Although this shift has been building for some time, it was three events in social media that triggered this new marketing environment. First, Pinterest took the tech-savvy masses by storm almost overnight. Pinterest has a straightforward purpose. It is a social media site where users collect and share images they like or find and pin it to their pinboard,. Second, Instagram came of age. Once limited to iPhone, Instagram finally launched an Android app and welcomed a huge community that had not heard about it or were left out of the fun. Then, accelerating and confirming this process, Facebook bought Instagram (which has no revenue stream) for one billion dollars, a figure that made heads turn. Lastly, the formatting and formula behind Facebook Timeline tilts the scales towards images. Larger images now appear on Facebook walls, and they receive significantly better response and engagement than before (and surpasses other types of content).

Most haven’t reacted to this change. So this is an opportunity to gain a social media marketing advantage. To put it in hard numbers, right after Timeline became available for Pages, one of our clients posted an alluring food photograph on his wall. Customers went wild, and although the photo was in the album beforehand and it has been on the website for a while, the reaction was incredible. The reach of that post was 20 times that of an average post or to a half million people. It goes without saying that every restaurant must have some professional photos, but that is too expensive to provide a continual stream of visual content. Here are the basic, long-term strategies a restaurant should use to get a head start in adjusting to these new marketing challenges:

1. Photograph Events

Photographing fun events is always an easy source of visual content. You will need a good photographer, but you do not need to hire a professional. Normally, a member of your staff is experienced enough with the camera to take some photos you can feature on Facebook. You probably will need a photo-editing program to fix it up, but you do not need a sophisticated suite like Adobe Photoshop and can use free software. Also, avoid a never-ending album of group portraits and give customers a feeling for the event (with candid, set-up or creative photos).

2. Use Photo-Based Social Media Like Pinterest and Instagram

This is the year of Pinterest and Instagram, and they are at the center of the fixation of photographs. Pinterest is difficult for a restaurant to participate in like the average user (other than posting its own photos) as figuring out the ownership and licensing of photos is a headache. It does not mean you cannot encourage customers to pin your photos or share the photos they upload on Pinterest (if you have a Pinterest account) on your Facebook Page (with appropriate permission of course). Additionally, Instagram allows people to take photos with their mobile phones and upload them immediately onto the internet. Instagram photos normally take advantage of a stock of filters to give the photo a texture and resolves some of the weaknesses of mobile phone cameras. It is one of the favorite toys of the smartphone generation.

3. Encourage Customers to Share Quality Photos

Ask them. Yes, you can do a contest but arranging that is difficult and it is much better if the incentive is the recognition. That is more sustainable while running contest after contest is taxing. If you can get enough photos, choose a photo of the month or week. You want to bring together enough visual content so that customers hang around your website and social media and do not forget you as a source of information and food/drink.

4. Expand Content Beyond Strictly Restaurant-Related

Restaurants cannot limit the content to pictures from their location or images directly tied up with their brand. Therefore, cafes should welcome all coffee photos, (except images connected with their competitors) and Japanese restaurants should consider all sushi pictures. This does not mean that when you feature low quality images. You have to develop a system where you encourage sharing, but admit that every photo will not make the grade.

Soon everyone will have a smartphone and be snapping pictures of just about everything. Social media has already started to reflect the mobile reality. Make sure your social media marketing is ready for the visual revolution and that your restaurant will be home to the most visually appealing content (but relevant) on the internet.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What It Changes, What It Doesn’t for Online Marketing

In one sense, the redesign changes little for independent restaurant owners, as it doesn’t matter how great something is if few people use it.  The reality is that only a fraction of the social media activity happens on Google + at this point, so restaurants that are struggling to get a hold on Facebook should probably be conservative. You don’t need a Google + strategy, only to be aware that Google + may attract active users, and you should be ready to include Google + in your online marketing. The exception is if you can think of a way to harness Hangouts, a feature that really differentiates Google +, you may be able to draw people to in.

What is New with Google +

The main differences are that Google cut down on the white space and replaced it with a sleek, flexible, and easy-to-use layout. Be aware that the Profiles and Pages are so similar (maybe too similar) that nearly all of the changes apply to both and I won’t differentiate the two. Let’s take a tour of the layout. First, the left side has a grey customizable “navigation ribbon”. You choose between simple large buttons to put  the functions you want in a convenient place.

Next, with the picture arrangement, Google took the good things about Facebook Timeline and gave it a makeover. At top, you can choose between Facebook’s old layout (a row of pictures), or their new one (a long cover photo). Neither dominates the profile the way images do in Timeline, and your attention goes to two places, the latest post and the profile picture. The profile picture is moved to the right and is large.

Google + sets the profile basic info below the profile/page photo on the right. This rearrangement challenges the Facebook orientation, by giving the right side of the screen equal importance. I find this as a good idea because it gives a user a choice to focus on the visuals or go right to the posts on the wall. You don’t have to hopscotch over the photo (which you may be all to familiar with) to the post and content.

For restaurant Pages, you are able to have multiple managers, so it does not fall on one person’s shoulders. Overall, we would like the Page to have something distinctive so a user can quickly figure out if they are on a Page or Profile.

Will Google + Happen or Fade

We have a hobby around the office about throwing around ideas what Google + could do to challenge Facebook. Mostly, we talk about how Hangouts have so much business potential through classes, seminars and meetings. With enough educational Hangouts (both free and not free) , users will migrate over and so will energy and enthusiasm. Google has assured us that that is on the horizon and we recently participated in a demonstration Hangout that hints that Google + will have marketing dimensions absent from Facebook.

The billion dollar question is: can Google draw attention to the design upgrades (while they have an advantage) and can Google open social media to new types of content (Hangouts, etc.)? Until the end of the year, Google + will either sink or swim, as treading water will make them fair game for Facebook. Oddly, Google’s redesign is right at the time of Facebook’s weakness, and they should put on a full press.

Facebook Two-Column Mistake and Google +’s Opportunity

Timeline is vulnerable in a very fundamental way and since Facebook is on the defensive already, any major upheaval is out of the question in the immediate future.  Facebook Timeline’s biggest weakness, beyond people who just resent change, is the two-column wall. It is hard to scan. The information looks disorganized and uncontained. Facebook aggravates the issue by eating up real estate with big box listing the user’s friends (which is not why we are there).  It is one reason that pictures are starting to take over in terms of engagement with Pages. Customization and a more visual layout are fine but social media needs to be easy to use.

We will see. I am not aware of Google making a marketing push right now for Google +. The announcement did not come with much fanfare even though I doubt Facebook will ever again launch such a big change without thinking practically. Our honest opinion is that the next 6 months will decide if Google + will make an impact or become a footnote.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you want to jump straight to Gourmet Marketing’s section, go to 22:40

Google+ has only been around since September 2011 and, like the rest of the business world, we are still trying to figure out the best way to use the platform, for ourselves as an agency but also for our clients. There is a lot of potential for Google+ to tie SEO and social media marketing together.

For now, our recommendations for businesses using Google+ is to keep it simple:

1. Get your branding right: no need to get fancy, but make sure that when people land on your page, they know who you are and what you stand for.
2. Get your product out: use Google+ to showcase your portfolio, whether that happens to be website design or client logos.
3. Get your knowledge out: if you are generating interesting content, use Google+ as an additional channel to distribute it.
4. Connect with people: follow, interact, invite, comment…you know the drill

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive or particularly original list, but it’s important to get the basics right.

Watch the video and enjoy.

PS. I noticed, much to my chagrin, that my once proud Australian accent has mixed   with slight Americanisms.

Groupon does not look so good on paper. Last week, they went from making $15 million to losing $15 million after they restated their 4th quarter earnings. And Wall Street is losing faith as it is down 7% in trading. It does not help that the accounting methods of Groupon have been described as both unusual and fragmentary by financial analysts. Its stock went from $26 right after its IPO  down to $15 in the last few days.

As a business, Groupon seems to have let their business spiral out of control. Increased demand of refunds and getting involved in complicated, expensive deals are adding extra unpredictability to an already unpredictable market. Medical and travel deals have been identified as a particularly risky area that Groupon isn’t prepared for.

After the initial honeymoon with the press, it is clear that Groupon has become both the graveyard and divine intervention for desperate businesses, especially in the restaurant business. They do not appeal to healthy restaurant with their inflexible pricing.   It doesn’t make sense for them. Relying on Groupon is not sustainable for a small business and it is no surprise that Groupon may not be sustainable itself.

It is a lopsided company. It has an army of salesmen/women, but does not evaluate the business that are signing up for a Groupon. This is besides the point for most restaurants considering Groupon. But maybe these signs will make restaurant owners fee;l confident that they aren’t missing the cure to all the marketing challenges they face.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

New Service: Takeout and Delivery

LivingSocial has launched yet another service, replacing their instant deals with takeout and delivery.  In 26 markets, this change has already gone into effect (but not New York or Los Angeles). Like Seamless and Grubhub, LivingSocial is not doing the actual deliveries but processing them online. LivingSocial have given up being market makers and are market invaders, using their financial resources and urban visibility to capture a slice of the market

They enter a different market with established competitors, Grubhub and Seamless. Unlike group deals, LivingSocial will have to put a sales service (not just representatives) on the ground to sway restaurant owners. It won’t happen overnight; in Washington D.C., their home city, they don’t have around 100 restaurants doing delivery. They have attracted more restaurants for takeout, but delivery is better at building loyalty (like Seamless has). It has the feeling of a gift when food arrives at your door without you leaving your desk.

Increased Competition, Lower Rates?

The cut that online delivery/takeout services take from restaurants’ tab may come down as LivingSocial upsets the balance in many different cities. Restaurants frequently pay over 10% of the tab for online delivery/takeout, a service that is mostly automated. However, LivingSocial seems to have lost its momentum and marketing touch, and may not grab a hold in this market. They have pushed LivingSocial Instant Deals (very short time frame), Gourmet (invitation only for wealthy), White Glove Service (like room service), and nationwide deals (which they normally take a loss for a big retailer). The only one that could have been a serious revenue stream was the instant deals, but they marketed it poorly and didn’t consider some of the structural problems.

LivingSocial’s success in the takeout/market is an open question. Seamless and Grubhub have become formidable companies (and directed like buying the big menu websites). But it all depends on if LivingSocial knows what it is doing.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Rezbook altered the dynamics in online restaurant reservation even though it has not yet wrestled business away from Opentable at a threatening speed. After Rezbook’s arrival, Opentable, anticipating more competition, changed their pricing and made other concessions to restaurant owners.

Rezbook runs on the iPad, giving restaurants more simplicity and mobility in online reservation. Rezbook is as intuitive as Apple products, so it was an impressive debut. For Urbanspoon, it still is an uphill climb against Opentable, but it is better for the industry and restaurant owners.

I will give a rough summary of what the changes are, but anyone who is interested in Rezbook or uses the software should watch the webinars on the upgrade. There are two: next Tuesday March 27th at 1pm EST, 10am PST  or next Thursday March 29th at 2pm EST, 11am PST.

List of Improvements:

• You are able to restrict access to certain parts of the system, giving the ability to manage what an employee can do or see.

•  You have better sorting, organizing and navigating capabilities, exploiting the strong suits of the iPad. This includes the reservations & wait-list comparison and easy tagging of customers.

•  You can take orders farther in advance (60 days) and to later hours of night (4am)

• The new version is faster and greater connectivity.

Nonetheless, charity is not a simple marketing strategy, but an effort to build a deeper connection with  the community. It does normally lead to positive marketing consequences, but if you are fixated on a dramatic return-of-investment, you probably should not work with charities. Customers and employees will pick up on restaurateurs who are only after the bottom line.. Put another way, charity falls in the same family of marketing as customer service (affecting customers already in your restaurant), and it isn’t easy to track how much you change customer behavior by partnering with a charity. But if you are conservative about the relationship, you should end up better in the end.

Also, on a practical level, customers know the difference when a business is acting as a mere fundraiser than a business who really invests in the cause. Being hit by a request for a donation at a chain grocery store can be frustrating when you don’t know if the company has committed itself financially to the cause. Let’s melt this down to an independent restaurant. You may not be able to match customers dollar for dollar, but giving customers $2 off their bill (or a freebie) if they make a $10 donation shows that your restaurant believes in the cause.

Share Our Strength

One charity that is suited for restaurants is Share Our Strength, a charity dedicated helping end childhood hunger in the United States. The charity addresses an important, popular cause as nutrition plays a central role to a child’s development, physically, psychologically and socially, even if the child is not on the verge of starvation. Share Our Strength has garnered the attention of important politicians and celebrities and plays a crucial role in advocating and strengthening the food stamp and reduced/free school breakfast and lunch.

Also, their website, message and programs are clear and presented well. They are something your restaurant can be proud of being involved with. Charity Navigator gives them a high rating, but you should always do your own homework about a charity.

The charity has a turnkey marketing program especially for restaurants called Dine Out No Kid Hungry that runs from September 16 to 22th, 2012. to raise funds for the charity. It increases your restaurants profile and serves a practical cause that nearly all your customers identify with. Lastly, it can even drive traffic if you promote it right.

Restaurants have flexibility and can come up with creative ways to fundraise.  Share Our Strength lists bounceback coupons, menu promotions, matching funds, social media, employee contests, merchandise sales, and combination promotions to meet-and beat-their own fundraising goals as promotions that have worked in the past. They seem ready to help restaurants and are devoted to achieving tangible goals.

Restaurants should look into this charity, as it is a good food-related cause.

City Harvest

City Harvest is a local New York City food rescue charity that for 30 years have been a trailblazer in the fight against hunger by the NYC needy. City Harvest take the excess nutritious  food of participating restaurants, grocers, cafeterias, manufacturers and farms to feed the New York City’s hungry men, women and children. Some of their partner restaurants have Michelin stars and widely regarded as world-class restaurants, like Per Se. In NYC, however, restaurants are the least represented.

The food adds up. Currently, they distribute more than 10,000 tons of food.  There are similar charities in most major cities.

Some restaurants are reluctant to participate because they imagine there a major legal risks of food spoilage and/or poisoning. Restaurants who donate food to a non-profit are almost completely protected by Federal Good Samaritan laws. Of course, doing a little research is always necessary, but restaurants aren’t exposed as they are to diners in their own restaurant.

They too get good scores on Charity Navigator and are worth investigating. If you are in another city, you can see if there is a similar charity.  This is a commitment that doesn’t lead to flashy marketing. But customers respect restaurants that participate in charity all year long rather than for just a week. Your participation can have a snowball effect and deepen your regular customer’s loyalty. Lastly, as you wouldn’t throw out the food otherwise, your expenses are limited to the time (and employee pay) and is very predictable.

In the United States, many of us take food for granted. When a customer sees that you know that there are people without a reliable source of nutritious food, they will savor your food and your restaurant more.

Creative Commons Photographs from Flickr

Not being able to rely on hourly or even daily media coverage can only hinder an advertising campaign if you let it. You don’t need a bank account full of cash, top-of-the-line restaurant equipment, or a fully staffed marketing department to step up your game and sit at the table with the high stakes players. Without the pressure of needing each campaign to be a huge success, as most large chains do, you can take the weight off your shoulders and think outside the box.

Here are a few pointers to draw in customers and create successful marketing strategies:

Create a Little Controversy

Being controversial in your advertising efforts is a sure-fire way to garner attention, but doing so is a double-edged sword. While the added attention can be a great way to spread the word, the line between good and bad attention is growing increasingly thinner. By walking the line and dipping your toe into the edgy side of advertising you risk offending your customers by going too far.

The last thing you want to do is have to deal with backlash caused by an offending advertisement. Be creative, but keep a steady hand on the reins of your campaign and pull back if you feel you’re nearing unsteady ground. Be controversial enough to leave your mark, exercise the control to not draw metaphorical blood in the form of backlash, and realize that whispering your message subtly can be just as effective as shouting through a megaphone.

Diversify

Not being able to fund repeating TV commercials shouldn’t deter you from creating a fun, visual, effective campaign. Diversify the places you advertise by getting your foot in the door wherever you can. Pamphlets, newspapers, billboards, online review sites, viral marketing, and social media are all extremely viable options for advertising opportunities.

This too can be a double-edged sword if not controlled. While branching out and advertising in unexpected places can be beneficial, overexposure can desensitize consumers and cause your material to drop into the category of background noise. Be sure each piece of your advertising plan, be it print or online, holds value to your customers and isn’t just another area for you to plant your logo.

Cultivate a Culture

Chances are if a potential customer forms an opinion of your establishment based on your advertising they’re going to expect certain things from you. Be it a unique environment, out-of-the-ordinary food offerings, or unexpected personal touches your message says a lot about your restaurant. It’s important to not only provide a positive message but you need to back it up with a reality. Fortunately, building personal relationships and an inviting atmosphere is an advantage independent restaurant have over large chains.

Granted, cultivating and maintaining a culture that your customers find appealing takes work. As mentioned, what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate into a realized restaurant concept. From outside advertising to the organization and font of your menu, the style of furniture you use, and the friendly faces customers see first, your marketing campaign should exemplify every aspect of how you want to be viewed by the public.

Don’t get discouraged that your restaurant doesn’t have a catchy baby back ribs jingle playing on television or that you don’t have a burger toting mascot to promote your specials. What successful advertising really boils down to is creating a desirable image and convincing your customers to buy into that image. If you’ve got all the right pieces in place you’ll be surprised how effectively you can beat out the local chain competition. You don’t need expensive gimmicks or a store every few blocks to entice potential customers. All you need is a smart marketing campaign, reliable people, and a determination to provide something other than a paint-by-numbers eatery.

Image: vudhikrai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Andrew Call provides blog insights regarding restaurant management and marketing at The Back Burner, which is written by the employees of Tundra Specialties, a company specializing in restaurant supply, parts, and a wide variety of food service equipment and sundries.

Businesses cannot get in on the fun like the average user however. In my opinion, this is one of those examples that although Pinterest is destined to attract ever-growing hoards of users, businesses will face dangers that restrict marketing on Pinterest.

Participating in Pinterest has a host of limitations that are rarely encountered with other social media. Most of them come from copyright protections. Yes, you can pin your own photos. Yes, you can pin images you have a license for. But after that, you are in a legal danger zone, even though most users do not act with caution. Let’s go through the issues a restaurant will confront on Pinterest:

Images are Content and Copyrighted

Images are content. People who own this content post them online in a certain approved context (a website normally). On Facebook or Twitter, you are sent to the source of content through a link. So although we call it sharing, it is technically recommending. Think about it like this: Facebook posts and tweets are doors to other webpages with content, while Pinterest is taking what is actually in the room (images) and moving it onto its own website. On Pinterest, a lot of of the material (if not most) is shared without consent or proper accreditation. This can be a huge problem for a restaurant or any other small business.

Unless the copyright holders designate the image as Creative Commons, the copyright holder controls where it appears online (the press gets limited exceptions). Very frequently, the copyright holder wants you to visit an authorized webpage and be exposed to more content or a message, whether business related or cultural. They may also not want to be associated with your business.

Business vs. Private Individuals

There is a certain leeway that individuals get that businesses don’t (this would have changed if the most recent legislation SOPA passed). Businesses are making a profit (even by indirect marketing), and the liability becomes much more serious. With a business, the expectation to identify, get approval and compensate the owner is greater. Don’t anticipate that Pinterest will be able to do this for you. YouTube, for example, pulls off copyrighted material as soon as they find out about it. Pinterest has a much more formidable task, as images are much easier to download to one’s computer. You’ll find that most times you need specific software (for the coding and website security system) to download a Flash video from the Internet to your computer. It isn’t easy to steal online videos. Images don’t work that way; you left click on the image and can save it (takes about 2 seconds and no software). Pinterest would need more policing than Youtube and doesn’t have a revenue flow to pay for this.

Handcuffed Because of Copyright Infringement (Direct & Indirect)

You can go afoul of Copyright law in two main ways on Pinterest. The direct method of violating copyright law is by taking content on the Internet that you do not own and uploading it on Pinterest. This no-no cannot be simply resolved by citing where you took it from. Pinterest in their terms requires that all material is owned by (or licensed to) the user. As mentioned before, Pinterest does not link immediately to the site. If you don’t own the content (and haven’t received approval), you are putting yourself in legal jeopardy. Note that Pinterest in their terms puts the responsibility on the user. Of course, you could ask for consent, but the owner probably would have put the image on Pinterest themselves if he/she wanted it to be shared.

Here is the other indirect way of a compromising situations on Pinterest. Say you just pin images already on Pinterest, not checking if the image is licensed or not. You cannot argue that you are protected because everyone else is doing it. You are a business so any usage of content is considered marketing and images you merely pin show up on your pinboard too. You are on Pinterest to help your business. The owner has not approved that his or her image’s association with your business nor been compensated for it. It is the same as the politicians who play pop music that wasn’t licensed to them. Many politicians were liable for tens of thousands of dollars in compensation.

You are not protected by Pinterest’s terms, and as a business, your argument that it is not marketing/profit-related is thin. You may be skeptical. Imagine this scenario: you own a pizzeria and you post your own restaurant photos on Pinterest. They look delicious. Your competitor sees these great photos of pizza that look similar to their own and pins them (whether knowingly or not). You wouldn’t let your competitor to put your photos on their website, so the same holds true for a pinboard.

A Steady Stream of Your Own Content

The only safe way to participate in Pinterest for a restaurant is by providing your own content. In fact, you are not really getting more out of Pinterest than you would out of Flickr (except the growing popularity), as you can’t take advantage of its most dynamic part, pinning content from various sources to convey a message or personality.

Essentially, it makes your small business a minor presence on Pinterest, unless you have phenomenal content. Additionally, you will probably have to post new content constantly. As the standards are significantly higher than Flickr, you will probably need access to someone with an artistic touch, who can take good photographs, create engaging messages, or make cool designs. It isn’t nearly as easy as it is for the average Pinterest user. But it is much better than hiring a lawyer.

Business on Pinterest

Pinterest is structured right now to become the Napster of Social Media, but it will be even worse if businesses get entangled in some of the practices on the service without exercising caution. On Pinterest, copyright infringement of photographs/images seems to be common (if not the predominant) practice. Unfortunately, this content is the source of much of the interest and energy. As a restaurant or small business without infinite resources, proceed carefully as the legal system has not sorted this out or offered any special protections. If you don’t, you put your business at risk.

Image: posterize / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Along with online marketing and local press advertising, which have been the ingredients to success for many small businesses, controversial and

unconventional marketing methods are now being adopted by restaurant and hotel owners in a bid to get their establishments noticed. With careful planning, an unconventional marketing campaign can really be the secret to success; it can kick-start a marketing buzz and result in valuable footfall.

Using Reverse Psychology in Marketing

Being knowledgeable about human psychology is incredibly useful when implementing unconventional marketing strategies. You need to know what makespeople tick, what evokes interest and what will get people itching to dine in your establishment. Using reverse psychology in marketing toys with the consumer’s emotions and, by offering a service which is deemed “sinful” or “unusual” by society you can provoke temptation from the customer to use your service.

When Unconventional Marketing is Successful

A TV documentary series named “The Hotel” demonstrates the possibilities of reverse psychology in marketing. The series follows the day-to-day running of a particular hotel over a certain period of time – focusing on guests, staff and events. The documentary often has comedic qualities and the staff are commonly portrayed to be dysfunctional, with humorous mishaps occurring on a regular basis. In one episode the owner of the hotel even jokingly admits he would never stay there as a guest. Whilst it sounds like the kind of hotel you’d entirely avoid, the more you watch the series the more you consider booking a weekend break there.

How It Could Work

People want to visit places they’ve seen on television, if for nothing more than to boast to others about their experience. Being able to say “I dined at that restaurant on the television” or sharing photographs of themselves on Facebook with the stars of the show seems an attractive concept to many people. Viewers also grow to love the characters on the particular show mentioned, and suddenly being able to meet them whilst visiting the establishment seems incredibly attractive. Plus, there’s always the thought “I might get on television” that crosses people’s minds.

When Unconventional Marketing is Unsuccessful

Whilst the “shock” factor of controversial marketing strategies can work wonders for your business, you have to strike a balance between eliciting a response of horror and being completely unethical. As was the case with the infamous American diner “Heart Attack Grill” which has an unusual concept of serving

 unbelievably calorific food which is widely recognized to be unhealthy with the slogan of “Taste Worth Dying For!” The diner has received mixed responses from those who believe it so unethical that it should be shut down, to those who visit there to “sin”.

Why It Could Go Wrong

The unfortunate event of a man having a heart attack whilst chomping through a burger at Heart Attack Grill

has caused uproar around the world with people believing the diner to be morbid and sadistic. Since the incident it’s been reported by British newspaper The Mirror, that customer numbers have dropped. The fact that the name and the incident correspond sparks the question of whether it was a coincidence or whether the diner does actually possess an unethicalconcept.

Although shock tactics have always been present in marketing campaigns, linking a restaurant to an illness isn’t generally recommended. On the other side of the spectrum, there’s no doubt that Heart Attack Grill has gained more global publicity. It wouldn’t be preposterous to assume that tourists will be even more tempted to visit the place for the sheer novelty aspect of the experience; although the diner’s unlikely to sustain regular customers!

Unconventional Marketing – Yes or No?

Using unconventional marketing really depends on the nature of your business. Whilst it seems consumers can’t resist a bit of controversy and humor; for a corporate organization it may not be an appropriate method of marketing. With controversial methods comes high risk – you’ve got to be willing to take the chance and put the future of your business on the line, if you’re not then it may be best avoiding.

This guest post was written by Stephanie Staszko who works at Web Vitality SEO Manchester who provide online marketing solutions to local businesses. She spends all day writing guest blogs on a variety of different subjects ranging from how to use office supplies as weapons to skiing in Eastern Europe! You can catch her on Twitter @StephStaz for a range of different posts!

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: phanlop88 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net