Strange Bedfellows

Aside from the fact that restaurants can be very dependent upon marketing, at first glance one may think that the two entities don’t have much in common. How wrong you would be.

There is an old adage in the restaurant trade that says that presentation is everything. That is very true. According to safetyculture, presentation is very important in the restaurant business. It matters for both the plate itself and the overall dining environment, including ambiance and service style.

Webstarauntstores says that guests often judge food with their eyes first and good presentation can increase perceived value, which may support higher menu prices and better reviews. All important to a restaurant’s success.

Besides making you hungry, what does this have to do with marketing? A lot. From a new product presentation to company management, to the product design, packaging and merchandising, presentation is a major driving force.

The design of the product and its colors will affect its appeal to purchasers — as will packaging and how it’s portrayed in a retail environment. Why is that container of Tide laundry detergent orange? Because now it stands out. In as a competitive economy as we’re in, it all matters. The size and shape of the product, the color of the packaging, the fonts used to describe it – they all matter. And don’t forget the name of the product. The GM executives who tried to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin America learned that the hard way when they were told that Nova in Spanish means “it doesn’t go.”

Even though content is still king, that new product presentation leans heavily on presentation. Consistency between the digital presentation and the hard copies given to team members should not be taken lightly. Consistency of formatting among headers, sections and subheads may be taken for granted, but when that consistency isn’t so consistent, it shows and it cheapens the entire messaging.

“We eat with our eyes.” — Guy Fieri, an American restaurateur, author and television presenter