11.12
A few months back I read a post by Ed Cotton about Mission Street Food called “What brands can learn from Mission Street Food.” Aside from making me really anxious to go eat there (which I haven’t yet), it made me think of Kogi BBQ (which I have tried), a Korean-Mexican fusion “restaurant” that hawks its tasty tacos out of a truck window in LA and Orange County.
I decided to write a companion post—partly because I really liked Ed’s post and partly to demonstrate (to myself, if no one else) that SoCal has its own foodie-friendly offerings. This post starts with stealing Ed’s format but at times descends into blatant plagiarism. Sorry Ed (sincerest form of flattery and all, right?).
Here’s how it works.
MSF “leases” a Chinese restaurant on Mission Street for two nights of the week and invites guest chefs to come in and create menus and prepare meals.
What Can Brands Learn from MSF?
1. The Power of Surprise
MSF is based on a pretty smart assumption, people like to try new restaurants all the time, which makes it hard for a single concept to gain traction and gain a group of loyal customers. In a world of hyper-instant gratification, people are constantly demanding for and seeking out the new.
How does your brand surprise its audience?
What are you doing to prevent brand fatigue?
2. Partnerships and Collaboration
MSF partners with a Chinese restaurant to host the events, it gets access to its kitchens and staff and it also partners with guest chefs every night. MSF is really a facilitator to the process.
Who is your brand collaborating with to add value?
3. Understanding the Audience
MSF gets who it’s audience is and what they want. They know this is an audience that is easily bored and is looking for culinary surprises. They know they are prepared to trade off ambience for food quality.
Does your brand know its audience?
Do you know what they are looking for from you now?
4. The Concept of Value
MSF gets value right. This is of course not about low prices, but instead the combination of price and quality. The interesting items on the menu are priced perfectly to acknowledge the audiences understanding of value. There’s no sense you are paying for the priviledge of eating there.
Does your brand have its pricing right?
Do you know what people are prepared to pay?
Do you have value add and do you know what it’s worth?
5. Giving Back
MSF gives back profits to local organizations and non-profits giving diners another reason to eat.
What is your brand giving back?
How are your causes tied to your brand?
How open are you about your contributions?
6. A Story
MSF has enough layers to build a great narrative including its original incarnation as a taco truck.
What’s your story?
How do you share it?
How are you building on it?
Here’s how Kogi BBQ works.
As mentioned, Kogi BBQ sells food out of a truck window—actually multiple trucks, all in Southern California. But unlike your average taco truck, Kogi tweets (@kogibbq) to let potential customers know when and where they can find a truck in their area. The result, in the words of an LA Times article, is “a social-networking juggernaut, drawing 300 to 800 people each time it parks (often several times in an evening) and spawning a burgeoning cyber-hippie movement affectionately referred to as “Kogi kulture.”
So…what can brands learn from Kogi BBQ?
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09.10
A few months back I wrote a post about a local coffee (?) joint near my house. The problem with DeSpyro Coffee, from my point of view, was that they were claiming expertise in too many categories at once (coffee, burgers, breakfast, mexican food, gelato, subs, and “grill”), which gives the impression that they’re a jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe that’s fine if you’re a diner or a Jewish deli, but for a place with “coffee” in the name, it would be nice if they’d at least mastered a good cup a’ joe.
The other day I noticed that DeSpyro is now Dukes Burgers. I called, and apparently it is just a name change, with little change to the menu or anything else. The lady I spoke with wouldn’t give me a real reason for the name change.
But here’s the kicker:
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08.27
Instead of blue mountains on a cold beer can, why hasn’t anyone come up with a lid or sleeve for a coffee cup that tells you when it’s no longer so hot that it’ll burn your tongue?
Seriously. Because the sip test is dangerous.
08.14
Came across these the other day at Macy’s. Not Neiman Marcus, where I’d expect Godiva to hawk its fine chocolates. Macy’s.
Apparently Godiva has created a sub-brand called Chocoiste, described on the website as “decadence goes mobile.” Indulgence and convenience aren’t two concepts that go together naturally, but it’s a nice combo to strive for. The risk is that mobility will come at the expense of decadence, leaving your brand standing for the wrong idea—or worse yet, nothing at all. While the creation of a sub-brand helps protect the masterbrand from potential failure, “Godiva” is still pretty prominently featured on this packaging.
As is the phrase “MADE FROM DRIED STRAWBERRIES.”
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08.03
At last Thursday’s sit-down with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. Joseph Crowley, Mr. Obama drank a Bud Light. At first, this seems like an obvious choice—American legacy, fewer calories than Budweiser (supporting the preventative aspects of his healthcare plan), and fights his image as an arugula-eating snob. But then I remembered that Anheuser-Busch was acquired by InBev, a Belgian company (not traded on U.S. markets), around this time last year. Wouldn’t you think the president would help stimulate our economy a little by drinking a real U.S. beer? Here are some recommendations for next time. Let me know if you have other ideas…
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07.30
[Originally published on The B2B Brand Debate]
You’ve probably heard by now that Starbucks is abandoning its own brand name at an existing Seattle location, replacing it with the descriptive “15th Ave E Coffee & Tea.” This is part of what may become a nationwide “un-branding campaign,” in the words of the Huffington Post’s Marc Gunther. Starbucks made the announcement weeks ago, and so far, consumer reactions are mixed.
The driving forces behind this decision seem clear: declining sales, due in large part to the global recession (trading in expensive espresso for cheap home-brewed coffee is an easy budget cut for most), and growing resentment due to perceived monopolization—”those unique [local coffeehouses]…being beaten out of business by big nasty Starbucks,” as Kit Eaton put it in Fast Company. These two challenges are in no way specific to Starbucks, and are in fact hurdles frequently faced by many successful brands in a range of industries (Microsoft and Google—including their business-to-business efforts—are two easy examples).
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