Category Archives: food

May 15, 2015 · 9:34 am

Tweetza!

Our Foodie Friday Fun ventures into pizza today. You might have read or heard that Dominos has made it possible to order a pizza via Twitter. That’s right – no more picking up the phone and dialing. Now it’s just pick up the phone and tweet out an order. If you’re a regular, all you might have to do is send out a pizza emoji. According to this piece in USA Today, Domino’s Twitter ordering system will make it the “first major player in the restaurant industry to use Twitter, on an ongoing basis, to place and complete an order.”

Русский: Коробки для пиццы.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can laugh or shrug your shoulders, but this is important.  First, Domino’s focus is squarely on convenience for their customers.  One hears the word “frictionless” a lot when technology is being described and this is the epitome of making it easy for your customers to buy your product.  This isn’t new for Domino’s either. The company has invested tens of millions of dollars in technology and now employs more than 250 IT staff. A big part of what they do: trying to make it easier for consumers to order pizza.  It’s not just Twitter – they have ordering capabilities for a bunch of devices, including smart televisions and smart watches.

It may also be a seminal moment in social commerce.  Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms have been trying to figure out inoffensive and profitable ways to integrate commerce into social media.  While it’s not happening yet, one can easily see Twitter demanding a slice of the pie (see what I did there?)  from each order placed via their platform.

Most of what I like about this is that Domino’s is making the technology work for them and for their customers.  They’re not threatened by disruption – they’re embracing it.  No more Yellow Pages for listings?  No Blockbuster to partner with for dinner and a movie?  Move on.  As the USA Today article concludes:

Doyle says that Domino’s will continue to look at platforms “where people are spending time” such as Facebook and Instagram. “This certainly will not be our last platform.”

That’s their (smart) approach.  What’s yours?

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media, food

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

May 8, 2015 · 10:03 am

Coffee, Burned

Foodie Friday has come around again and this week it brings us coffee. The folks at Keurig manufacture coffee makers and the pods that hold the coffee itself. They had an earnings call the other day and it brought out some very valuable lessons for all of us. Keurig’s financial results were not good and their stock has been hammered subsequent to the announcement. That’s not so instructive but the reasons why certainly are.

You might have one of these machines. If you do, you’re aware that the pods are both very expensive and not particularly earth-friendly. As what I consider to be a consumer-friendly nod to that, Keurig also makes a little reusable pod that you can fill with your favorite coffee. It’s less expensive, I find it makes better coffee, and the coffee grounds are the only trash. Of course if you want to go the single use pod route, there are lots of sources for them other than the “official” Keurig partners.

Keurig introduced its new flagship machine recently and there were some changes. First, the machine would only accept “official” Keurig pods – sort of Coffee Rights Management. The interwebs quickly figured out how to bypass this but the fact that it was deployed at all demonstrated Keurig’s thinking. Next, the reusable pod doesn’t fit in the new machine nor has Keurig made one. You MUST buy disposable pods.

Why would Keurig do this? Simple – the profit margin on the pods is huge. The results? Sales of coffee machines and accessories are down 23% in the last year and Keurig was forced to lower its 2015 sales forecast. Oops.

Of course, it’s not Keurig’s fault, at least not in their minds. “Some of this was due to consumer confusion around pod compatibility.” That’s the CEO on the earnings call.  OK, we’re dumb, but at least you admit you were too:

…we took the My K-cup away and quite honestly we’re wrong. We missed, we didn’t – we underestimated, it’s the easiest way to say, we underestimated the passion that consumer had for this. And when we did it, and we realized it, we’re bringing it back because it was we missed it.

The lessons are pretty apparent.  Don’t build your business around a plan that conflicts with your customers.  If they like a product, make it better or less expensive, or both.  Don’t take it away because you think it might improve your profits.  When something you’ve done isn’t accepted or working the way you planned, alluding to “consumer confusion” without admitting you caused it is narcissistic.  Frankly, for many people I know their morning K-Cup is not consumed with a desire for great coffee – it’s fast, it’s convenient, and they get over their guilt about polluting by the time they race out the door.  Getting those people angry by taking away choice in what they put into the machine isn’t growing the business – quite the opposite.

No business can overcome crappy product reviews (the new machine failed miserably) and consumer resentment over less choice.  Keurig’s results demonstrate that very well.  Any questions?

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting, food, Huh?

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

May 1, 2015 · 10:05 am

Cooking For Customers

This Foodie Friday I want to write about something I picked up during Gordon Ramsay‘s AMA session on Reddit this week.  You can read the entire transcript here and for those of you who only think of Chef Ramsay as the screaming maniac  on Hell’s Kitchen it’s worth the read.  One of the questions concerned his views of the Michelin Guide, the oldest international hotel and restaurant reference guide, which awards Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments.  Chef Ramsay’s restaurants have won many Michelin stars and his restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, gained its third Michelin star in 2001, making Ramsay the first Scot to achieve that feat.

Ramsay at BBC Gardeners' World Live 2008

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These stars can make or break a business, and unlike reviews on Yelp or elsewhere they are given by a carefully trained team of reviewers after multiple visits.  Given his track record on winning them, one might think that Ramsay had figured out how the system works and cooks to win the stars that propel his business.  Not so much:

So the stars are awarded to the restaurant. And sometimes the chefs think the stars belong to the chefs, but they belong to the restaurant. The service is just as important. Michelin’s had a hard time in America, because it was late coming to the table. But if there’s one thing I respect, it’s consistency. They manage to identify consistently, and it’s all there for the customer. So when people ask me “What do you think of Michelin?” I don’t cook for the guide, I cook for customers.

That is good guidance whether your business involves a kitchen or not. First, there is a recognition that his business – and yours! – are taken as a whole and reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the team.  The front of house service is just as important as the food.  Your customer service is just as important as the quality of your product or professional service.  Second, his focus is not on catering to the reviewers.  It is squarely where it belongs – on his customers.

Each of us can ask if were cooking for reviewers – our bosses, our board, our stockholders – rather than our customers.  We need to think of the business as a team effort and not as some reflection of our own worth.  The statement, above, is a great reminder of that to me.  You?

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , , , ,