30 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
The next day went by pretty much the same, just with more intensity. I felt terrible, like I was in a state of dying. I had work, but called off, not so much because of how I felt but I woke up NEEDING some Church's. Despite being only OK as far as fried chicken goes, I was craving it. Not KFC, not Brown's, not even Popeye's.
30 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
caper, chicken, Church's Chicken, fried chicken, heist, robbery
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WTVR) - An eastern style robbery at a western style restaurant in Kansas City. A man robbed a Church's Chicken Tuesday night armed with a samurai sword, police said.
The suspect entered the Church's Chicken, just before 10 p.m. wearing a dark-gray hooded sweatshirt and carrying the sword, according to a statement from the Kansas City Police Department.
30 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
branding, flat-screen tvs, Franchisee dissent, franchisee goodwill, in-store surroundings, knowing your demographic, marketing to a new demographic, marketing to your demographic, McDonald's, Quick-service restaurant, removal of TVs, screwing your franchisee
link to article on chain-wide rebranding of McDonalds (2011-12 renovations)
Article, from fall of last year (2011).
McDonalds to undertake and undergo a complete physical rebranding of ALL stores, to give them a more sophisticated and upscale appearance. To quote the article:
“That means bringing free and unlimited Wi-Fi access, fireplaces, flat-screen televisions, double-lane drive-thrus and interior stone and tile accents in a bid to modernize the chain, which has been battling to gain market share against coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc.”
so, what the heck is Nando’s Canada doing, if McDonalds is bringing that IN, and they are taking it OUT?!?!?!?
30 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
branding, canada, expanding the clientele, fairmont east africa, in-store surroundings, internal marketing, marketing, marketing to a new demographic, marketing to your demographic, Nando's Canada, Nandocas, nandos, no pictures of food!, on-line marketing, Refusal to properly market
Hi there. I went to a wedding recently. It was at a swanky hotel—-it used to be called “Motel 6″ but they did a reno and upgraded it to the Fairmont Sudbury.
Anyways, I saw this sign inside, and dozens others just like it:
This is called “internal marketing”. See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_marketing
Once the customer is inside your store, you shamelessly advertise your other wares to them, until they are no longer a captive audience when they leave your store. Almost like kidnapping, but for their mind. You know what I mean.
Walk into any McDonalds or Subway—-i’ve written about this before, but they are complete marketing machines inside there, once you’ve stepped foot inside their restaurant. Subway has a monitor on an endless loop, just showing their food products, fresh ingredients, and unnamed people at an unnamed event fighting over a catered Subway food selection.
Where is the internal marketing from Nando’s? Why not use overhead TVs to show a “grill-cam”? why not use advertising in the washrooms? why not use table-toppers from which diners can get ideas for their next dining experiences? All nando’s seem to have some sort of a patio—why not use the outside and inside walls of the patio partitioning, as a sort of billboard for in/ex-ternal marketing?!?!?
Why? Why not!!
PS: and use pictures of the food, silly!
30 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
calgary flames, canada, canucks, distracted driving, distracted eating, edmonton oilers, Franchisee dissent, in-store surroundings, marketing, Nando's Canada, Nandocas, nandos, ottawa senators, removal of TVs, screwing your franchisee, sheer stupidity, sports, sports channel, toronto maple leafs, tsn, vancouver canucks
Well, for all you hockey fans out there, unfortunately, your wait for more hockey continues:
But don’t worry! Nando’s Canada Head office took down all your TVs, way back in the first week of August. NCHO KNEW you wouldn’t have any hockey to watch, and they’re so smart, they just want you to concentrate on eating chicken.
Now think about it, you’re sitting there, with a nice juicy plate of flame-grilled chicken in front of you. Why would you want to defile your nando’s eating experience, by having TV, Hockey, or some other stupid distraction on the overhead TV? Your dining experience must be SOOOOOO much better, without that pesky tV overhead, nattering at you about the weather, news, or sports.
So there. Nando’s Canada Head Office knows best. Now keep eating, and forgot about that tv-sized spot on the wall up above.
Never mind distracted driving! Nando’s Head Office knows that the real scourge of society is distracted eating!! (soon to be trademarked, so hands-off!)
26 Friday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
A&W, branding, canada, chicken, Coupon, coupons, facebook, Franchisee dissent, knowing your demographic, limited-time offers, marketing, marketing to your demographic, McDonald's, Nando's Canada, Nandocas, Promotion, Quick-service restaurant, Refusal to properly market, royalties, screwing your franchisee
OK everyone, not sure if everyone is aware of Nando’s Canada’s new Facebook campaign on Wednesdays. Come in, bring a friend, and one of you guys eats for free! I saw the manager of one of my regular stores today, all the roosters were pretty happy, with the volume that came in. Everyone likes to be busy. Busy means customers. Customers mean a steady paycheque.
Well, me being an economics PHD (piled higher, deeper), I started asking what the economic case was behind this campaign. OK, so they were swamped with customers, which is great. And head office supposedly gave them all a “case of chicken” as compensation—even better! the slow days in any business are typically Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so that is OK, the manager supposed.
And the extra publicity—-that is good also I guess. And all the radio airtime, radio play, exposure, I’m sure that is a hell of a lot better exposure than the dumb bus shelters and traffic helicoptor sponsorships of the past. And don’t get me started on the canada Cup of Beer as previously blogged about. But think of the cost, what are the metrics being measured? What is trying to be achieved? Wednesday? Why not Monday, or Tuesday? Why not, do it daily between 1-6pm? The good news they are driving people to the Facebook page, which has net benefits. But this should have been done…………..a long time ago. Last time i checked, Facebook has been around for a very long time. This could have been done a long time ago.
And McDonalds, Subway, Church’s, A&W, they don’t do these silly mass-media campaigns. Because it is targeting the wrong demographic. You are to a certain extent, targeting the facebook crowd, which typically tends to be younger, and has less disposable income, and is more sensitive to a two-for-one offer than the regular Nando’s clientele, who is older, and doesn’t have a problem with spending $15 for lunch. So the net effect of this campaign—–I fully question. What is the long term goal of this? What is the metric by which this is being measured.
The proper way to run this campaign, is to give everyone who comes in to take advantage of the offer a coupon that is good from Nov19th-Dec31st, and have some modest offer like, “$5 off second meal when two come in to dine” and see what percentage of those coupons actually come back. If the hit rate is high, then at least there was some repeat business. If the hit rate is low, then obviously the campaign failed to produce lasting results, or any repeat business.
But from what I was told—————-there is no offer that is being given to these Facebook promo customers, so there is NO way the success or failure of this campaign can be monitored. No metrics measured? No accountability! Fire the people who dreamed up this cockamamie campaign! Anyone can claim bragging rights when the results aren’t being tested or measured.
Oh, and supposedly full royalties are still being paid on the purchase price of the meal order for Facebook promo customers. So I’m not sure if the operator is making ANY money on these Facebook customers.
Great deal. Lots of work for the operators, but…………..for what? Time will only tell.
26 Friday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
customer tastes, demographics, eat fresh, evolving customer tastes, flat-bread, flatbread, marketing, menu, menu development, menu evolution, Nando's Canada, nando's canada listenup, Nando's UK, Nandocas, nandos, new food offerings, new ideas, subway
OK, i admit, i’m a regular customer of Subway also. Chicken Breast, typically, but usually on bread, Honey Oat and the like. Well, i was in my local Subway, and saw two neighbourhood cops ordering six-inchers on flatbread. So I thought i’d give that a try. So much for cops and donuts, I guess.
Well, it tastes pretty good. And no doubt, less filling and fewer carbs and calories than a traditional flour-based baked bread sub. So just like Church’s Chicken, huge franchise food chains like Subway (they don’t get any bigger than that!) are constantly looking for new and evolutionary ways to upgrade, and tweak their menu offerings to appeal to evolving customer and demographic tastes.
25 Thursday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
chicken, chicken skewers, Church's, Church's Chicken, churches, churches chicken, expanding the menu, hot bbq, hot sauce, marketing, menu, Nando's Canada, Nando's UK, nandos, new menu, new menu offerings, new offerings
OK, well, i’m always one, up to try out something new. Especially when it is chicken. So Church’s has these new “Flaming BBQ” sticks. I thought i’d pop in to see what they are all about!
Well, they tasted pretty good. Not bad if you like hot, spicy food. They are lightly floured, no batter, flash-fried, and come on a skewer. Are two skewers worth $5? Yah, probably. Better than getting chicken mcNuggets, with all that processed chicken skin mixed in. At least you are getting real chunks of chicken.
They aren’t cooked on a flame-grille. So there is some mis-leading advertising there, and they are only hot in the sense that the bbq sauce they are slathered in, is pretty “hot”.
However, I think the take-home message, is that this shows that even large chains such as Church’s, with thousands of locations, is open enough to try and implement new menu offerings, that show an openness to menu variation, individual and regional tastes, and a changing and evolving demographic.
As immigration continues, fewer people will be “beef” eaters, and more will be “chicken” eaters. And, the chicken eaters will want variety, which includes “spicing it up”. That BBQ sauce really was quite hot. I’ve purchased store-brand “hot-bbq” sauces that were not nearly as hot. So they’ve obviously chosen a pretty hot level of hotness.
22 Monday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
branding, calgary stampede, CNE, community outreach, concession stand, food court, marketing, marketing to a new demographic, name-brand recognition, Nando's Canada, nandos, PNE
http://www.pne.ca/thefair/rides-games-food/food.html
Other food stores, and chain stores are having a concession stand at the PNE. Wouldn’t it make sense to have a booth at the Calgary Stampede, the CNE, and at the PNE??? Wouldn’t this be a good way to make some money for head office, get the word out about Nando’s, and do some grass-roots promotions at the same time? Coupons with tight expiry dates could be handed out, and we could see how, and in what manner, they are ultimately redeemed.
the full text from the PNE’s 2012 webpage:
// //Experience the flavours of the world!
The Fair at the PNE celebrates diverse cuisine from countries around the world. The tantalizing array of international and local cuisine promises to cater to virtually every taste. With such an extensive food selection, visitors can choose anything from a light snack to a fine dining experience. Just don’t forget to save room for our traditional Fair favourites like cotton candy, candy apples, elephant ears and, of course, those mini donuts!
PNE’s new food stands, Crazy Dogs and Shrimp Boat, were met with rave reviews in 2011 so they’ve been brought back along with two new stands, Yumza Pizzeria and Colossal Cones.
B & B Concessions
Freshly made ham & cheese or dessert crepes as well as fresh roasted corn & roasted potatoes with all the toppings. Hungry? Try out the humongous BBQ Turkey Legs.
Brinks Concessions
Hungry? Try a tasty Slow Smoked Beef on a Bun or Ham on a Bun and Texas Taters
Caravan Foods
Another Fair favorite “Whales Tales”. Deep fried pastry dough with a variety of sweet toppings.
Cheyenne Coffee
Specialty coffees – lattes, mochas, tea and iced coffees.
Chinatown
Chinatown, a long-time tradition at the PNE, serves honey garlic ribs, beef & broccoli, chow mein, fried rice, spring rolls, chop suey, pot stickers and Szechwan chicken.
C-Lovers Fish & Chips
Another well-established Vancouver seafood restaurant serving their fresh cod or halibut fish and chips or deep fried prawns & chips at the PNE!
Colossal Cones BRAND NEW!
A tortilla cone full of BIG flavour and BIG toppings. Crunchy coleslaw is covered in crispy Chicken, Shrimp or Falafel and then topped off with zesty sauce.
Curry in a Hurry
Try a taste of India! Choose from a variety of delicious items such as tandoori chicken, lamb curry, butter chicken, vegetable pakoras, roti and mixed veggies.
D & D Fudge
An assortment of delicious homemade fudge, such as baileys and rocky road.
Dogwood Foods
Look for the classic ice cream trailer…the best soft ice cream & ice cream sundaes are served here.
Eden Concessions – Scones
The Original Fair Scone – be part of the tradition! Freshly baked biscuits filled with creamy butter and raspberry jam.
Eden’s Greek
The experience of Greece awaits you! Select from a variety of traditional Greek dishes including donairs, spanokopita and Greek salad.
Eden’s Mexican
Head down Mexico way and try a tasty burrito, taco or maybe some savoury nachos layered with cheese!
Teriyaki Grill
A savoury selection of Teppan Sizziling Skewers, Teriyaki Bowls and Teriyaki Subs/Wraps created with high quality meats, fresh vegetables and authentic ingredients.
Festival Cappuccino
Hot and Iced Cappuccinos, lattes, hot coco, steamed milk, herbal teas, hot apple cider, chai tea. Dried fruits, loaves, biscotti, muffins and a variety of fresh fruits.
First Class Concessions
Located along Miller Drive between all the exciting rides and beer garden – serving up fresh baked pizzas, hamburgers, fries, and churos. Fresh Squeezed Lemonade or Lemon Slushies.
Fountains and Fruits
Come check out the massive Chocolate Fondue fountains and try one of the delicious chocolate treats like Fruit Kabobs or banana on a stick
Fresh Fruit Shakes
A healthy and tasty alternative…Made from real fruit and infusion teas – strawberry banana, peach or mango
Fresh is Best Salsas
The name says it all… fresh cut salsas, layer bean dips, spinach dips and red, green and yellow corn tortillas chips.
Gourmet Grill
Oh so savory… try one of these delicious authentic Greek chicken, beef or lamb gyros or if you prefer, spanokopita or calamari.
Granny’s Foods
Have you ever had a deep fried cheesecake? Try it for the first time at the Fair along with other deep fried goodies such as Oreos, Snickers, Twinkies and Kool-aid
Henry’s Chicken BBQ
Another fair favorite, tasty barbecued chicken slowly smoked over the traditional open charcoal pit. Add a side of fries, chili or coleslaw – MMMM good.
La Poutinerie – Poutine
Simple Gravy and Fries to a variety of mouth-watering toppings such as the Breakfast poutine-ham & eggs or Shepherd’s Pie Poutine – ground beef, corn, peas and carrots. Better yet, try one of their best sellers, the “Quebec Poutine”, you guessed it, “Maple Syrup”.
Hunky Bill’s
Hunky Bill’s, famous for its “Winnipeg Garlic Sausage” offers Ukrainian dishes including perogies and cabbage rolls. Other delectable menu items include fish & chips, prawns, oysters, salmon burgers, and pulled pork on a bun.
Jamaican Mi Juicy
A taste of the Caribbean…Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Jerk Chicken Wraps or try the Beef, Chicken or Vegetable Jamaican Patties
Jimmy’s Lunch
Family-owned & operated since the 1920’s, Jimmy’s Lunch serves the famous hamburgers loaded with fried onions. Hot dogs, fish & chips and french fries are among other traditional favourites at the PNE.
La Casa Gelato
Gelato lovers beware! La Casa is one of Vancouver’s best-known Italian ice cream makers and with 68 rotating flavours at the PNE, you’ll be sure to find a flavour that you can’t resist.
Lemon Heaven
Original, cherry & lime flavoured lemonade as well as diabetic lemonade.
Orange Julius
A refreshing fruit beverage with the option of an orange, strawberry, pina colada or banana Julius.
Pennsylvania Funnel Cakes
Sweet Cravings? Try a Funnel cake, Deep Fried Oreos or Deep Fried Jelly Belly Beans.
PNE Crazy Dogs- A 2011 Fair Favourite!
Stop by and check out the PNE’s newest food stand, Crazy Dogs! Serving up fresh gourmet hot dogs to suit any craving, time of day or appetite, these dogs are sure to become one of the Fair’s legendary offerings. With dogs like the poutine inspired Unroutine Poutine, the Mexican dog aptly named Piggy in a Poncho, or the granddaddy of all dogs, The Double Dog Dare Ya, a massive two foot dog smothered in mouth-watering chili, grilled onions and peppers, cheese sauce and bacon bits! Make sure you come hungry, ‘cause you’re sure to be satisfied!
Two locations: Near the Livestock Barns and near the WestJet Concert Stage
PNE Shrimp Boat- A 2011 Fair Favourite!
Fresh and tasty! Shrimp Boat offers uniquely prepared shrimp with a side of wiggle chips in diverse taste sensations like Cajun, garlic or even coconut.
Located Near the Agrodome
Pub Grub
Deep fried mushrooms, zucchini, jalapeno peppers, etc.
Rib Festival
The PNE is proud to host the 2nd Annual Rib Festival Competition located in Celebration Plaza. Fairgoers will be able to enjoy and rate RIBS, RIBS AND MORE RIBS.
Roaming Dragon
Asian inspired appies on the go including Asian spiced fries, Chinese Pork Belly Sliders and Korean Short Rib Tacos. Curious? Try it and you’ll be surprised how delicious these appetizers are.
Saltspring Noodles
Oodles of noodles served in noodles boxes – Your choice of vegetarian, chicken, tofu or shrimp with Teriyaki Noodles, Pad Thai Noodles, Spicy Malaysian Peanut Noodles and Sweet & Spicy Noodles
Sanjay’s
Offering a variety of East Indian dishes including chicken & shrimp curry and samosas. Other delicious menu items included BBQ ribs, baked beans and baked salmon.
Slushie Trailer
The coolest beverage trailer serving slushies with all the coke flavours
Swiss Style Nuts
A variety of freshly roasted candy-coated peanuts, pecans, almonds and brittle.
The Foot Long Hotdog
The famous Foot Long Hotdog loaded with fried onions is another great food tradition at the PNE.
Those Little Donuts
You can’t just eat one! These all-time Fair favourites are the freshly made and mouth-watering plain or sugar/cinnamon coated Mini Donuts.
Trattoria di Roberto
So many Italian favourites like meatball subs, pizza by the slice, Italian sausage or veal on a bun, calzone, and spaghetti with meat balls. Cannoli and Tiramisu help to finish off this delicious dinner.
Vina Restaurants
Delicious and healthy – Why not try a Vietnamese favourite like a chicken, pork or lamb brochette, drunken prawns, a salad roll or fried noodles?
WestJet World Class Bistro
Be at VIP at this year’s Fair at the PNE! To celebrate this year’s fantastic Summer Night Concerts line-up, we are offering you the ability to book a three-course meal, which includes reserved seating for the concert. MORE INFO
Wiggle Chips
Delicious fresh spliced and served hot potato chips, potato chips on a stick and tater tots. Just add your favourite seasonings – choose from dill, cheddar cheese, garlic, salt & vinegar and many more.
Yumza Pizzeria BRAND NEW!
Gourmet pizza made in-house! This isn’t your standard pizza, it’s YUMza!
22 Monday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
branding, canada, canada cup of beer, expanding the clientele, first-time customers, knowing your demographic, marketing, marketing to your demographic, poor association, questionable marketing, who likes spicy food?, wrong demographic
http://www.canadacupofbeer.com/
http://www.bcliving.ca/events/the-2012-nandos-canada-cup-of-beer
OK, this is a perfect example of questionable use of marketing dollars.
Nando’s Canada has been the title sponsor these past few years (since 2009?) for the Canada Cup of Beer. This is a beer festival, with “over 150 beers to try from!!!”, held in Swangard Stadium (in a Vancouver, BC suburb), in mid-July each summer, held on a Friday-Saturday.
Well, beer-drinkers, are NOT the typical Nando’s demographic!!!
Well, i’m not paid enough (or anything at all) to tell you what IS the target demographic of Nando’s, or where they SHOULD be spending incremental dollars on promoting their business, but I can tell you that being the title sponsor of a beer-fest is likely not going to pay dividends.
and IF they wanted to be the title sponsor, year after year, they should at least quantify the effect, by handing out “$5-off” coupons to each attendee, WITH NO MINIMUM PURCHASE, to see how many of the people attending the Canada Cup of Beer, actually make it to an actual Nando’s restaurant. Put an expiry of July or August 31st on it, to ensure that it is used in short-order. Free money! $5 off your next visit!! Hey guys, let’s go!!!
You could reimburse each franchisee $3.50 for each coupon redeemed, but it would give you major insight into whether the monies spent being the title-sponsor of the beer festival, are at least hitting the (or any for that matter) demographic that would patronize a Nando’s.
how much does this association cost? How is the direct benefit being measured? quantified? Are there other events that are more focused, that cost less or the same, or hit a wider audience?
Such as the PNE parade? the St. Patrick’s Day Parade? Putting Nando’s inside the food-concessions at the PNE, and selling the food along with coupons that drive patrons to the store-locations after the PNE has shut down? the Pride Parade? Who is doing such a cost-benefit analysis?!?
if NC is sponsoring a beer-fest, then why don’t they do more to offer beer to their patrons, have a night of the week that beer is discounted, or bundle a beer and wings special together? Seems kind of odd, doesn’t it?!?
