I can’t help noticing that the comments on this blog are like a giant virtual brain. It’s hard to imagine any question I could ask that would stump you, collectively.
You might say Google is like a giant brain too, but it’s missing something. While Google’s algorithms are impressive, sometimes a question requires the “x-factor” that only another human, or collection of humans can grok. For example, if I asked Google what is more manly – a lamp or a pillow – I would get no useful answer. But the great Blog Brain would tell me the correct answer (lamp).
I’m going to test the Great Blog Brain with a little question that has been stumping me. I’m sure a Google search would come up empty because the answer requires intuition and personal experience and marketing savvy.
Here’s the situation. I own two restaurants locally. (See www.staceyscafe.com). One of the two restaurants (Stacey’s at Waterford) is in a neighborhood where about 12 new restaurants have opened in the past few months. A Cheesecake Factory and a PF Chang also opened just down the road. (Those are large chains, the equivalent of Wal*mart for restaurants, with the same impact on competition.) As competition increases dramatically, the smaller non-chain restaurants look for new ways to stand out.
Stacey’s at Waterford features a separate banquet room for about 50 people. The ambiance is “casual upscale” and the food is what we call California cuisine. I’ve been trying to come up with a brilliant idea to create events (as opposed to waiting for events to contact us) to fill the banquet room, or even the main restaurant.
In the past, we’ve tried comedy, live music, wine events, family nights, and various “get-something-free” promotions. They have little impact on business. And they require advertising for each event. In our perfect world, we’d find some sort of evergreen event that is self-organizing or involves existing organizations that meet on a regular basis over dinner or lunch.
So I ask you, Great Blog Brain, what is the best sort of event to fill a banquet room? (The restaurant has a large bar and cocktail area, and an extensive wine list, if that helps.)
You will be tempted to say the answer involves great food, service, value and location. That used to be enough. Now the problem is that there are more chairs than diners.
Advertising has no impact on restaurant business. We’ve tried newspapers, radio, direct mail, and magazine ads. They don’t even cause a blip in the baseline. Other restaurants have apparently discovered the same thing. So your answer should not rely on heavy ongoing ads.
I predict at least three excellent suggestions nestled within hundreds of snarky comments about celebrity restaurants.
Go.