How to Refresh Your Brand
The process of reinventing your restaurant brand
The industry is rapidly changing (including consumption habits), there’s always new competition, and of course, you should embrace it. With this in mind, an evolution of your brand is likely inevitable. How do you want your customers to remember you when they order a take-out to when they follow your social media accounts?
It is important to ensure that your story and mission flow in every aspect of your customer experience. As a restaurateur, you need to be aware of the feeling and emotions created in your network. Consistency and fluidity of your restaurant brand are key for a strong customer base. What does the customer take home with them?
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That feeling they leave with impacts your business by not only influencing whether they return themselves but also what feedback they share both online and offline. A brand should be consistent both inside and outside the restaurant. So though you may have probably heard this before, you should consider your restaurant’s visibility both online and offline.
A little soul searching
Explore the soul of your restaurant concept to set the foundations of your brand … do you find it yet? If not, now is the very time to dig deeper and curate the essence of your existence. It is always best to do this while understanding your audience and by keeping your existing customers in mind. Do your research to work out where you will position yourself in the market. Why will foodies come to you? Write up your mission statement once you’ve figured out the heart of your brand.
Go back to the drawing board
A memorable logo & design assets hold significant importance to the power of your brand. So it’s worth investing in doing this right to reflect the personality within your concept. Our team recently went through this very process - here’s an introduction to our new brand.
Creating these materials with a complementary tagline will be super useful for your signage, website, social media, business cards, and restaurant banners. These days a website is essential (more so throughout covid-19). Online ordering capabilities have massively helped to keep restaurants alive.
Menu design (digital and paper versions) can be a deal-breaker… really.
Menu style, layout, and size can be a deal-breaker for potential customers. Simple calculations for prices versus ingredients can make sure that you maintain margins. It’s all a matter of balancing variety and options for your customer base, with costs and amounts of food waste.
Watch your waste both inside and outside the kitchen.
Demonstrating your awareness around waste and sustainability can make a whole lot of difference when trying to build a stronger connection with customers. It can make your brand even more powerful. It is only a benefit to communicate how you’re trying to reduce food waste in the Back of House.
Maybe you’ve reduced your menu size or you’re donating leftovers at the end of the day. Do your best to source some well-priced take-out containers and cutlery which are ideally compostable in your local area. Trust us, customers are impressed if they can be saved from the guilt of having to throw away heaps of plastic after 15 minutes of eating lunch.
Does your restaurant have a social life...online? Sounds weird, but it matters, or at least helps.
You’ve figured out by now that presentation matters including the tone of voice used. Extend the research of your brand on social media.
Restaurant social media activity amplifies brand awareness. While paying for radio and newspaper advertisements is not as common it used to be, marketing a business effectively via social media can cost just as much of your time. Therefore, it’s great to keep track of your return on marketing investment (ROMI). This will allow you to really know what value you get back from all these branding efforts. How?
- What was your sales growth during this period?
- What was the total cost of your marketing/branding investment?
- Take one away from the other
- Divide by your total marketing investment and then x 100 to get a % age
There you have it.
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Final food for thought.
Supporting and promoting your chefs is also a channel of positively marketing your brand. Do you have any Thought Leader Chefs that embody your restaurant’s vision and values?
Let’s get started and bring it to life!
It’s by no means a quick and easy process, however, we hope you’re now feeling confident and ready to execute your plan. Our priority at Choco is always to support restaurants, to offer help and guidance throughout these unstable times.