1. IRINA
AVRUTSKAYA
BATTLE
FOR
THE
GUEST
INTRODUCTION
The
world
has
changed
and
in
some
cases
it’s
changed
significantly!
During
the
ten
years
that
I’ve
been
working
in
marketing
in
the
restaurant
industry
it
has
not
just
made
a
step
forward,
it
has
leaped
forward
and
even
jumped
upward.
Advertising
as
such
has
already
stopped
being
an
engine
of
new
business
and
the
main
marketing
expert
for
your
goods
and
services
has
in
fact
become
the
customer
itself.
The
notion
“target
audience”
fell
into
oblivion
and
the
“unique
selling
point”
will
not
work
anymore
unless
it
becomes
a
“brand
promise”.
At
the
same
time
brands
do
not
compete
for
“market
share”
so
much
as
they
fight
for
a
“life-­‐time
loyalty
of
(a
certain
number
of)
clients”.
Sounds
drastic?
Perhaps,
but
do
have
a
look
around.
In
your
store
today
most
guests
use
smartphones
not
push-­‐button
phones
and
an
apple
logo
can
be
seen
on
tablets
and
laptops
of
more
and
more
customers.
Is
your
coupon
distribution
not
giving
you
returns
anymore?
That
means
it’s
time
to
change
your
traditional
marketing
approach!
Modern
marketing
is
not
about
increasing
sales
by
growing
the
number
of
transactions
or
(even
worse)
raising
the
average
ticket,
it's
a
methodology
of
establishing
long-­‐term
relationships
with
your
guests.
However,
is
this
approach
really
as
“modern”
as
it
seems?
As
early
as
in
1967
marketing
guru,
Philip
Kotler,
described
in
his
classic
work
Marketing
Management
a
“new
marketing
concept”
whereby
the
focus
shifts
from
products
manufactured
by
a
company
being
actively
promoted
and
sold
to
creating
products
which
meet
people’s
needs
which
in
turn
generates
profits
through
satisfying
specific
customer
demands.
In
the
early
20th
century,
when
the
market
wasn’t
saturated
with
goods
and
customers
didn’t
show
special
requirements
or
preferences,
the
concept
of
mass
production
was
a
driving
force
for
any
successful
business.
In
the
hunt
for
ever
higher
sales
volumes
marketing
was
a
kind
of
amplifier
or
super-­‐sized
loud
speaker:
the
one
who
screamed
louder
sold
more.
During
the
next
stage
of
consumer
market
development,
after
basic
demand
had
been
satisfied,
process
optimization
and
finances
started
to
take
the
lead
role:
a
business
had
to
work
on
production
and
sales
efficiency
in
order
to
increase
revenue,
profit
margins.
The
third
stage
described
by
Kotler
in
the
first
editions
of
his
famous
work
was
market
deficit,
an
environment
characterized
by
a
saturation
with
a
large
number
of
products
and
high
competition.
The
way
forward
was
seen
by
entrepreneurs
of
those
times
in
capturing
emerging
markets
or
increasing
investment
in
advertising.
Kotler
advocated
a
change
of
marketing
focus
from
sales
support
of
manufactured
products
to
studying
and
meeting
the
demand
for
not
yet
existing
products,
services
or
solutions.
In
Russia
the
development
of
a
market-­‐driven
economy
only
started
in
the
90’s
and
therefore
most
companies
today
still
belong
to
the
first
and
second
stage,
only
a
few
have
reached
the
third.
But
since
publishing
the
book
it's
been
over
50
years
and
the
world
has
irreversibly
changed.
This
is
in
large
part
due
to
new
information
and
communication
technologies,
having
transformed
our
every-­‐day
lives
and
reaching
every
field
of
human
activity
so
dramatically
in
the
last
fifty
years
that
no
other
previous
invention(s)
can
compare
to
their
influence
on
humanity.
As
a
result,
the
marketing
realm
in
the
21st
century
represents
yet
another,
the
fourth
stage
of
market
development.
Today
a
consumer
can
not
only
choose
from
thousands
of
products/services
or
hundreds
of
restaurants
available,
by
just
one
click
on
the
screen
or
voice
command,
but
he
or
she
can
and
should
directly
affect
the
creation
of
products
or
services
through
his
or
her
activity
in
social
networks.
Moreover,
the
purchase
process
goes
from
satisfaction
of
“rational”
needs
of
the
customers
to
an
“emotional”
activity.
Modern
buyers
regardless
of
their
social
status,
income
or
age,
don’t
just
want
to
spend
money
on
food
and
pleasure
but
receive
something
more.
What
“more”
you
ask?
They
wish
to
know
where
you
get
the
ingredients
for
your
dishes
from,
where
your
chef
studied
and
why
your
store
uses
this
or
that
kind
of
dishware.
They
want
to
give
their
money
not
to
corporations
or
entrepreneurs,
but
to
people,
to
people
just
like
them.
Eventually
they
are
ready
to
buy
from
those
who
invest
their
profit
in
social
development.
In
the
age
of
total
time
pressure
people
not
only
leave
their
money
in
restaurants,
but
also
something
more
valuable
–
their
time.
Therefore,
they
don’t
simply
need
just
any
breakfast,
lunch
or
dinner,
but
a
whole
complex
of
experience,
emotions
and
information.
To
enjoy
tasty
food
goes
without
saying
today,
it’s
expected
or
a
pre-­‐requisite.
At
the
dawn
of
the
restaurant
business
developing
in
Russia
it
was
enough
to
open
a
good
looking
restaurant
with
decent
cuisine
from
a
foreign
chef
and
success
was
pretty
much
guaranteed.
Then
came

2. the
time
when
it
was
necessary
to
create
a
brand
or
reference
brand,
such
as
Ginza
Project
or
Novikov
Group
of
Companies,
and
the
guest
would
go
to
that
store.
Today,
however,
with
the
development
of
ever
changing
technology
and
new
media,
the
main
“criteria
of
choice”
is
not
advertising,
not
the
brightest
sign,
nor
the
celebrity
chef
but
reviews
from
other
people
which
are
able
to
disturb/subvert/
or
even
kill
your
business
for
a
couple
of
weeks
or
longer!
Therefore,
the
role
and
responsibilities
of
today’s
marketing
experts
has
changed
dramatically.
In
order
to
make
a
restaurant
successful
one
has
to
work
on
creating
an
overall
concept,
determining
touch
points
of
your
brand
with
your
guests,
investigating
various
“influence
agents”,
as
well
as
planning
thoroughly
the
strategy
and
social
media
communications.
It’s
not
restaurant
critics
and
chefs
who
determine
the
restaurant’s
success;
it’s
any
of
your
guests,
here
and
now,
in
real
time.
While
previously
restaurants
often
managed
well
without
systematic
research,
today
the
company’s
image
is
created
in
the
information
space
(social
networks,
mobile
applications,
internet
sites,
etc.),
and
quite
often
without
the
company
itself
being
involved
in
it.
Not
knowing
how
to
handle
this
massive
information
resource
may
well
destroy
your
business
completely.
Marketing
has
changed
fundamentally
and
I
think
you
bought
this
book
because
you
realize
it
yourself.
Traditional
media
is
rapidly
losing
influence
and
power,
newspapers
and
magazines
are
closing,
advertising
billboards
become
less
popular
and
our
everyday
life
focuses
on
the
screens
of
our
computers,
tablets
and
smartphones.
“Push”
type
of
advertising
is
rapidly
losing
its
efficiency
as
customers
have
a
sheer
endless
variety
and
choice
of
goods
and
services
and
have
the
opportunity
to
evaluate
their
benefits
(and
drawbacks)
before
buying
them
simply
by
making
a
couple
of
requests
on
any
search
engine.
So
today
“pull”
advertising
is
the
name
of
the
game
whereby
various
advertising
technologies
allow
the
client
to
“pull”
information
on
your
offer
while
searching
for
something
similar.
At
the
same
time
don’t
be
too
quick
to
dismiss
existing
marketing
theories,
traditional
working
instruments
or
principles.
Most
of
those
will
still
be
useful
in
many
markets
across
Russia
in
the
next
several
years.
In
this
book
you
will
find
answers
to
questions
on
how
to
properly
combine
strategic
and
tactical
marketing
activities,
which
tools
are
most
effective
today,
how
to
manage
traditional
advertising
techniques
and
modern
communication
channels,
and
how
to
increase
profitability
with
simple
marketing
patterns.
While
constantly
repeating
“the
world
has
changed”
mantra
one
shouldn‘t
forget
that
this
process
is
constantly
ongoing,
and
with
the
pace
of
technological
development
we
see
today,
even
the
most
“modern”
today
may
become
“outdated”
sooner
than
you
think.
However,
I’ll
try
to
offer
you
a
reasonable
forecast
of
what
the
nearest
future
holds
for
restaurant
marketing.
And
all
the
latest
examples
of
innovative
marketing
technology
will
be
continuously
be
published
on
my
website
www.avrutskaya.com.
Here
you
can
also
ask
me
questions
and
receive
individual
consulting.
Battle
for
the
guest
is
not
primarily
a
fight
against
competitors;
it’s
mainly
an
attempt
to
excel
oneself.
The
future
has
come!