Fast Food Villians or Hero's . . . Weight In On The Debate

Here is the scenario. . . You pull up to the drive thru, see the juicy images of cheeseburgers,
crunchy golden fries and thirst quenching pop and bam your mouth starts watering, the smell
of fast food is like a comforting hug and you cannot wait to take that first bite!

Americans love affair with fast food began in 1921 with the birth of Mc Donald's . . . Fast
forward to the present, and we have children and adults who are stricken with diabetes and
obesity. 1 in 4 Americans consumer eat fast food everyday and there is nothing wrong with
that, in fact just like you I love fast food too.

In todays busy World we cannot blame the fast food Industry for your lack of will power.
Just because you live a hectic life and need to get a quick meal on the way to your son's soccer
practice does not mean that you do not have choices.  I researched all of the fast food restaurants
(see chart) and ALL of these fast food chains have easy to access nutritional panels that empower
you the customer to make educated choices when ordering, there are a myriad of healthy options
to choose from. We all know that apples are healthier than french fries and water is healthier than
soda.  Americans need to stop pointing the finger at fast food and take a look in the mirror.  It is
okay to eat fast food just make healthier options at the drive thru and if you want to indulge great
but don't over indulge everyday. My philosophy is everything in moderation.

 So are fast food restaurants villans or heros or is the owness on the American consumer?

                                                     "Weight" in on with your opinion?

How Are You Winning Momma-sumers Over?

Let's be honest Mom's flex the biggest retail muscle in the house, they control the check
book and determine 80-85% of all household purchases.  So how are you winning over
Momma-sumer's shopping heart?

                         Quick Facts About Momma-sumers


1. There are an estimated 75 Million Momma-sumers in the United States.

2. Moms influence 85% of all household purchases.

3. We are on the on-go and do not have time for long-winded cutesy marketing.

4. Price & value are the two most important aspects that determine purchase.

5. Online marketers we want pictures and price. . . Do not confuse this with % off.

6. When it comes to Internet purchases we want free shipping & coupons.

7. You must be respectful and responsive to Mom's, Millennial Mom demand instant response.

8.  Word of mouth is key factor to building brand trust & is critical to potential purchase.

9. Moms have limited tolerance for Facebook marketing - don't over market on Facebook!

10. It is estimated that Moms will account for 3 Trillion of retail sales in 2012.


                   How To Influence Mom's Impulse Purchases


                               
                                             Source: BIGresearch SIMM 14, June 2009

Mom's are a critical consumer segment that retailers cannot afford to blunder. Mom's
manage the bankroll and will also shape their children's future buying habits.  Think like
a Mom and you will win . . . The bottom line is, we want to save money, be the family
hero without it taking up too much of our valuable time.  Speak to use where we are
(facebook, social and mobile) and make us quick and easy to understand offers, that will
make our lives easier.








Sources

http://www.dmnews.com/marketing-to-moms/article/127792/

http://www.lyris.com/us-en/email-marketing/105-Marketing-to-Moms-Get-to-the-Point

http://blog.marketingtomoms.com/2011/05/shopping-trends-fresh-look.html

8 Retail Predictions That Will Come True

1. Self serve kiosks will become a prominent option with retailers and restaurants.  

2. Mobile payment will replace debit cards.

3. Bricks and mortar will continue to outsell online retailers.

4. Significant increase in retailers offering personalized-custom options.

5. Mobile marketing with consumer targeted geo-fencing will become the new junk mail.

6. Convenience stores will become quick serve restaurants.

7. Technology will be everywhere within retail and will create job elimination.

8. Re-dedication to the consumer experience vs. a strong focus on price and product. 

Invasion Of Privacy Or Smart Marketing?

Consumers have been barraged by marketing for years, you move to a new home and your

mailbox is flooded with junk mail.  You file for a marriage license and all the sudden Sandals 

Resorts is sweeping you off your feet to their sandy beaches.  

Times have changed, now Google knows your browsing habits, mention a product

or hobby in a gmail and sure enough a complimentary ad will show up that day! Netflix

suggest movies based on your previous rentals and likewise Amazon recommends books

based on your previous purchases.

Target made Headlines this week as they were was able to discover a teens pregnancy 

before her own parents. Apparently Targets predictive analytics is dead-on, as the Company

was able to decipher through a combination of purchases that the young women was pregnant 

and launched a direct mail campaign to her, offering coupons on cribs and baby clothing.

Controversy is looming over the Internet like a dark a cloud, due to the concerns of consumer 

privacy . . .  In addition to retailers, facebook, twitter, google as well as smart phones are
blurring the lines between predictive analytic and consumer privacy.  We are in uncharted
territories and until someone draws the line in the proverbial sand nothing is forbidden.

Do you feel like your privacy has been breached? Or do you appreciate customized marketing?

3 Brands That Know How To Drive Loyalty

Finish Line 
Is a shoe retailer that offers shoes for every sport and age group, they sell various name
brands at reasonable prices. Their sales people are well educated about all of their
products and are not pushy and the Finish Line website is well designed and easy for
shopping. Big deal they are just a shoe store, you can buy shoes anywhere, right?

How 
Finish Line is like crack for shoe lovers . They know how to drive sales and build customer
loyalty through aggressive direct mail marketing as well as email marketing. We are a family
of shoe lovers and it is impossible to refuse $20 off a pair of clearance shoes.




Kroger/Fry's
My favorite grocery store is Fry's because it is familiar, I know where everything is and it
is always clean. The produce is fresh and reasonably priced and overall their pricing is
competitive.  But what makes them better than the next grorcery store?

How
Kroger/Fry's does an amazing job wrapping their arms around their customers with customized
coupons based on my specific previous purchases.  Kroger's also offers loyalty incentives like
10 cents off a gallon of gasoline (at their adjacent gas stations) When I check out they tell me
that I saved x% off and exactly how many dollars that I saved.



Kohls
Is America's retailer and has nearly 1100 stores that sell clothing, shoes, accessories and
house wares.  It is one stop shopping for the whole family.  It seems like Kohls is always
starting or ending a sale. So why not target, jcPenny or Wal Mart?

How
I get mail from Kohls at least once or twice a month with special offers, secret percentage
off on my next purchase and when I do shop at Kohls, I get Kohls cash to use on future
purchases. I may not buy everything at Kohls but they do a good job keeping their brand in
front of me and building to of mind awareness. However, when someone has a need in our
home Kohls is always an option.

What Are You Doing To Drive Brand Loyalty?

• Are you treating customers like family?
• Are you aggressively marketing to them through emails and mobile?
• Do you offer repeat business rewards or incentives?
• How about a thank you gift?
• Make sure you are engaging with your customers where and when THEY want.

Caloric Legislation, How Will It Effect Consumer Habits?

Every QSR and Fast Casual chain is anxiously waiting to see how the new caloric legislation 
will change consumers habits?

One thing is for sure the majority of restaurants have expanded their menu offerings to hedge
their losses and offer health conscious consumers options.  Other restaurants have changed
how they prepare their food and many have altered their sauces or toppings to reduce calories and saturated fats. 

Some QSR & Fast Casual chains are not jumping on the health bandwagon and are in the mindset that consumer who dine on pizza, burgers and taco's know that they are going to over indulge and a nutritional panel is not going to change their habits.

However the one thing that all restaurant chains can agree with is that the cost to make these menu changes is going to be staggering and painful. Last week, I spoke with a chain that has 1800+ locations and they have already priced out the cost of changing their menus and will 
have to cough up $900,000.  Yet another financial obstacle that chains will have to deal with during an already challenging economic climate.

What is your chain doing to insure that this new legalisation does not negatively impact your bottom line?

Bite Sizing Your Social Media Diet

Social media can be overwhelming and kinda of like dining at a buffet, where 

their are so many options that you do not know what to choose and you are afraid

to put too much of one thing on your plate.  It can be confusing and feel insurmountable.

                    A Few Tools To Bite Sizing Your Social Media Diet

      

Think of your social media like meals throughout the day, you would never sit down 

and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time!  I schedule my day and then weave

social media in where I might have 15-20 minute breaks. I also prioritize my sources of 

content.

Remember we are not binging on social media, hopefully you are gleaming critical pieces 

of information, digesting the information and then sharing it or re purposing the information 

with your own creative spin.

Using tools like tweet deck and buffer can help schedule your thought leadership and can 

free up your time for real face to face meetings and other obligations.

Another tool that I learned from my friend Michael Durwin, allows you to merge your efforts 

with Twitter &Google+ Michaels Blog & How To Google Plus Twitter

Please share how you bite size your social media diet, we can all use more help.

Achieving Personal Greatness

I read a post on Linkedin that posed the following question . . . "Are you engaged at work
dissatisfied or are you pre occupied with personal distractions?" This simple question made
me think about myself and others that I do business with.

Reflect on your day . . . Where you excited to get to the office? Did you prepare before your
meetings? Were you fully engaged with others? Are you passionate about helping your clients?
Are you part of the solution or the problem?

Time to be honest with yourself and decide if you are going to recommit to excellence or
continue down a path of mediocrity.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself. . .

1. What is it, that you love or once loved about your career?

2. How can you re-ignite that passion?

3. Do you feel like you are just going through motions?

4. Are you living/working within your comfort zone?

5. Do you complain to co-workers about your work load or policies?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, it is to either time to rededicate yourself
to a take charge mentality or perhaps it is time to change your career path and  do something
that is going to make you happy and to be passionate about what you are doing. It is
empowering to drive change, to be the solution and live outside your comfort zone.

Sometimes doing what we love is not the best financial decision but it can make your life
rich with happiness!  Go and pursuit greatness whatever that may be.

SoLoMo Buzz Da Jour Or Does It Have Staying Power?

Americans love a good acronym . .  SOLOMO means Social, Local and Mobile Media

More than 50% of Americans own a smart phone, they are consumers searching for the local
deal, perhaps lost on the road trying to find your location or they could be comparing prices
and reading consumer reviews. However if you have not converted your social media efforts
to a mobile-friendly platform your competitor will be winning their business.

To put this in elementary terms; everything you do on the Internet such as; your website,
blog, facebook, google+ or twitter account need to "if you are uncertain what this takes
or lack the technical knowledge to add this to your business plattform, then I recommend
that you hire someone todo this immediately!  Your PC based social marketing does you
NO good with potential  customers who are on the go with mobile & ready to spend money.
By creating this omni-channel marketing plan, you will create a seamless experience for your
customers and potential new customers.

                                               

There is much debate if SoLoMo is the buzz da jour or long-term as Companies such as
Groupon are struggling and as Facebook debuts it's IPO.  Think of it this way, 1 out of every
2 people own a mobile phone can you really afford to miss out on 50% of all potential new
customers? 

The term SoLoMo was coined by John Doerr who  is an Iconic American venture capitalist
at Kliener Perkins Caufiield & Byers who funded Netscape, Google and Amazon.

Sources
http://schott.blogs.nytimes/2011/02/22/solomo/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-gladwell/solomo-manifesto_b_1221647.html
http://mashable.com/2012/01/12/solomo-hyperlocal-search/

10 Truths About Millennials

1. More ethnically and racially diverse cohort of youth in the Nation's history.
2. The first generation who regard social media like Twitter & Facebook part of normal life.
3. Expect a much greater array of product and service selectivity.
4. Prefer playing a game rather than reading a book.
5. Prefer learning by doing and are not going to read how to manuals.
6. They want "time and place shift" they want services where and when they are ready.
7. Prefer customizations & personalization's with products and services.
8. No tolerance for delays and want constant feedback & communication - on their terms.
9. Excel at juggling multiple tasks at one time, for example texting while exercising.
10. Nomadic communicators and communicate frequently via social media.

Sources; 
http://www.marcprensky.com/, http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_College_Gaming_Reporta.pdf

http://www.benton.org/publibrary/future-balance/toolkit.pdf

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly From Undercover Boss

You do not have to star in the hit TV show, Undercover Boss to find out
what is happening in the front trenches.  Do you know how your Managers
run their locations? Do you know how your employees and customers are
treated? What do your customers think about your products or services?
Thinking and knowing may be two completely different things.

Whether you are the head of a major chain or a regional manager, it is time to
roll up your sleeves and get in touch with knowing!  Nothing is more critical
than understanding, first hand what is happening at the point of sale.

The Good - 7-11 CEO

Joe Depinto had to be pleased with Delores as she greets many customers by
first name. When it comes to customer service Delores is, as good as it gets.
However, Joe learns first hand, how challenging it is to manage the coffee
service at 7-11. Do you think that 7-11 is redesigning the coffee island?


The Bad - Caution This Is Really Bad

CEO Rick Silva fires a manager on the spot and shuts down the store. Rick
would have never discovered the unacceptable management and execution
standards from his office. How are your managers treating your employee's?

The Ugly - Hooter's CEO

I'm sure CEO, Coby Brooks was devastated by his undercover experience.

His employees were being disrespected and humiliated. Do you think that Coby 

is now spending more time in the field, and managers were given more training?

Do you think, or do you know?

QSR C-Suite Shake Up

Snow globes are a lot like life . . . When left to sit on a shelf they are dull and stagnant but

when you pick a snow globe up and shake it, magical things happen and the snow globe

comes to life and is interesting.

Recently the QSR Industry has had many C-Suite shake ups & promotions, I have to
believe that this is because Companies are not satisfied with a dusty snow globe, they
are seeking change, they want a fresh prospective.  Let's face it competition is stiff right
now and everyone needs to do a better job engaging their  empowered customers, figure
out how to maximize their marketing return and optimize profits.

Since January Arby's, Firehouse Subs, Church's and most recently Sonic has made changes
to upper Management. These changes are a good thing for the brand and customers. My
prediction is that within the year we will start seeing fresh ideas and a shift  from mediocre
to a road towards greatness. When Management in the C-Suite changes everyone within the
Organization is on their toes and hopefully brings their A game.

So you want job security? You say love your job & your Company. I strongly recommend

leaving your comfort zone far behind, think from your consumers prospective, it is time to

roll up your sleeve and permanently affix your thinking cap. Become the valuable asset that

your Company cannot afford to loose.  Above all else be flexible and embrace change!

The Power Of Predective Analytics

The Financial Industry and The World Of Professional Sports have been using predictive analytics for decades, to determine your financing terms, credit limits and odds for the Superbowl.

The retail Industry has finally jumped onboard and is cashing in on this collection of consumer intellegnce.  Gone are the days of historical analytics and marketers gut instincts, it is too costly to
gamble on hunches and available inventory spreadsheets.

To best explain predictive analytics; it optimizes your marketing campaigns, assesses where your customers are in their consumer lifecycle with your brand, determines pricing strategies, can optimize
your  ad spend, manage risk, guide consumer website behavior and increases consumer engagment,
while decreasing customer attrition.  It sounds like a miracle & might just be!

Predictive Analytics was a major buzz word at the recent NRF Conference. Their are many software providers out their offering predective analytics patforms. I do not know enough about the options to make any recommendations, however I did find this NRF interview David's Bridal Interview At NRF Discussing Benefits Of First Insight Tool which showcases the power of predictive analytics very powerful proof.

Do not waste idle time thinking about predictive analytics, while your competitor jumps on the bandwagon and passes you by. Start doing your research and figure out what your analytic needs are and find the plattform that best meets your needs. Research shows that top performing buinesses have a much more developed resource for consumer analytics then their lesser performing competitors.

College Recruitment & Business Parallels

Last week I attended an athletic college recruiter workshop and I found many similarities in how Universities & Coaches asses athletes & how Companies & Top Executives judge and asses you.

                  
Smart People Rule

• Grades are the most important asset you can offer a college Coaches are not willing to take a gamble that you are not going to be able to make the grades. Coaches get paid bonuses based on their athletes GPA's.

• Companies are not going to take a risk on you if you do not offer insightful and thought provoking  information. You need to challenge how your potential client thinks and force them to leave the status quo behind.  Top level Executives are not going to waste their time or take the risk of associating themselves with someone who is not offering smart solutions.  

It's How You Win or Loose

• This is the scenario; two softball players are on the same club ball team and they both have verbal offers from a Division 1 University.  They have just lost a game at a tournament & the girls are in the bathroom complaining back and forth, between the stalls about their terrible coach and other players who made errors.  Meanwhile the Head Recruiter for the University was washing her hands and she heard the girls, as soon as the girls came out of the stalls the recruiter told them that the she was so disappointed and their verbal offers were rescinded.  Because these girls were being poor 

• Always take the high road, never burn a bridge, never speak ill of anyone to anyone.  if you loose a client do it gracefully and continue to foster that relationship after the fact. You never know when your competition is going to make a mistake or when it is time to renew a contract.  People want to do business who have character and integrity.

IBM CMO Study . . . Critical Take Aways

I just finished listening & viewing the "IBM 2011 Global CMO Study" presentation for the 3rd time, which is jam-packed with critical gems of information!  IBM conducted a comprehensive study that involved interviewing over 1700 CMO's, in 16 Countries and 19 Industries with 1 hour long face to face interviews. Below are what I believe to be the critical take aways from the study.

• 50% of CMO's feel under-prepared to deal with the Data Explosion of today (one CMO referenced the data explosion as more like a Tsunami of data) which is too overwhelming to handle.

• Enhancing customer loyalty is the #1 priority, CMO's must OBSESS about their customers

• CMO's admit that they are the most vulnerable in the following 3 categories; technology savvy, social media expertise and finance skills & they also stated that they will look to external partners for help.

• Measuring marketing ROI is a major challenge that CMO's will deal with now and in the future.

• CMO's & CIO's need to integrate and be equally be responsible for continuity of messaging, vision and how that translate into measurable results.

• Social has officially moved from Cool to Critical

• Social media spend levels will triple within the next 5 years.

• We have moved from the "Age of Information" to the "Age Of The Consumer"

• Now is the time to revisit your Marketing Mix - Rethink it from the Customers mindset.

• Shift to predictive analytics meaning you need a technical platform to measure your customers life cycle across multiple channels. this is extremely challenging with so many moving parts.

This is a modest recap, here is the link to the study IBM -CMO Study Link I highly recommend you watch this 1 hour presentation, I believe it will be the highlight of your week and it will give you the strategic re-direction you need to guide your Company towards success in the "Age of the Consumer".

C-Stores Battle Over Share Of Wallet With QSR

Last week I had lunch with an undisclosed journalist who happens to write about the Convenience Store Industry.  During lunch we discussed the Industry challenges and issues.  We both agreed that the biggest challenge that C-Stores are facing is competing with other channels.  

I started researching this issue, to see how big this problem is and it’s HUGE! Quick serve restaurants are stealing your share of wallet hand over fist with price slashing, smart marketing and additional day parts.

1. Starbucks is quickly adding an evening day part to offer quick serve food, beer and wine.

2. Taco Bell just launched breakfast, which is a competing option & cuts into your AM rush.

3. Subway is slashing prices and offers LTO’s such as a  $2.00 Sub.

4. QSR's are catering to Millennial’s who snack all day & offer snacks like cookies & cinnabons.

3. McDonald's has identified that their fastest growing day part is from Midnight to 5am.

4. Dunkin Donuts has found, through research that their is strong growth in the evening hours.

5. CEO of Sonic just announced in the Spring it will begin marketing a 5th Daypart opportunity.

Perhaps the next thing these quick serve restaurants will do is to offer gasoline at their drive through!  All kidding aside . . .You need to start marketing  like a QSR, promote your day-parts, your combo meals and drive loyalty programs.  It is time for you to recapture your market share back from QSR . . . The question is how?