all that I read, see and experience these days, I think social media is an important ingredient to win in the restaurant industry.  Chow!

I'm in real estate...and if you've been Siberia for the last 6 months, you may not know that the market isn't what it used to be.  Therefore, I started cooking for my wife a little more than usual.  While we still go out to eat roughly 2-3 times a week, I actually started to try to impress my wife with a little culinary flare.  At first, this was a problem.  I don't cook.  Most of what I was able to put on the table resembled college dorm room food entailing mac and cheese, PB&J and an occasional salad. 

However, now things are seen differently.  I discovered internet recipe sites.  While I am now able serve something that is somewhat palatable, I feel our evenings will never look something like this (reverse roles);

So, before our conversation turns into...

we should understand that Celebrity Chefs are exciting and necessary to promote new restaurants, new fare, etc.  However, I'm trying to keep my wife under the radar so she continues to feel like I am the only REAL chef in her life.

Like Mr. Trevelino, I too pass Flip on the way to our offices in Midtown West.  I see his lunch time crowds are consistent which is more than most concepts can say these days.  So Blais has proven he can create a successful restaurant, but that doesn't guarantee he has proven its scalability. 

While he is a bit of a celebrity chef, unfortunately this will only carry you so far considering he can only be in one restaurant at a time. The fact that he's moved around so much may create some challenges with attracting investors.

However, I do believe he has conceptualized something that doesn't exist in the market ... a high-end fast casual concept.  It will be critical proving comparable economics on store #2 and #3.

On the down side, I think executing consistently on food quality will be a challenge, especially when you rely on such excellent food--ask Emeril about the importance here.  His construction costs are likely to be a little high; however, there has never been a better time to negotiate TI dollars from the landlords.  His seating limits him a bit but I do like the crowded feel. 

The good news is that he can own two plus day parts--lunch, dinner and potentially late night.  His bar is also a very smart revenue generator, day or night. 

Real estate is the wild card.  While his Howell Mill location was likely a steal, especially in this market, the question is will industrial real estate be the model going forward.  Can he scale his Atlanta celeb to other markets in industrial zones.  Answer the question and you may very well have answered the scalability question. 

I had the opportunity to meet Anthony Bourdain, chef, writer and host of Travel Channel's No Reservations last week at the UCLA Restaurant Leadership conference, where we were both speakers (he was the keynote for lunch and a total crack up!).

He has always been my favorite celebrity chef since I read his book, Kitchen Confidential.  I was so excited to meet him and give him a copy of my book, while he signed a copy of his book for me, but he seemed disinterested.  I was pretty bummed that my favorite celeb chef was "too good" for me, but I realized that he has received so much celebrity treatment that it isn't what makes him happy.  I am sure he has so many fans and by the line of more than 100 people long to get his autograph I realized that he probably gets bombarded all the time with fans and I was no exception.

I am happy that Anthony along with many other celeb chefs have elevated the restaurant industry's awareness and in fact, an article that came out today referrs to how many people are now getting involved with and looking for work within our industry--click here

Below are some photos of me, Linda Duke and Anthony Bourdain! 

I just read an article regarding Go-Go Yogurts business plan to co-brand with struggling concepts to add a healthy product.  As Dennis Lombardi with WD Partners says, "It doesn't work for everybody, but when done right it will improve traffic to the site." This article got me thinking about ways business are pulling through the tough economy and made me wonder if this is a really an option that works.

Of the multiple concepts I have had my hands in, only one have we thought would work in a dual-branded environment. It takes time to make the decision that could end up being a costly one if it doesn't work.  Co-branding efforts for Planet Smoothie are most successful in mall environments, however concepts such as KFC and Taco Bell have shown great success in free standing locations.

The most important thing is to understand your customer, know your market and know your brand...and more importantly know the brand you want to co-exist with. Are your business philosophies the same; are your marketing practices the same?  It goes beyond good food and beverages to good relationships.