HOUSTON —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
“We are known for our half-pound hamburgers, but this [technology] gives us the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we also have salads, offer $26 steak dinners through the drive-thru and, if you think that burger is great, look at this ahi tuna sandwich,’” said Molly Voorhees, vice president of Becks Prime, which has 10 fast-casual restaurants and a sports bar. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
Such positioning statements, she said, are conveyed in one or more of six promotional messages in a three-minute multimedia presentation playing on an electronic “greeter” board or through rotating menu board images at the Meyerland Plaza unit. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
Epicure Digital Systems of Beverly Hills, Calif., compiled the multimedia content using Becks-supplied food photography and copy, and it is the company behind the digital menu and marketing system used by the Houston-based chain. The system displays all menu products, pricing and marketing information on five 40-inch NEC Display Solutions LCD panels sealed to keep out grease, food particulates and steam. Four panels are used for the menu presentation above the front counter, with the fifth pressed into “greeter” duty at the restaurant’s entrance. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
Voorhees said that while her 24-year-old company doesn’t offer specials and isn’t prone to frequent price changes, it nevertheless appreciates having the ability to swiftly modify digital menu wording and graphics, presentation style, and layout using a computer with an Internet connection and Epicure Digital’s Web Access, LiveText, LiveMenu and SlideShow Builder software. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
“When you have to change big [backlit, plastic-panel] menu boards, it can get really expensive, and we’re not the kind of company that wanted to use chalk boards,” she said. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
The upfront expense for a digital menu and marketing system might be higher than the initial investment in a backlit plastic-paneled product, Voorhees acknowledged. But she added that the ability of the digital system to incorporate multimedia content means “the marketing bang for our buck is much bigger,” apart from digital signage’s inherent advantage related to updates. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
Epicure Digital officials said deploying a system like the one at Becks Prime requires an initial investment of about $13,500 for engineering and designing the menu for presentation in digital form and the creation of the initial animated promotional content. Add to that, they said, hardware costs of about $16,700 per restaurant for five LCD panels and an Epicure Digital content server computer, and a monthly per-restaurant fee of $49.95 for 24-hour technical support. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
Voorhees said Becks Prime will use digital menu and marketing board technology in a new restaurant opening in Houston’s Willowbrook neighborhood next year and probably will retrofit such systems eventually into many, if not all, established stores. —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
Although quantifying the business case for the use of digital menu and marketing technology can be a challenge, Voorhees indicated, “we’re pretty happy about the outcome” and “will use it going forward.”— [email protected] —Becks Prime, in an effort to more easily update information and more quickly inform new customers about the quality of its food and depth of its menu, has been using digital menu and marketing boards at its Meyerland Plaza restaurant here since March.
