Marketing | KRG Hospitality

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May 5, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Stand Out with Weird Holidays: May

Stand Out with Weird Holidays: May

by David Klemt

Want to stand out from from other restaurants and bars in your area? Then commit to keeping it weird.

Several “holidays” are set against every date on the calendar, and May is no exception. These holidays range from mainstream to food-centric to weird.

Focus on the latter to raise eyebrows, carve out a niche for your restaurant or bar, and attract more guests. Why do what everyone else is already doing?

Of course, you shouldn’t try to celebrate every holiday, weird or otherwise. And this month’s list in no way includes every odd holiday.

Focus on the days that are authentic to your brand; resonate with your guests; and help you grab attention on social media.

For last month’s list, click here.

May 5: National Totally Chipotle Day

It’s not just Cinco de Mayo today, it’s National Totally Chipotle Day! Two guesses as to what pepper this holiday celebrates…

May 6: World Password Day

This holiday exists to encourage people to consider their privacy and make sure their passwords are secure. Of course, operators can make this holiday more fun than mundane. One simple way is to come up with and share a password guests can use for food or drink specials. Speakeasy operators, today’s your day!

May 9: National Sleepover Day

What pairs well with sleepovers? Food, drinks, pajamas and movies. And what pairs well with warming weather and the comfort levels of today’s guests? Patios and other outdoor areas. Show a movie outside, encourage pajamas, create fun and comforting F&B offerings… This is a fun one.

May 20: National Pick Strawberries Day

The perfect day to feature cocktails that call for strawberry garnishes. And if there was ever a holiday practically built for featuring Snoop Dogg‘s new strawberry-flavored Indoggo Gin, this is it.

May 21: National Bike to Work Day

As the story goes, the radler was invented in the 1920s by a Bavarian tavern owner. A group of cyclists stopped by looking to quench their thirsts with beer. The tavern owner didn’t have enough, so he added sparkling lemonade to his kegs. Eurkea, the radler was born.

This is the perfect day to pay homage to the radler and reward people for biking to work.

May 22: National Craft Distillery Day

One of the best days to program promotions around local and hyper-local spirits.

May 25: National Brown-Bag It Day

Looking for a simple and fun way to celebrate this weird holiday? Offer a special featuring tall boys served in brown paper bags along with hangover-curing comfort foods.

May 30: National Creativity Day

I mean…what a blank canvas! This is the day to execute your most creative promotions. Ask your team members for their most creative ideas to boost staff engagement.

Image: Dan Parlante on Unsplash

May 3, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Summer Stimmy, Hot Vax Summer

Summer Stimmy, Hot Vax Summer

by David Klemt

When considering event programming, operators should consider the zeitgeist of the current era in which we find ourselves.

Big brands monitor and leverage the cultural climate of a given time.

Operators can do the same, as long as they embrace authenticity, show a sense of humor, and avoid disrespect and appropriation.

Here are a couple examples operators can use for Summer 2021.

Summer Stimmy

Bud Light is tapping into America’s federal response to the pandemic—stimulus checks, to be exact—with creativity and a sense of humor.

Is it too soon? It doesn’t seem so—the levity is a welcome respite.

For all intents and purposes, it appears Bud Light is leaning heavier into the creative and promotional aspect than just humor.

Bud Light’s Summer Stimmy is a proposal to “make Summer 2021 even awesomer for people across America.”

The brand explains each “proposal” item as though they’re components of a bill up for consideration. For example, Part I, Section 1 of the Bud Light Summer Stimmy proposal carries the subtitle “Tons of Tix.” Bud Light proposes to give away 100,000 tickets for MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, NWSL and WNBA events.

Part I, Section 2, More Awesomeness, proposes the nomination of Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski as Secretary of Summer. Additionally, the section proposes May 14 as National Gronk Day, his birthday.

Of course, Bud Light owns the term Summer Stimmy now. However, clever operators can get in on the fun (and profits) through their Bud Light rep. Or, they can get creative and come up with their own Summer 2021 promotions that leverage pent-up demand.

Hot Vax Summer

Even though it seems like forever ago, who can forget 2019 and Hot Girl Summer?

Megan Thee Stallion, one half of the infamous “WAP” duo, gets the credit for coining the phrase and creating the movement.

The “rules” for Hot Summer were simple: Women and men just needed to be “unapologetically them,” make having a good time a priority, and be free.

We all know what happened in 2020. There certainly wasn’t a Hot Girl Summer, Part Two.

Meeting new people, dating, hooking up… For the most part, none of that happened without Covid-19 tests and quarantining. That is, if those activities occurred at all.

But now we have multiple vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. AstraZeneca and Novavax have yet to be authorized by the FDA.

So, what are the Hot Vax Summer rules? Pretty simple: Get vaccinated (fully), get back out there to meet, interact and hook up.

And where do people tend to go to meet others? Restaurants, bars, nightclubs and dayclubs.

Whether to confidently and comfortably meet friends they haven’t seen for several months, make new friends, or kickstart dating, our businesses are where people want to be.

Operators need to ensure their venues are ready for the initial crush of guests clamoring to finally reclaim their social and romantic lives. So, prepare your outdoor areas; make sure indoor areas meet guest expectations for comfort so they can interact freely; and ensure your staff is ready for the welcome onslaught of eager guests.

Image: Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

April 14, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

5 Books to Read this Month

5 Books to Read this Month

by David Klemt

Spring is traditionally the time when we’re meant to reinvent or otherwise better ourselves. These books can help you do just that.

Some will help you expand or enter this business, others will boost your marketing and social media, and a couple will help you refresh your drink menu.

With restrictions easing and vaccination rates in the United States growing, now’s the time to improve yourself and your business.

Prepare now for pent-up demand for in-person dining and drinking.

Food Truck Business Guide for Beginners

Looking to enter this industry with a food truck or expand your existing business with one? This book is a great place to start.

Food Truck Business Guide for Beginners is a comprehensive guide that covers:

common mistakes that lead to food truck failure, and exactly how to avoid them;
the most successful ways to secure funding;
how to master marketing;
best practices for passing health inspections;
tackling and mastering marketing for your business;
and many more topics.

The Terroir of Whiskey: A Distiller’s Journey Into the Flavor of Place

Dr. Rob Arnold is a plant biochemist and the master distiller at TX Distillery. To say he understands the science of whiskey and terroir is obvious.

What’s less obvious is the direction Dr. Arnold’s book heads into. He takes readers to distilleries in Kentucky, Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere, but he takes things further.

In The Terroir of Whiskey, Dr. Arnold shines a light on plant breeders, local farmers, and distillers bringing back “lost” grains. These same innovators are also attempting to create new grains to further develop terroir.

This book will definitely enhance your whiskey knowledge and engagement with guests.

Rad Cocktails

Yes, this book’s description states that it focuses on the home bartender.

No, that doesn’t mean bartenders, operators, and other hospitality pros can’t learn from it.

Rad Cocktails, in addition to including awesome illustrations, also embodies a growing cocktail trend: simplification. Innovative cocktails don’t have to be complicated or take ten minutes to build.

Beautiful Booze: Stylish Cocktails to Make at Home

Natalie Migliarini, also known as Beautiful Booze, has more than 95,000 followers on Instagram. Her cocktail recipes, photographs and mastery of social media help her stand out in a roiling sea of influencers.

Her first book, Beautiful Booze: Stylish Cocktails to Make at Home, also targets home bartenders…on the surface. This book, creative cocktail recipes, can help elevate anyone’s bartending skills. The beautiful photography will also help inspire anyone to take their social media shooting to the next level.

Hacking the New Normal: Hitting the Reset Button on the Hospitality Industry

Alright, this may seem self-serving. However, I wouldn’t have written the foreword for a book I didn’t believe this book would truly help people.

Millions of hospitality industry professionals’ lives were imperiled at the start of last year. We continue to innovate and adapt to overcome unprecedented challenges.

Hacking the New Normal addresses the need for an industry-wide reset and seeks to guide operators through rebuilding for the long term, and to strengthen the industry moving forward.

Image: Mikołaj on Unsplash

April 13, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Stand Out with Weird Holidays: April

Stand Out with Weird Holidays: April

by David Klemt

Want to stand out from from other restaurants and bars in your area? Then commit to keeping it weird.

Several “holidays” are set against every date on the calendar. They range from mainstream to food focused to weird.

Focus on the latter to raise eyebrows, carve out a niche for your restaurant or bar, and attract more guests.

Of course, you shouldn’t try to celebrate every holiday, weird or otherwise. Focus on the days that are authentic to your brand; resonate with your guests; and help you grab attention on social media.

April 14: National Reach as High as You Can Day

This is a holiday that will likely work best on social media. Just like there’s always a holiday and people like to say “there’s always a tweet,” there’s always a hashtag.

Use this day (and its accompanying hashtag) to highlight staff who want to participate, along with your venue.

Of course, if you want to involve your guests in person, go for it. Put your head together with your staff and get creative.

April 15: National Take a Wild Guess Day

You can take promotions centered around this day in several directions. The simplest way is to use the holiday to engage with followers on your social channels.

Consider borrowing from the “wrong answers only” posts on Instagram. Post a blurred, pixelated or “censored” item, like a bottle. In the caption, ask followers to “guess” what it is—wild guesses only.

This holiday also works well with blind tasting events.

April 16: Wear Pajamas to Work Day

I’d say this holiday is fairly self-explanatory. Let your front-of-house staff participate by wearing pajamas, with full team buy-in. Or, encourage your guests to wear their pajamas to your restaurant or bar.

If this holiday fell on a Saturday or Sunday, this would be a great day for a brunch promo. Of course, there’s nothing to say you can’t execute a Friday brunch.

April 16: National Bean Counter Day

In the United States, this holiday is taking place a month before the Tax Day deadline. If you’re so inclined, you could offer a deal to all the tax preparers and accountants in your area.

Although, you can also go a completely different direction. You can fill a large jar with beans—coffee would be great—and have guests guess how many there are. You can even post the jar full of beans to social, encouraging follower engagement. Closest guess wins a prize.

April 22: National Jelly Bean Day

Oh, hey… Remember that bean-counting holiday from way up there? I wonder if that bean-guessing idea would work for this holiday…

April 23: National Talk Like Shakespeare Day

If you think you or your social media manager can handle it, encourage your followers to describe your restaurant or bar as though they’re the Bard himself.

Or, as a Shakespearean translator would explain it, “Encourageth thy followeth’rs to describeth thy restaurant ‘r bar as though those gents’re the Bard himself.”

April 25: National DNA Day

Yesterday, I shared how our DNA plays a significant role in how we perceive bitter flavors. National DNA Day would be a great time to plan and execute a PTC strip and cocktail event.

April 27: National Tell a Story Day

How well do your loyal guests know you and your brand? How well do they know your staff?

National Tell a Story Day is an excellent time to leverage the story features on your social channels. Show off the venue and tell your brand’s story. If you have team members who want to participate and tell share a story, that’s a great way to engage with followers and guests.

April 28: National Superhero Day

If there was a ever a day to encourage your staff and/or guests to dress up for a fun time… National Superhero Day also leverages Shudder’s “Halfway to Halloween” event.

To take this holiday in another direction, you can also celebrate members of your community who give back to others by giving back to them.

“Weird” holidays aren’t just a dynamic way to engage with guests. Asking your team for ideas for holiday promotions is an excellent way to keep them engaged, which is a smart way to retain staff.

Image: Dan Parlante on Unsplash

March 30, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

SevenRooms Continues Momentum with CFO

SevenRooms Continues Momentum with CFO

by David Klemt

In hiring Pamela Martinez as the company’s chief financial officer, SevenRooms continues their drive toward global expansion.

This crucial hire continues years of constant movement forward for SevenRooms.

It’s no secret that we’re fans of this powerful, tech-driven platform, in part due to their support of direct delivery.

A History of Growth

What do you do when your erratic schedule keeps you from scoring restaurant reservations? You create a tech-based, flexible reservation platform.

Okay, maybe that’s not what we’d all do. But that is the solution the co-founders of SevenRooms chose in 2011.

It would take just six years for investors to take notice of the company’s potential for growth.

SevenRooms counts Comcast Ventures, Alexa Fund (Amazon), and Providence Strategic Growth as investors. So confident in the platform’s growth is Providence Strategic Growth that their investment of millions of dollars took place in 2020.

High-profile clients include TAO Group, Bloomin’ Brands, Topgolf, Virgin Hotels, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Zuma, and LDV Hospitality. SevenRooms has been the system of record for all F&B venues across the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s portfolio.

Of course, SevenRooms serves independents of all sizes as well.

SevenRooms Hires CFO

Pamela Martinez is the first chief financial officer at SevenRooms. Her role is to accelerate the platform’s already impressive momentum and growth.

Martinez certainly has the experience to help further solidify SevenRooms’ status as one of the best guest experience platforms.

When she was at HubSpot, a marketing an CRM platform, the company grew from $75 million in annual recurring revenue to $1 billion in ARR.

“As SevenRooms continues to grow, I am thrilled to welcome Pamela to our team to help take us to the next level. Her proven track record helping to scale businesses and build out new financial structures made her the right choice for our company as we enter our next growth stage,” says Joel Montaniel, CEO and co-founder of SevenRooms.

Further growth will lead to more solutions and resources for SevenRooms clients. We’re eager to see how Martinez will help expand the platform and its capabilities.

“Despite the incredible challenges hospitality operators have faced over the past year, the industry has remained strong and I’ve been inspired by all SevenRooms has done to help its partners stay resilient,” says Martinez.

Read the announcement in its entirety on the SevenRooms website.

Image: Chronis Yan on Unsplash

Make My Ghost Kitchen container exterior

March 26, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Container Kitchens: The New Footprint

Container Kitchens: The New Footprint

by David Klemt

Would it be a surprise to anyone after the past twelve months that shipping containers may be the new commercial kitchens?

According to two 2021 Restaurants Canada Show panelists, custom containers are the future.

A partnership between a builder and designer is providing restaurateurs with an intriguing solution.

Meet the Problem Solvers

Jonathan Auger is the president of Juiceworks Exhibits. The company operates out of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Juiceworks designs, engineers, and fabricates memorable exhibits and installations. Click here to view projects for clients such as Genesis, Infiniti and Volvo.

Nicholas Goddard is the founder of Portage Design Group, located in Toronto.

Portage specializes in interior design and offers a full suite of services, including research, sophisticated design, and construction management. The company’s restaurant design work can be seen here.

Together with a small but skilled team, Auger and Goddard have formed Make My Ghost Kitchen.

Custom Container Flexibility

In some cases, a smaller restaurant footprint is attractive to operators. This is due in part to guest behavior we’ve seen since 2020. That is, guests haven’t been able to or felt comfortable with dining indoors at restaurants.

Then, of course, there’s the cost factor. A smaller footprint, generally speaking, equals lower initial investment and rent. An operator with a new concept can use a container before investing in a brick-and-mortar location.

Other benefits relate to market testing; expansion; virtual and ghost kitchen operations; and delivery and pickup.

Operators looking to expand or add retail, along with QSRs, are showing interest in Make My Ghost Kitchen’s containers. One explanation for the interest is simple: containers are highly mobile.

An operator sends their kitted out container to a potential market. They open up shop and test the viability of their concept. If the reaction is less than desirable, they move the container to another market.

For example, one client set up a container complete with a delivery window. In just six hours they sold 3,600 burgers.

Custom Container Costs

Make My Ghost Kitchen’s custom containers come with the necessary equipment. They also feature a delivery window and fabricated with a small pickup vestibule.

Obviously, prices go up with the quality of equipment. Other customizations, it stands to reason, can also push container costs up.

On average, however, Auger says an eight-foot by 20-foot container can be had for as low as $20 per square foot. Prices can climb north of $50 to $75 per square foot, however.

Whether functioning as a ghost kitchen or marketing showpiece, operators can choose from ventilation solutions. The containers can vent to interior (which heats them up quickly) or exterior. Another cost to consider is water. If a municipality doesn’t grant access to their water it will need to be trucked in.

Finally, a custom-kitted kitchen can be an asset. If an operator decides it’s time to move on, they have the potential to sell their container.

Image: Make My Ghost Kitchen