Brand Connections

Both marketing and operations should reinforce a restaurant's personality

By Virginia Gerst, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/1/2004

In a competitive market, branding is an important tool to set a foodservice operation apart from the crowd. No wonder operators across the country are becoming increasingly serious about the business of branding.

"When customers want fresh Mexican food, we want our image to be the one that pops into their heads first," says Matt Andrew, vice president of Atlanta-based Raving Brands, franchiser of Moe's Southwest Grill. The fast-growing chain currently numbers 111 restaurants in 13 states.

Baja Fresh Mexican Grill relies on unit-level brand marketing to bring guests into stores to sample its food—and become returning customers.

A company with the name Raving Brands clearly takes branding seriously. But it has fashioned lighthearted strategies for its fast-casual concepts including 3-year-old Moe's and the chain it inspired, Mama Fu's Noodle House, founded in June 2003. (A third concept, Doc Green's Gourmet Salads, was unveiled in February 2004.

Branding campaigns, woven around fabricated characters Moe and Mama Fu, aim to identify restaurants as fun, hip, and family friendly.

"Food is by far [our top priority]. We put a lot of thought into creating dishes," says Andrew. "But we are an irreverent brand, and we like to create fun destinations."

A "Moe knows..." campaign proclaiming that "Moe knows burritos," "Moe knows fresh" and "Moe knows fun" is part of the chain's radio and television advertisements and appears on company trucks and buses, while dollar-sized giveaway coupons, labeled "Moe Money," are distributed within three miles of all new Moe's. Mama Fu's neighbors get Fu's Gold, and trucks are emblazoned with "Come to Mama."

Inside the restaurants, menu items sport names such as the Homewrecker and The Ugly Naked Guy that are designed to make customers smile; music by Moe's or Mama Fu's favorite entertainers plays on sound systems.

"Mama Fu likes music in the '80s style that she heard her kids listening to, such as the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan," says Andrew. "At Moe's, we play music from Frank Sinatra to Elvis. Moe's favorite musicians are deceased."

The musicians may be dead, but the greeting is lively. All customers are welcomed with a lusty "Welcome to Moe's" or "Come to Mama," sung out by staff members.

Moe's greeting is particularly popular. "Kids walk around the restaurant saying, 'Welcome to Moe's.'"Andrew reports. "The guy named Moe, in and of himself, is as important as hanging our sign out front."

Steak Holders

Brand building is achieved by keeping name and logo visible, as with Mama Fu's delivery vehicles.

Smith & Wollensky's branding targets diners with an affinity for the best.

"We want to be the Tiffany's of steakhouse companies," says Jessica Bride, director of marketing and communications for the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group of 17 restaurants including 10 Smith & Wollensky steakhouses. "We remind ourselves of that before we do anything, from an e-mail campaign to the design of a restaurant."

Smith & Wollensky Founder, Chairman and CEO Alan Stillman puts his money where his brand is. "There's an old saying, if you build a better mousetrap, people will come," he explains. "We think we are building better mousetraps. Our restaurants are more expensive to construct, they are staffed with more expensive people. We go the whole nine yards."

Stillman is convinced that the emphasis on quality "is easily noticeable to anyone walking in the door." To encourage them to do so, New York City-based Smith & Wollensky advertises in national media and stages semi-annual Wine Week promotions at all of its locations during which diners can sample 10 top-quality wines for $10.

The restaurant group also markets its steak sauce and salad dressing in shops around the country, and promotes "Smith & Wollensky Steak" (Friedman/ Fairfax). The book features a preface by Stillman along with photographs, recipes and a history of the restaurant.

This photo of a steak is an integral part of Ruth Chris' branding, appearing in print ads and direct mailings as well as on its Web site.

"We brand every day," says Stillman. "Without branding, we are nothing."

Ruth's Chris Steak House puts sizzle into its brand message. The Metairie, La.-based chain promotes its 89 fine-dining steakhouses with both the sound of searing steak and a photograph of a plump beef filet with a wedge cut from it.

The shot, updated in 2003 to replace a photo that had been in use for more than a decade, is an integral part of the Ruth's Chris national print advertising campaign and appears on the chain's Web site and in all direct mailings. It has become so associated with the chain that people recognize the photo even without Ruth's Chris identification, according to Director of Marketing Deborah Hinson.

The sizzle, the sound heard when a Ruth's Chris steak arrives on a 500F plate, has been a hallmark of the company's brand for decades, says Hinson. "The sound is tough to miss in the dining room," she explains. "Our servers tell customers to hold their napkins up because of the sizzling steak."

Today, the sound is reproduced in television and radio advertisements, where it does the job that branding is supposed to do. "Current customers hear the sizzle and say, 'I love that sizzling steak,'" Hinson reports. "Potential guests ask, 'What's that sound? I want to find out about that sizzle.'"

Just like those hot plates at Ruth's Chris, effective branding can be a boon to a restaurant operation. It can sell the sizzle as well as the steak.

Virginia Gerst is a Chicago-based freelance writer.

Do Mor Branding

The Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A chain of quick-service chicken restaurants does much of its branding with cows.

Its "Eat Mor Chikin" campaign, featuring plaintive bovines urging people to choose chicken over beef, was introduced in 1995 on a single Atlanta billboard. The cows, now featured prominently in all promotions, have become synonymous with Chick-fil-A, helping grow brand awareness by 64% in the company's top 29 markets over the past five years.

"We've been blessed with an extremely successful brand-building campaign," says Don Perry, Chick-fil-A public relations director. "Everything we do with the cows has significant impact."

The cows' images appear on T-shirts, hats, mugs, neckties and other merchandise sold on the company's Web site, and cow calendars are offered, at $5 each, at the more than 1,120 Chick fil-A outlets in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Since 1996, merchandise sales have accounted for $30 million in sales.

But Chick-fil-A does not leave all of its branding efforts to cows. It also contributes generously to causes benefiting families and children. It supports foster care, administers scholarship programs and, most recently, established a marriage-counseling center.

"Our customers know about these things. They are part of the image of our company," says Perry. "And they add to the affinity for the brand."

Giveaways, Word of Mouth Build Baja

The Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A chain of quick-service chicken restaurants does much of its branding with cows.

"We've been blessed with an extremely successful brand-building campaign," says Don Perry, Chick-fil-A public relations director. "Everything we do with the cows has significant impact."

"Our customers know about these things. They are part of the image of our company," says Perry. "And they add to the affinity for the brand."