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BRAND
AWARENESS
by
Jason Kelly
For
ten years Leeds based Jason Kelly has been providing the full mix of
marketing and public relations solutions, with an emphasis on brand
creation and protection. With a history of working within a cross-section
of business industries from the foodservice sector to manufacturing
and engineering, Jason explains why brand identity plays an important
part within the foodservice sector. |
Why
brand identity is food for thought
Hands up if
anyone can tell me the similarity between a secret recipe and a brand
proposition? They both need shouting about, whilst at the same time protecting.
That's right,
a brand is as precious as a great dish to any restaurant, after all
one gets customers coming back whilst the other states why they
should visit your restaurant in the first place.
No matter what
your product or service offering is the key to any business success
is standing out from the crowd for the right reasons and then
communicating the value of your offering and letting your customers
understand who you are, what you have to offer and more importantly
the value of your offering.
The most
important thing to remember about the word 'brand' is that it is not
a product, service or organisation, but the ethos which surrounds it
- in other words what the customer associates with your restaurant.
This could be great food, great atmosphere, great service, or all
three. Great brands are known and trusted. For example, if I asked
you to name a cereal maker you will probably think of the name
Kellogg's. Or if said name a soft drink you would more than likely
say Coca Cola and the reason for thinking of these brands is because
they are just that, brands.
Understanding
your offering and the value associated with it is a good start, but
then you need to communicate this understanding to your target
audience, which is where public relations techniques come in to play.
Public relations or PR is the art or science, depending on the way in
which you look at, in which to communicate a message to your existing
customer base or desired target audience. Unlike some
misunderstandings, PR is not just about spending money on events,
although events in its true form is another communication tool, but
more about establishing the core message and then translating it in a
way that the person or persons you what to reach not only hear it,
but more importantly understand it.
There are a
number of ways in which PR communicates the core message, such as
through the media, by carefully thought through events, as well as
other external communications. Moreover, PR techniques should also be
translated into other forms, such as the way you answer the phone,
the appearance of your waiting staff and the welcome they receive
when entering your restaurant.
Remember like
any other business it's all about perception and how that perception
is translated and ultimately perceived. Develop a clear identity and
communicate it in a way that people will remember, because like any
brand the value will become identifiable and ultimately a trusted
proposition. But like any brand identity its creation is only the
start, because then you need to think about maintaining and
protecting it, which is where creative marketing and PR techniques
come into play once again.
There is no
doubt like a lot of businesses, the foodservice sector is a highly
competitive industry and only the brave, passionate, and those with a
determination to survive will stand half a chance. But the
foodservice sector like any other industry needs to embrace and use
creative marketing and public relations techniques to introduce,
maintain, and protect a brand identity.
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