Marketing

McDonald’s Spent $48 Million to Push Bacon in February

March 18, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2019-03-15 at 11.03.04 AM.png

“McDonald’s led all companies in advertising dollars spent at $48 million, less than what the chain allocated in January. Taco Bell (second on the list) cut its TV advertising funding by nearly half, likely due to Grubhub picking up most of the tab for its joint commercial with the chain touting limited time free delivery. Grubhub reportedly spent just under $7 million in ad dollars in February.

The biggest surprise of the month was Arby’s, which catapulted up 26 spots from January to crack the top 10 in advertising dollars spent. The quick service restaurant has completed a large sales turnaround in recent years by relying more on promotions and new deli meats to entice customers, according to Forbes. The chain’s success also led its parent company to acquire both Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic in 2018.

Overall, quick service restaurants and pizza chains dominated TV advertising again in February, with Yum Brands’ subsidiaries — Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC — in the top 10 for the fourth consecutive month. Olive Garden and Applebee’s, the casual restaurants that cracked the top 10 in January, ended February at 11 and 14, respectively, after shelling out more than $10 million each.”

What To Expect From Hudson Yards’ Restaurant And Food Options

March 14, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

Anya Fernald is bringing Belcampo's burgers, bowls and

“(…) The majority of new restaurants are slated to open this Friday, an almost unfathomable feat in a city where opening day can be synonymous with delays and postponement.

“We have an absolutely incredible construction and tenant coordination team,” Stuessi says with a laugh when asked how they’re pulling off the large batch of openings. “They’re working with us to bring them all to life in one moment.”

Already, there’s a sense of community in the new neighborhood.

“You see people from different restaurants walking in each other’s spots, grabbing a coffee,” Stuessi says.

The benefit of proximity has also helped the restaurants work together on staffing and supply needs; Stuessi recounts that the hospitality businesses were able to share applicants with their neighbors when good candidates presented themselves but job openings were already filled. “There is a sense of camaraderie with everyone opening a restaurant in Hudson Yards at the same time,” says Sam Gelman, vice president of operations at Fuku, Momofuku’s fast-casual fried chicken sandwich mini-chain.

The Hudson Yards outpost will feature Fuku’s new bone-in fried chicken program and menu of sides, along with its signature spicy fried chicken sandwiches and chicken fingers.

Opening day eats

More than 25 restaurant and food concepts are planned for Hudson Yards, with a majority making their debut this week. (Some, like Sweetgreen, have already opened, while others, like new concepts from Danny Meyer in The Shed and Stephen Starr in the Equinox Hotel, as well as a Maison Kayser, will follow.) Here’s a look at everything on the food front that’s slated to open on Friday:

The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards

Teak Tearoom at The Conservatory: Choose from a variety of teas, as well as bites and baked goods, at this all-day cafe. Level 1
Blue Bottle Coffee: Get your java fix from the specialty coffee roasters. Level 2
Citarella Hudson Yards: Shop a selection of seafood, meat, cheese and produce, as well as wine and spirits, at the gourmet market. Level 2
The Drug Store: Try new beverages from Dirty Lemon at this cocktail bar. Level 2
Fuku: Find the latest location for the Momofuku fried chicken spot. Level 2
Kith Treats at Snark Park: The ice cream and cereal bar adds an outpost in this exhibition space. Level 2
Bluestone Lane: Another spot to get your coffee fix. Level 3
Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream: The fancy ice cream shop continues its rapid NYC expansion. Level 3
William Greenberg Desserts: Pick up some black and whites from the kosher bakery. Level 3
Belcampo: Sustainably-sourced meats are the focus of this California chain. Level 4
Dylan’s Candy Bar: Fill up on boutique candy. Level 4
Hudson Yards Grill: The latest from chef Michael Lomonaco. Level 4
Jack’s Stir Brew: More in coffee. Level 4
Li-Lac Chocolates: The chocolate institution opens its newest chocolate bar and new flagship. Level 4
Queensyard: A restaurant and bar from the UK’s D&D London. Level 4
Shake Shack: Get the chain’s signature burgers and milkshakes. Level 4
Bouchon Bakery: Find a selection of French pastries and freshly-baked breads. Level 5
Kāwi: Chef Eunjo Park helms this new restaurant from Momofuku. Level 5
Milos Wine Bar: Get yogurt to go during the day, sip on Greek wines at night. Level 5
Neiman Marcus: The department store will feature a cafe (Cook & Merchants, level 5), bar (Bar Stanley, level 6) and restaurant (The Zodiac Room, level 7).
Peach Mart: Momofuku’s new to-go concept specializes in kimbap and sandwiches. Level 5
Wild Ink: Chef Peter Jin helms this new restaurant from the UK hospitality group rhubarb. Level 5
TAK Room: Chef Thomas Keller debuts a new concept in NYC. Levels 5 and 6
Estiatorio Milos: Chef Costas Spiliadis opens a second NYC location of his acclaimed Greek restaurant. Level 6

View more here.

Filed Under: Baking, Cooking, Customer Trends, Events, Heard on The Street, Local Market Buzz, Openings, Opportunities, Organic, Shopbuzz, Trending Now, Wine, Your Restaurant Tagged With: delicious, Food, Food Court, Food Service, Fuku, Hudson Yards, ideas, innovation, inspiration, Marketing, Meatpacking District, new product, recommendations, Restaurant, Restaurant Service, restaurants, reviews, Servers, Spanish, trends

Billionaires Are Betting Big on Alternative Meat

March 4, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

Image result for Billionaires Are Betting Big on Alternative Meat

Creating designer protein that can make your veggie burger taste like the real thing is as easy as brewing beer. Or at least that’s what a new subsidiary of Boston-based bio-manufacturing startup, Ginkgo Bioworks Inc., says.

Ginkgo’s Motif Ingredients, which aims to replicate animal protein for meatless alternatives, is getting $90 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, whose board includes tech billionaires Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Jack Ma. Commodity powerhouse Louis Dreyfus Co. and Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, New Zealand’s dairy-exporting giant, are also backing the company.

The goal at Ginkgo is to get alternative products to market faster, chief executive officer Jason Kelly said in an interview. In a statement announcing the funding, the company likened making alternative foods to the beer-brewing process, because vital ingredients such as vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, and flavors are made through fermentation with genetically engineered yeasts and bacteria. Eliminating extra time in the lab can streamline the process and make it go faster, Kelly said.

Conduct Research Before Giving a Sales Demo

March 1, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

“During sales discovery calls, one of the best ways to move a lead further down the funnel is to ask plenty of open-ended questions, and to listen carefully to the answers. It helps build a relationship with the buyer and allows you to tailor your sales presentation to match their needs.

But when it comes to running a demo with a c-level executive, asking questions is a big no-no. The time for questions is before your demo. C-level executives expect you to be fully informed about their pain points and current solutions. They want you to arrive armed with deep knowledge about their business, and to use your demo to show them how they can solve their challenges.

They don’t want to spend their sales meeting telling you about their needs. They want you to present a personalized, relevant sales demo that shows exactly how your product meets their needs and adds extra value. That’s why you have to do your homework in advance.”

Restaurant Menu Trends: What to Expect to See on More Menus in 2019

February 7, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

1. CBD (Cannabidiol) — up 99%!

It was only a matter of time before cannabidiol—or CBD—made its way into the restaurant industry. The non-psychoactive derivative from the cannabis plant has helped consumers looking for relief from inflammation, pain, anxiety, insomnia, seizures, spasms, and other conditions without the negative side effects of some pharmaceutical drugs.

According to the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) What’s Hot Culinary Survey, a barometer of U.S. food and beverage trends, 650 professional chefs—all members of the American Culinary Federation—said infusing food and drink with cannabis and CBD could create unique cuisine opportunities and potential new markets for experiential dining occasions. Of the survey’s respondents, 77 percent identified cannabis/CBD-infused drinks as the number one trend in the restaurant industry right now, and 76 percent tapped cannabis/CBD-infused food as the second most popular trend.

Data from Upserve customers revealeda 99 percent increase in CBD menu items in 2018, setting up 2019 as the year of CBD. From baked goods to CBD-infused beverages, restaurants across the country are responding to a consumer demand to chill out.

“There has been growing popularity and support around CBD, and if it makes people happier and less stressed, then why not give the public what they want?” says Nick Duckworth, owner of cafe Banter NYC. They currently only sell Dirty Lemon CBD, a packaged, CBD-infused drink, but will be expanding their CBD offerings in 2019, allowing customers “to add CBD drops to most beverages.”

View all 2019 Menu trends here.

Filed Under: Customer Trends, Events, Global Market Buzz, Heard on The Street, Operations, Organic, Trending Now, Your Restaurant Tagged With: 2019, Ancient Grains, CBD, Fermented Foods, Fire-roasted Foods, ideas, Jackfruit, Lifestyle, Marketing, menu, pickles, recommendations, research, Restaurant, Restaurant Service, restaurants, Trending Now, trends

New York City on sale: Deep discounts on shows, restaurants, hotels starting Jan. 21

January 24, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2019-01-22 at 1.05.11 PM.png

New York City is appealing to visitors for countless reasons, but price is not usually one of them.

But starting Jan. 21, the city will be at its cheapest thanks to a new initiative called NYC Winter Outing organized by the tourism marketing association, NYC & Company.

For the first time, NYC Restaurant Week, NYC Broadway Week and NYC Must-See Week will take place at the same time.

That will result in some of the lowest hotel rates of the year, shopping sales, theater, restaurant and attraction/sightseeing deals.

About 400 restaurants will participate in NYC Restaurant Week from Jan. 21 to Feb. 8. Diners will get two-course prix-fixe lunches and brunches for $26, with three-course dinners for $42.

View more here.

Filed Under: Customer Trends, Events, Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Shopbuzz Tagged With: discount, Food Service, Hospitality, lunch, Marketing, New York, NYC, NYC Restaurant Week, Reservations, Restaurant, restaurants, tourism, visitors

Impact of Min Wage Increase / NYCHA Survey & Results

January 15, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

See here NYCHA Survey and Results on Minimum Wage Increase

Filed Under: Closings, Cooking, Customer Trends, employees, Enterprise Insight, Events, Global Market Buzz, Heard on The Street, Local Market Buzz, Openings, Operations, Opportunities, Retail Spotlight, Shopbuzz, Trending Now Tagged With: Beverage, business, changes, content, Customer Service, development, Food, Food Service, ideas, increase, Marketing, Minimum Wage, recommendations, research, Restaurant, restaurants, Servers, survey, Technology, tipping

Fresh Marketing Ideas For A New Year

January 10, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

Image result for marketing ideas restaurant

“Get charitable.
Retailers can bring in new customers by hosting charity nights. Work with local charities and offer them a percentage of sales for every customer who walks through the door. That should encourage the nonprofit to market to their staff, friends, and family, thereby bringing in new shoppers.

For a service business, you can increase your exposure by allowing a nonprofit to give away a free service from your company as a prize. Many charities have auctions, dinners with prizes, or other events where this type of offer would be appreciated.”

Different Types Of Restaurant Menus

January 2, 2019 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

“Menu is essential for all restaurants and it plays an important role in promoting the business. A menu not only provides information about the food articles available at the restaurant along with prices, but also tempt the customer to order the food. Menu should be attractive and informative as in not long but it should be able to provide the necessary information.

Different restaurants have different approaches on serving the food and fixing prices for each item. Similarly different restaurants follow different menu styles. Here we are going to talk about the most commonly used five different types of restaurant menus.

Static Menu

This is the most common type of menu which has been accepted widely. Different food items will be categorized into different groups and subgroups such as appetizers, entrees, salads, soups, desserts etc. This type of menu will be kept laminated for easy cleaning and will contain several pages. Most of the fast food restaurants use this type of menu.

A’la Carte Menu

When different food items are sold individually, this type of menu will be the best. For example, when you order a steak, it will not accompany salads and potatoes. You will have to order them separately. In such restaurants, the prices of each item should be shown individually.

Table d’hote Menu

In some restaurants where food items are sold as multi course meals. Here the choices will be less and the charges will be for the meal not for individual items. Customer will not have a choice to order individual items. In such restaurants “Table d’hote” type of menu will be the best choice. This is also known as “Prix Fixe Menu”.

Key Ingredients For Successful Organizational Change

December 31, 2018 by TaraPaige Group Leave a Comment

Image result for Successful Organizational Change

As we approach the end of 2018, many of you are probably planning business transformations for the New Year. However, the loftier the goals, the more care needs to be given to the process in achieving them. All organizations today face the need for more frequent and ongoing change in order to maintain their competitive advantages and relevance in the the marketplace. But change is exceedingly difficult in today’s more complex business battlefield. In the Navy SEAL Teams, we operated in what we referred to as VUCA environments: volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous. Sounds just like modern business doesn’t it?

Five Key Ingredients

Successful change formulas involve (1) vision, (2) benefits, (3) sponsorship, (4) resources and (5) methodology. If any of these five ingredients are left out, the outcome won’t taste all that great. For example, if aligned vision is lacking confusion sets in quickly. The key word being aligned. If senior leaders have varying ideas of what success looks like, things get messy really fast. When the benefits aren’t clear (or not clearly communicated), ambivalence occurs. Without full sponsorship from leadership, resistance spreads. Without resources, frustration. Without a clear methodology and approach, procrastination becomes the norm.

New York City on sale: Deep discounts on shows, restaurants, hotels starting Jan. 21

Fresh Marketing Ideas For A New Year

Different Types Of Restaurant Menus

Key Ingredients For Successful Organizational Change

Follow PaigePapers

Twitter

Join Us on Facebook

Hot Topics

PAIGEPAPERS MONTHLY

LATEST POSTS