Tag Archives: Food

July 13, 2018 · 1:01 pm

Bad Boys And Brands

Happy Foodie Friday! There’s been a food-related story making the headlines this week and I think it reflects something that can be useful to any of us in business. The founder and chairman of Papa Johns Pizza had to step down this week after he admitted to using the N-word in a company conference call. It has sparked a public relations crisis and it’s not the first one his actions have caused. You might remember that he also weighed in on the controversy surrounding NFL players and their kneeling during the national anthem. While he certainly wasn’t the first sponsor to criticize a league, doing so over an issue that went way beyond the league itself resulted in a public relations issue for the brand.

While I’ve never been a fan of Papa John’s pizza, his bad behavior made me all the more certain I’d never eat it again. One person whose food I am a fan of is Mario Batali. Even so, I’ll not be going to any restaurant associated with him. His bad behavior caused him to “step back” from his restaurant empire following the first public allegations of sexual misconduct. That was followed up by a 60 Minutes story. Even so, he hadn’t completely divested himself of a financial interest, and that certainly affected the brand, so much so that three of his restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip are set to close even though they were doing well.  The local partner in these restaurants, Las Vegas Sands Corp., decided to end the relationship with Batali’s organization.

Why do I bring this up? Because every one of us in business is a celebrity on some level. We might be nationally known or maybe it’s just our customers, partners or employees who consider us famous. Our actions can enhance or damage our personal and corporate brands every day and we need to remember that no incident remains quiet or hidden for very long. Nearly every person is holding a camera and a video recorder in their hands and bad behavior rarely goes unnoticed or unpublicized.

There was a restaurant I patronized on a regular basis. The food was OK if unextraordinary, the prices were reasonable but the owner was a great guy. I loved spending a little while with him every time I went and I kept going back because he took great care of me as well as did good things in our community. We are our brands, and how we act can damage that brand as badly as a misplaced ad or a faulty product. Enjoy your weekend!

 

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June 29, 2018 · 9:50 am

Eating At Mom’s

This Foodie Friday, I’d like you to think of your favorite restaurants. How many of them are national chains and how many of them are family-owned? How many of them serve “fancy” food and how many of them serve great versions of something you might find on your grandmother’s table? I’m willing to bet that most of your favorites are local and cook what your Italian or Chinese or Jewish grandmother might make.

Independent restaurants are growing twice as fast as chains, and there are reasons for this, according to Pentallect a research firm. Consumers rate independent restaurants as more superior on 12 of 15 attributes studied. Consumers see the independents as sharing consumers’ values and offering quality food and better service. They’re special, community-oriented and offering personalized service.

There’s a breakfast joint I go to. It’s a little cafe in the small downtown area here. Yes, there are franchised diners, Waffle Houses, and the breakfast offerings of many chains around, but you’ll find me eating at this place for precisely the reasons found in the study. Two visits and from then on I’ve been greeted as if I’ve lived here forever. I’m asked about my golf game and Michigan Football. The food is quite good but not at all fancy. What does this have to do with your business?

Unless they’re going out for a big, fancy meal, I think people like to feel as if they’re eating at Mom’s. It’s nice when you’re traveling that you can count on a chain to offer you exactly the same experience no matter what but the food is usually bland, a dumbed-down example of the good stuff. Pastrami at Subway? No thanks. You need to convey both the authenticity and good feeling one gets when pulling up a chair at a great local joint. It’s not fancy, it’s just good. You’re welcomed as family and not with some script developed back at corporate. Let your customers take their time. I find I’m rarely rushed at a local place while the chains are focused on “turns.” Would Mom kick you away from the table?

How does your business make customers feel like family? How are your products different from what the big guys offer? How are they better? Those are the things that I’ll bet make the local joint you thought of when I asked the question your favorite. How can you be that for your customers?

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June 22, 2018 · 9:38 am

Old Bay Bacon

It’s Foodie Friday! A friend of mine made some bacon a while back that might have been the best bacon I’ve ever had. It wasn’t so much that it was a nice thick cut nor that it had been perfectly cooked although both were true. Something had been added to the bacon that enhanced its overall porkiness (bacon fans know what I mean) and threw in some extra flavors for good measure. I was smitten.

I asked what was done and the answer was Old Bay. Yes, that Old Bay, the one you have hiding in the back of your spice rack to add to the shrimp and crabs you never quite get around to boiling. While the chef used the same technique I do for bacon (400-degree oven, bacon on a sheet pan for 20 minutes or so, maybe on a rack if you’re feeling ambitious about clean-up), they had sprinkled the raw bacon with Old Bay. It was transformative.

You might not be familiar with Old Bay if you don’t live here in the eastern U.S. It’s a spice blend long associated with Baltimore. Invented in 1940 by a German immigrant fleeing the Nazis, it became ubiquitous in the Chesapeake area and is one of my favorite spice blends. Celery salt, mustard, pepper, bay leaves, cloves, pimento, ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon, and paprika – 18 spices in all – make up this magic dust.

There’s a business point or two to be made here. First, we can’t be afraid to try new uses for old products or people. I would never have thought to put Old Bay on bacon but it’s magic. Maybe you haven’t asked a senior member of your staff to do UX testing on your new digital presence, but why wouldn’t you? If someone who, in theory, is less adept at the digital world can appreciate what you’ve done, odds are that your real target will like it as well. Or take an old product like a tape that was invented to keep ammo cases dry, change the color, and voila! Duct tape. Or maybe a heart medicine that had an unusual side effect in many men and suddenly, Viagra.

Second, to my knowledge, Old Bay’s recipe has never been changed. There’s always a tendency out there to tinker with successful products through line extensions or even wholesale revamps of the product. Resist it. Look at Craig’s List – it’s still pretty much the same as it was when it launched 23 years ago. No bells and whistles, no streaming video, just classifieds and a whole lot of success. Create new things but don’t dilute the brand and don’t ever jeopardize the cash cow. There is Old Bay flavoring in many products, but the core product – the spice blend – has never changed.

Sprinkle a little Old Bay on something – bacon, a Bloody Mary, popcorn, almost anything – and remind yourself that greatness can endure even as we find new ways to incorporate it into our businesses.

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