CHICAGO —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
Social-networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn have taken over as today’s word-of-mouth marketing tools, and restaurateurs are joining the conversation—sometimes in 140 characters or less. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
At last month’s National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, celebrity chef Rick Bayless tweeted to his followers on Twitter just prior to his culinary demonstration, suppliers posted new-product news on websites and Facebook accounts, and a new Chicago-based restaurant, Sunda, aired a video on YouTube that outlined the restaurant’s development and menu philosophy. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“The water cooler keeps moving, and you need to be everywhere your customers are,” said Margie Myers, senior vice president of communications at Dunkin’ Brands. “Social media isn’t going away, but you don’t want it to.… How great is it that you can connect directly to the customer?” —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
In Chicago, executives from leading restaurant companies including Dunkin’, McDonald’s Corp., The Krystal Company and Rockit Ranch Productions shared their recent experiences with social media. The key takeaways for operators looking to use social networking included the need for authentic messaging, regardless of the medium used; an understanding that new social-media tools are two-way discussions with consumers and are not always under corporate control; and the need for entire organizations to be engaged around a single marketing strategy. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
Each executive stressed the idea that today’s social-media tools are just like yesterday’s word-of-mouth marketing tactics. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“Your brand is not what you say it is, it is what your customers say it is,” said Andy Sernovitz, author of “Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking.” “Now is the time to build an army of fans that will talk about you for free.” —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
Sernovitz moderated the panel discussion at the NRA Show’s Restaurant Executive Breakfast on May 16. He said restaurants need to follow two basic rules when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing through social media. First, it is imperative to give customers a positive reason to talk about a brand, through attributes like service, food quality or ambience. Second, a brand then needs to make it easy for customers to have a conversation through the development of interactive websites, or Facebook or Twitter accounts. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
At Dunkin’ Brands, the company uses various social-networking venues, especially Twitter, where Dunkin’ Dave updates his status, offers promotions and keeps consumers in touch with all things Dunkin’. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
The Canton, Mass.-based company, which is parent to the Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins chains that together total more than 14,000 locations, started using Twitter in October 2008. Dunkin’ Dave is a member of the company’s public-relations staff who really understands the brand, is a good writer and has a good sense of humor, Myers said. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“You hear about interns on a company’s Twitter, and that does not make sense,” she said. “You wouldn’t have an intern create a marketing campaign.” —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
Dunkin’ said they developed some standards for its use of Twitter, but then stepped out of the way. As social-networking sites and tactics develop and change, companies using them will need to get used to uncertainty, Myers noted. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“Twitter is people-speak, not corporate-speak,” she said. “We didn’t know what would happen, but that’s the nature of social media.… Uncertainty gets rid of complacency…it keeps you on the balls of your feet, and that’s a good stance to have in this competitive marketplace.” —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
At Krystal, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company that operates or franchises about 400 quick-service restaurants throughout the South, the use of social-networking sites was an important marketing choice to help the smaller company garner an added return on investment. Because the company doesn’t have a large marketing budget, word-of-mouth marketing is an important element of the chain’s public relations, officials said. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
Tapping into the brand’s well-known Krystal burgers, which are small, square, slider-like sandwiches, the company encourages customers to use YouTube, Facebook, cell phone texting or Twitter to discuss how many Krystals they can eat. The chain holds an annual worldwide hamburger-eating contest, known as the Square Off. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“People were already talking about it, so we asked, ‘How do we tap into that?’” said Brad Wahl, vice president of marketing at Krystal. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
The company’s website offers customers an opportunity to create a fantasy-eating league modeled on the popular football, baseball and basketball fantasy leagues. Krystal chose the Square Off as the best way to jump into social networking because it was an authentic part of the brand. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“You must employ consistency, and you must be real,” Wahl said. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
McDonald’s USA senior vice president of communication, William Whitman, emphasized the need for ground rules surrounding new and changing social-media strategies. He said it was imperative to engage an entire organization around a single marketing strategy so that everyone understands the goal and tactics. McDonald’s spent a lot of time listening to what consumers were saying about the brand first, then slowly started to engage in the dialogue and now is looking to lead the conversations taking place. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“Get your leadership involved and don’t forget your attorneys,” he said. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
While the opportunities to engage customers are endless with social-networking sites, the possibilities of negative commentary also come along with the territory. Unfortunate video clips, most recently experienced by Domino’s Pizza, for example, can spread like wildfire. Comment features on corporate websites and Twitter or Facebook discussions can’t be monitored or controlled. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“When it’s good, it’s really good,” Whitman said. “When it’s not good, well, therein lies the opportunity.” —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
Most of the executives said they have found loyal customers coming to the defense of a chain or brand when it is facing negative publicity, especially if the brand has been authentic during its forays into social networking. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“Be genuine,” Whitman said, “and your customers will reward you for that.” —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
At the end of the day, it’s most important to guard customer relationships like any friendship, carefully and respectfully, the executives said. —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”
“As an entrepreneur, all you have is your relationships,” said Billy Dec, president and partner at Rockit Ranch Productions, which operates Sunda, Rockit Ranch Bar & Grill and the nightclub Underground. “It takes a commitment to relationship building.”— [email protected] —One of the hottest questions in the restaurant industry is “What are you doing?”