Tag : Strategy
What are QR codes? QR code marketing for restaurants; a case study
QR codes are all the buzz in agency land at the moment - but its amazing how few people on the street really know what they are or how they work. We recently trialled a QR code on a construction hoarding board tease campaign for one of our restaurants - inviting passers by to a week of preview dinners. Thought we would share some of our key learnings.
Naked Cowboy Times Square - Best Publicity Stunts
I came across the infamous Naked Cowboy in Times Square today, quite a sight:
The Next Generation? Take Advantage of Technology!
I popped down to the New Designers exhibition last week to see the new graduate talent. Some beautiful design work - I came away feeling inspired with a handful of business cards in hand.
Organically Grow Restaurant Facebook Fans: Utilise Facebook's Viral Power
Multi-channel campaigns get you major increases in Facebook Fans, but there are many ways to keep the Fan count ticking with people who are actually interested in your restaurant, without spending the big bucks.
Google+ Profile for Hotels & Restaurants?
Should your hotel or restaurant set up a Google+ account? Not yet according to Google. They are currently working on Google+ business accounts that will be much more suitable. Ignite's advice is to hold off setting up an account for your business until Google have done this.
Internet Marketing - The Ignite Analysis Model
There is no denying the increasing importance of internet marketing for restaurants and hotels. The digital marketing mix is becoming increasingly complex and the tools available to engage, attract and convert customers are constantly changing and improving. It is a dynamic landscape that demands regular attention so as not to be left behind.
Strategic Branding - Branded Chains Vs Chains of Brands
As a hospitality consultant that develops restaurant concepts you'd be amused to hear the number of times I've met a new client who assures me that it won't be long before they 'have one of these on every high street'. Whether it's the next big thing in Indian takeaways, Chinese restaurants, cafes or kebab concepts, these entrepreneurs frequently have one clear objective: multi-unit branded roll-out.
Local PR & Internet Advertising For Small Hotels & Restaurants
Let's say you're no larger than 50 rooms or a single restaurant that wants to ultimately become well known in you local area and surrounding counties. What Internet marketing channels and offline marketing opportunities are at your disposal to get your hotel and restaurant out there?
Online Reputation Management For Hotels And Restaurants: Getting It Right!
Online reputation management is the new buzzword in hospitality. But what exactly is reputation management and what does it entail?
Pop Up Power
Pop-Up restaurants are quite literally springing up all over the place at the moment and as Christmas approaches this phenomena is no doubt going to become more intense. These temporary restaurants are usually found in unusual or vacant public spaces and recent examples have included the open top floor of a Westfield shopping centre building site in Stratford and the London Eye Pop-Up Restaurant, part of the recent London Restaurant Festival that turned each Eye capsule into a dining room with the best views in town.
Position To Win : Play It Smart To Beat The Big Boys Online
As a small hospitality business with a handful of employees and a tight budget the world of internet marketing may seem more of a challenge than an opportunity.
QR Codes: Entering The Mainstream
After having recently seen an old episode on CSI: NY the other day I have finally discovered the QR Code (short of Quick Response Code). I would never have thought that anything would come from my addiction but since watching that episode (it was series five, episode seven entitled 'Dead Inside', in case you were wondering) I have uncovered what seems like a whole new world of communication.
Start Tweeting!
I first created an account with twitter about a year ago just to see what all the hype was about and immediately didn't get it. In fact I had my account for a full five months before I decided to give it another go. This time I did a search for web design and development, as it's of great interest to me and started following a few people. By initiating this relationship I realised people weren't only tweeting what they had for breakfast (as were my first impressions) but in fact sharing links to other interesting stuff they had found or had written themselves, namely blog articles, design resources, tutorials and the like.
Nothing Works in Isolation
Over the last few months I have been writing in this column about the various online marketing tools available to hospitality businesses and discussing how you can use these tools to drive business. In this final article in the series specific to internet marketing techniques I'll be bringing everything together to illustrate how the different communication tools interact and compliment each other.
Social Branding - Friends, Tweets & Check Ins
The world of social media has not long been with us but already it is a powerful marketing force. Word of Mouse cannot be ignored and clever hospitality operators know that this relatively new technology must be harnessed and nurtured. Social media channels can become highly useful marketing tools if you know how to use them. As with all marketing communications there are techniques you can employ to ensure they benefit your business rather than hinder it and it pays to understand how each of them work and how they interact.
E's Are Good
Hopefully that's caught your attention, because the E's I'm talking about are Email, the key communication tool that every hospitality business should be utilising on a regular basis.
You Get What You Pay For
In last month's Eat Out I discussed the art of Search Engine Optimisation and how to ensure your website is built in such a way that it is highly visible to Google. These techniques are free in the sense that once your site appears in the search results for your important keywords it doesn't cost you anything for people to find your website.
Be Seen to Be Successful
Following on from last month's article on website design for booking conversions, this month I'll be explaining how to ensure your website is as visible as possible to search engines. Marketing has evolved over the last decade as Search Engines such as Google enable you to place your business directly in front of people who are actively looking for what you provide. This is a very direct approach and is a highly cost effective way to communicate with your potential customers.
Is brunch too exclusive in London?
Whilst living in Greenwich Village last year, I would get my weekly brunch either from the local diner, where their $3 French toast was to die for, or high-end Sex And The City style restaurants, where the poached eggs and smoked salmon were exceptional. These experiences highlighted the difference between American and British eating habits - their devotion to brunch and our lack thereof.
Fit for a King
In the not too distant past, Kings Cross or St Pancras stations were hardly the places you'd want tourists to our capital city to see first. Thousands of visitors per day would arrive from all over the country to be greeted by a gritty industrial wasteland, which is putting it nicely. So once the Eurostar terminal's move to the area from Waterloo had been mooted, bringing with it European visitors, it was inevitable that regeneration of much of the locality would follow.
Noodle Fun In Pop-Up London
There is something innately cool about the concept of pop-up bars, restaurants and clubs. One minute they're there, the next minute they're gone. They feel like they've been thrown together with the type of effortless style that so many crave.
Don't 'Takeaway' An Opportunity
Takeaway menu re-prints are a pretty regular occurrence for some restaurants.
Don't Dilute Your Brand
Sam's recent blog 'Marketing on a Shoestring' has some great ideas for getting your brand out to people. It is really important however to make sure that you take good care of your brand and don't dilute it. Having brand guidelines and sticking to them is important especially when designing in-house.
Marketing on a Shoestring
So it feels like we're starting to head out of the recession, cross fingers the recent optimism is for a reason and here at Ignite we're definitely witnessing a changing landscape.
Achieving your objectives online
Audits are useful to businesses in various ways. There's financial audits, operational audits, stock audits etc. All of them have one thing in common: they help a business run smoother, be more confident, reduce costs and maximise profits.
Review: Riad Les Trois Mages - Marrakech, Morocco
'Boutique Hotel' is a term banded about by a staggering range of accommodation types from shabby beach huts to gorgeous design properties, and a true definition of Boutique Hotel is impossible to nail down. For me, it's all about the personal touch, considered and individual design, uniqueness and an outstanding service.
No quick fix for marketing. Planning is the key
Making sure that your promotional pound is returned by more bums on seats requires good foresight. Without thinking 'right person, right media, right message and right time', you could be wasting precious resources.
Making an agency work for you
It's widely reported that the current recession is unlike any recession before it. So in unprecedented times it makes sense to look for smarter ways to cut costs.
5 Tips to survive the recession
It's not all doom and gloom for the hospitality industry. Here are Ignite's top 5 tips for a successful recession.
The Death of the Age Of Bling - The Birth of the Age Of Thrift
As Bob D. once sang, the times they are a changin! And quickly. One minute it's all diamond bling, 10 grand bar tabs at Mahiki and eight course tasting menus for 200 quid a pop. The next it's queues out the door at Pizza Express with everyone clutching their 50% vouchers downloaded from moneysavingexpert.com. As Anthony Worrall Thompson goes bust, Alan Yau plans to roll-out Cha Cha Moon.
Brightbox - the Ignite blog
Strategy
QR codes are all the buzz in agency land at the moment - but...
I came across the infamous Naked Cowboy in Times Square toda...
I popped down to the New Designers exhibition last week to s...
Multi-channel campaigns get you major increases in Facebook ...
Should your hotel or restaurant set up a Google+ account? No...
