Here are nine recent attempts by nine different restaurants to engage in the kind of advertising encouraged by this, the digital age—not a comprehensive list, and not a final word in the discussion. Just nine examples, and one good thing and one bad thing about each one. Before we jump in, these are the nine tactics:…
Pizza Hut hot dog crust pizza! KFC chicken crust pizza (the suspiciously Snoop-Doggy KFChizza)! Captain Crunch fried tie-ins with an eye to a marriage that captures the same magic as the Doritos + Taco Bell union. By comparison, Arby’s brown sugar bacon seems relatively restrained. Relatively. So yeah. It’s summertime, which is funtime. And I’m certain everyone is still in awe…
I don’t think Bill Nye the Science Guy would consider this a legit, careful, rigorously scientific examination of the topic of food additives: On the other hand, I think most people involved with marketing and corporate communications would consider that a pretty compelling, easy-to-understand, potentially shareable video that helps Panera get credit for “doing what’s…
In the book Selling Eating, one of my main ideas is that a restaurant doesn’t just exist randomly—it exists because some entrepreneur identified a problem, which presented an opportunity. Sometimes restaurants that have been around awhile lose their way somehow. For them, identifying a problem to solve is a good way to get “back on track.” Their new…
Every issue of Food & Drink since Summer of 2011 has contained one of my columns. Here’s the latest one. Of the pizza chains near our house, my wife and I have a clear favorite—it’s relatively big (or seems like it is), its operations seem dependable, its product is consistent, it has a professional-looking logo…