We are really pumped to hear that the National Restaurant Association is sponsoring this Extreme Digital Makeover campaign.
With their notoriety and reach, and the services provided by the four companies involved, it’s great timing. It gets our wheels turning as well. Kudos to NRA for putting it on. Scoot on over there after reading this week’s restaurant marketing news update.
- Yet again, Facebook has announced it has redesigned Pages. We JUST released our own Getting Started on Facebook free email series and it takes the latest details into consideration. But here’s the skinny: Some sections have moved from the right to the left, and the text box for posting new updates has moved from the left to the right. Also, for Page Admins, there’s a new metrics section and the ability to watch similar/competitive pages.
- Could you soon let guests pay for their bill via Uber? (Maybe I should ask this first: do you know what Uber is?) Uber is an alternative taxi service in towns across the United States, but you prepay and call upon a driver via a smartphone app — and it’s lightning-fast and super-convenient. I’ve tried it. But here’s the thing…this is already underway by a startup in New York City named Cover. Check them out in the Directory. Dash, too, who’s also in the Directory. Neither is available as far and wide as Uber…but they’re working on that.
- Let guests Snapchat their way to free food at your restaurant? And you thought Snapchat was all about sexting for teens. Little did you know. How naive and nontrepreneurial of you. Starting last week on March 4, GrubHub Snapchatted daily scavenger-hunt challenges and asked fans to respond in order to win $50 in GrubHub orders at participating locations. Pretty creative thinking here — and why let GrubHub customers own all that fun? You can easily do this on your own.
- Great interview with Boston Pizza’s Vice President of Marketing, Alex Green, on how the 350+ location chain is redefining loyalty. An interesting takeaway: “As marketers, we’re constantly pitched on new technology and ways to communicate with guests, to deliver and track offers, and to incentivize behavior. We’re seeing increasing budgets pushed into those areas…loyalty became a shift from earn-and-burn to finding ways to add value to those core experiences.”
- Buffalo Wild Wings is the third major chain to announce its loading up its locations with tablets on tables to feature tableside ordering for a faster experience, partnering with their longtime partner NTN Buzztime. But, said BWW’s Ben Nelson: “We also wanted to take our personal entertainment platform to the next level.” The tablets will include complimentary core games such as trivia and poker, with additional paid games and jukebox selections available for guests interested in a premium experience.
- Timothy Horton’s: yet another massive chain rolling out mobile payments via their custom mobile app. Available via iPhone, Android, and even Blackberries, the chain has made the app compatible with locations in Ohio, Michigan, and New York, to begin with. Though I don’t have a Timothy Horton’s near me to test the payment feature, the app is pretty slick otherwise and easy to navigate around in.
Hey everyone, regarding bullet-point numero tres above, we’ve got some GREAT ideas for you on leveraging Snapchat and doing even more with your mobile marketing coming out tomorrow and next week. Extremely creative stuff. Stay tuned!
And a final note: we’ve added 5 more companies to our restaurant marketing services directory just in the last week. If you haven’t dived into it yet — looking for great potential collaborators and partners, you need to get on-board. It’s free. It’s valuable. It’s easy to find companies in.
