Restaurant Tracker January 2012

1/12Pin It & Cook ItWine Has Never Been So SweetCaffeine Addicts, UniteBargain HuntingPay-What-You-Can?And more

Pi It & C in Cook It 1/12Pintterest is possib the most po bly opular new soci media webs ial site. Fromrecipes to home décor, it gives you an organize way to colle and sort y ed ectuniq ideas from all of its users After signing up, you create your own que s. eboaards and pick w which of the website’s photos you want to dis splay. Thepictures contain lin to recipes, DIY instruction where a pro nks ns, oduct can befoun blogs, or websites. “Pinne say one of the website’s best attributes nd, ers”is how visual it is. Recipe are one of the most es popula items to “re-pin”. ar Surpr rise, Su urprise Some are from cook king There are ssome days whe deciding wh ere hat websit and others are from tes to have for lunch can be a stressful as as users themselves. A food work. In New York, Brookl lyn-based board serves as an o online rvice takes awa the stress of delivery ser ay f cookbbook of sorts for those overwhelming menus by d deciding for you u. wantin to keep tabs on good ng s recipe they have found. This es Order online two days in a e advance and new w to share an way nd Randwiches will deliver a random $7 s resear recipes, cra rch afts, sandwich. N tips accepte just social No ed, fashio and so many other on, media referrrals. This servi is not ice subjec is growing cts recommend for picky ea ded aters, but those e tremendously. who enjoy t element of surprise will lik the keFoo and restaura marketers should conside the opportuni od ant s er ities to engage e it.this audience with recipes, nutritional tips, food art or other no promotional oncontent, together w sampling offers. While W with o Whole Foods an Better nd Will the randomness be en nough to keepHom and Garde are two of the top brands on Pinterest, t mes ens t there is plenty this small se ervice in busine ess? Only time eof ro oom for other b brands to expand their marke eting techniques and build s will tell, onc again throwing in the eleme ce ent ationships with consumers.rela of surprise.Sou urce: mashable e.com Source: iconoculture.com Flexib Foo ble odGluten-F Free Cra aze Before our rrecession hit, c consumption of breakfast an comfort food was on the nd ds fOne of the most re e ecent diets that seems to be c t catching on is t gluten-free the rise. But wit the economic downturn, thdiet From multiple celebrities en t. e ndorsing the die to the increase of gluten- et quick-serve restaurants ha experience a e ave efree products on s e shelves, this die is no longer for those who a et actually need decline in breakfast demand as manyit. consumers are making the own at home. eir Nummerous people trying to lose weight or be m e more The next ev volution of dinin out should b ng be hea conscious h alth have flex-casual, fast eateries that offer counter jumped on this ban ndwagon. service for a three meals and snacks. T all This But eliminating gluuten from would give t customer c the complete flexibility daily regimens has not y s in what and how much the would like to d ey o prov to really be ven enefit eat. A variety of choices, e even ones that it thos who do not h se have is not “time” for, will increa the popular ” ase rity celia disease. In f ac fact, lack of Flex Casual Format. of w wheat can caus deficits se of p proteins, nutrien or nts Source: Iconoculture Advisory Brief vitamins. Some gluten-free prodducts made wit potato th and tapioca can ac ctually cause weight gain over timee.It’s hard to tell whe ether people will stick with the gluten-free cr w e raze or misstheir breads and le eave the diet fo those who ac or ctually need it. Gluten-freefood makers need to focus on pr d d roducts with au uthentic gluten--freeingrredients. Mimic cking food that is not originally gluten-free w not allow y willprod ducts to mainta popularity once the gluten ain o n-free mania en nds.Sou urces: mediapo ost.com, cnn.co Image: ma om andiberg on Flic ckr

1/12 Wine Has Never Been So Sweet Moscato is finally getting recognition as a good sweet wine and more and more people are flocking to it. One wine analyst says this boom has become one of the stronger trends and is propelled by affordable California varieties. 2012 Social Media Strategies Moscato used to be considered an obscure Over the past few years, marketing has integrated with social media, a combination product, but not anymore considering sales that’s a must-have for any brand that were up 73% in 2011. Moscato looks to be wants to be successful. Restaurants are one of the most promising wines of 2012. It now making big plans for 2012’s social- basically sells itself; it is a good wine, media strategies. usually at a great value price, which is Pita Pit has found a successful way to something in today’s economy you can’t develop their brand on Facebook. They beat. Wine labels will want to explore how have not tried to sell anything, but rather to market and sell for the Moscato boom. have had contests and focused on Discovering the best way to capitalize on continuing their interaction from the stores this trend will assist it in continuing. and have found Facebook is the best way Sparkling wine has gained momentum to stay connected. against champagne for various Other brands are still trying to figure out celebrations. Due to the economy and which social media site works best with other factors, there has been a large their specific needs. Checkers Drive In is demand for value wines as well. Value already utilizing Facebook and Foursquare wines do not mean cheap, but affordable to reach and advertise to their customers. and an excellent value for their price. Their goal for 2012 is to bring more Regions from Chile, Australia and Spain leverage to Twitter because of usage by offer this value versus the higher priced their customers. regions of Italy and even California. 2012 will bring brands more expertise and understanding of how to thrive in our society, which is practically controlled by Image: tjstaab on flickr Source: jamaicaobserver.com social media. Understanding why social media is important and using it to its full potential should be the goal of every restaurant and food marketer.Caffeine Addicts, Unite Relationships with consumers via socialWith our addiction to coffee, it’s no wonder that the hot beverage market is media have proven to be a greatone of the few markets that has seen continued growth over the past four foundation for building loyal customers andyears. Even though more than two-thirds of coffee consumption is out of a powerful way to amplify your messagehome, quick-service restaurants are trying hard to get in on the hot beverage across the social network.action by upgrading selections. McDonald’s is one example, with their widevariety of McCafé choices. Source: nrn.com By 2015, the global hot beverage Image: Rosaura Ochoa on flickr market is forecast to reach $69.77 billion in value. There is only room for future growth in this market. Three main factors for hot beverage demand are quality, health and convenience. Despite the economy, gourmet coffee continues to be a significant portion of total coffee consumed. There is a solid customer base for growth due to the younger drinkers’ strong category loyalty. Hot tea, with its health benefits, is driving the popularity of the product right up there with coffee.Statistics show that there has been a steady increase in consumption of hotbeverages that will keep rising, no matter the state of the economy.Apparently, caffeine and a steaming cup are something we cannot seem topart from.Image: Lara604 on flickr Source: chd-expert.com

Bargain HuntingAmerica is now used to searching for the best deals and bargain shopping forabsolutely everything. We have found inventive ways to shave off a few dollars andhave even gone to extreme couponing to make sure we get enough bang for ourbuck. Some consumers have decreased the amount of expensive meats andseafood they buy and are using non meat proteins in their recipes instead. Social networking has also impacted how people are shopping and saving. Searching Whopper Delivery for coupons and deals online has become Burger King is now trying to make its way into almost an art form. Calculating and keeping the realm of home delivery. Pizza and some track of spending is a way of life to many sandwiches are obviously common delivery shoppers. They go in with a budget and items in our society. Will fast-food burgers calculate on their phones as shop. soon be too? Burger King is testing the service at four of its restaurants in the As more and more retailers and brands Washington, D.C. area. are adjusting their sales to showconsumers they are the place to shop for great deals, in 2012, look for Special packaging technology is being usedsupermarkets to do the same. Be on the look out for “lay-away” plans for holiday to ensure food is delivered hot, fresh andmeals and other larger purchase and even bringing a bargain bin similar to those crispy. There are quite a few stipulations within department stores. Although there are no promises of food prices going down the delivery process however: a $2 deliveryanytime soon, there will be more ways to save a few bucks and better knowledge fee, minimum order, 10-minute-drive rule, softof how to smart shop. drinks in bottles, no breakfast items and delivery hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. ThisThis next year will bring shoppers many new ways to save and with the addition of convenience could prove to beadvancement of social media, better ways to get those messages of savings out. great or a little too much for a fast-food chainSupermarkets should target the smart phone population and come up with easy, to handle.creative ways to save. Offering more options than clipping coupons is going to be amust for the emerging generations of grocery shoppers. The small experimentation is a good way to see if fast food could be delivery-ready.Image: sgrace on flickr Source: consumergoods.edgl.com Domino’s spokesman said, “We wish them luck. There is a reason that not all pizza places deliver: It isn’t easy.” It will be very interesting to see whether Burger King is starting a trend that will soon catch on or ifPay What You Can? they are jumping ahead of their time.About a year and a half ago, Panera came up with an idea to help feed theneedy and raise money for charity work. This idea, a “pay-what-you-want” or“pay-what-you-can” non profit restaurant, allows customers to pay what theywant for anything on the menu. Located in Clayton, Mo., the restaurant’s menulists “suggested funding levels”, not prices. Patrons put payments in a donationbox, and cashiers handle change and credit card transactions. But how in theworld does this kind of place stay open? Community support. Some who cannotafford a meal will donate a small amount of money and also time and work atthe restaurant. Rough statistics show that about 60% of customers pay the suggested amount, 20% leave less and 20% leave more. However, you have the rare customer who will pay Image: J. Stephen Conn on flickr $500 for a meal. The cafe brings in a Source: usatoday.com revenue of about $100,000 a month, which leaves around $3,000-$4,000 to be used for a job training program for at-risk youth. Some graduates of this program have already begun jobs at other Panera locations. The success of the pay-what- you-can Panera cafes has led to openings of two other locations in Michigan and Oregon, and the plan is to open a new location every three months. This type of program may not work for every restaurant, but Panera has used the right tools to make it happen.Image: Samantha Celera on flickr Source: usatoday.com

Previous editions of this newsletter can be downloadedat www.luckie.com .If you wish to be added to the monthly distribution list for this newsletter,please send an email to Jay.Waters@luckie.com and include RestaurantTrend Tracker in the subject line.For further insight, you can follow Luckie on Twitterwww.twitter.com/luckieandco .Luckie and Company is a full-service fully-integrate advertisingagency offering all the capabilities a marketer needs to succeed intoday’s dynamic marketplace. Luckie is one of the top independentadvertising agencies in the US with a diverse client portfolio: AT&T,Little Debbie, Chick-fil-A, McAlisters Deli, Regions Bank, Schick,Mercedes Benz, to name just a few. What makes us different is ourability to tell a great brand story that sells. We use the science ofdata and the art of marketing to fuel the magic of storytelling. And wedo it with a diligent eye on marketing and financial performance. Wecreate and share stories in surprising and innovative ways across allmedia traditional, digital, social, mobile, owned, paid and earned,with the power to increase sales, improve ROMI and grow loyal fans.Stories that engage. Stories that entertain. Stories that share.Stories that build brands.For more information contact:John HeenanCMO205-879-2121john.heenan@luckie.com

Restaurant Tracker January 2012

by Luckie & Company on Jan 30, 2012

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Restaurant Tracker January 2012 — Document Transcript