How to Develop a Successful Restaurant Branding Strategy
It was the Great Anthony Bourdain who said, “Food is everything we are, you learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”
That statement is an infinite truth. Feeding people is very much an extension of who you are, and highlighting that when building out your brand can be tricky. Marrying logistics with passion doesn’t have to be a conflicting process. Offering your customer base a unique and intimate experience can foster brand loyalty, and we’re here to show you exactly how that can be done.
Restaurant branding: what does it consist of?
Restaurant branding goes far beyond logo design. Your brand is the essence of everything your business represents. Everything that you and your team represent. You are a walking advertisement of the restaurant you chose to open, or rejuvenate.
After many years of witnessing dozens of food joints get caught up in the restaurant business trap, the importance of building a solid foundation atop thoughtful and strategic restaurant branding cannot be understated.
There is a reason why roughly 60% of new restaurants fail within the first year of operation and 80% fail within the first five years––most restaurateurs don’t put in the effort to build a brand that positions them in their market, adds to the customer experience and establishes an emotional connection with their target audience.
If you want to be among the 20% of restaurants that find success, and make your investment count, investing in restaurant branding is non-negotiable.
When should you start developing a restaurant brand?
It’s never too early to start brainstorming your brand identity. We’re talking day one, early doodles and bullet points of words that set your heart on fire. Images that come to mind when you picture your guests sitting down with your best bottle of wine. A brand is an intention, but it’s also a feeling.
6 important aspects to your restaurant branding
Brand identity is commonly known as the elements that make up your business. Your restaurant identity consists of visuals and consumer interaction, but it also stretches far beyond the tangible. Your brand identity is the way that you walk and breathe your mission.
Brand identity involves being an active participant in your mission and core values. It means that if you’re advertising a farm to table restaurant, you’d better have your local farmers on speed dial. One of the biggest areas for growth in a restaurant brand identity is their ownership and management leading by example, hand in hand, and always on the same page.
Consistency builds trust and confidence in your ability to execute your restaurant from the moment someone walks in the door, until they’re reflecting on their evening on the car ride home. Consistency throughout your menu, staff training quality, and being on the same page about what you can offer to your customers will make or break your publicity. If you’re running with a menu that is continuously 86-ing items and running out of product, it’s high time to switch to a seasonal menu.
These are the perfect snapshots of opportunities to stay consistent while offering a revolving palate for your guests. How much better does it sound to let your guests know that the menu changes with the fields instead of telling them that you’re out of heirloom tomatoes for their third visit in a row?
You may not think much about it now, but consistency comes in the forms of the small things being predictable and relied upon. Don’t set your guests up for failure with vague menu language and untrained servers. If your menu is unpredictable, make that a part of the spiel.
Ambiance is key. When you walk into your favorite restaurant, you’re walking into a chapter from a timeless era. From the host stand to the patio, adorning your space with the right features, lighting and design are essential.
Ambience is about more than reclaimed wood and mason jars. It’s about the wares, the Paint, the wine selection and touch and feel of your menus. Ambiance is what unlocks the entire experience. It’s the rolling out of the red carpet before the star of the show, your food, comes out.
Concept goes beyond business cards and marketing materials. When you visualize your restaurant, it’s easy to stay zoomed out and look at the big picture. Reality will teach you time and time again that a good concept is all about the minute details.
It’s the moment where your chef chooses to use a homemade shrub from the bar to mix in with sherry for a marinade on tonight's special. It’s the detail on the menu itself, what your staff is wearing, and creating a well oiled machine from the start of service until lights out.
Media presence is no longer a negotiable part of building a successful restaurant brand. In order to connect with consumers, you have to get on their level, regardless of your views or beliefs about utilizing social media.
Your future guests are waiting to follow a brand new restaurant's solid Instagram page to feel like they are in the know. A strong social media presence creates meaningful opportunities for consumer engagement. Whether it’s raffles for a good cause, advertising a New Year’s Eve vertical menu or asking for feedback on preferences the more you up your social media game, the more diverse and vast your clientele becomes.
Market research is probably the least discussed foundational piece of successful restaurant branding. Simply put, market research is about networking. Creating opportunities to connect with other restaurant owners, specifically folks who are like-minded and successful, means you can bounce ideas off one another, collaborate and offer each other feedback that may change the entire business operation for the better.
Your customers deserve an experience worth remembering. When you choose to center a memorable experience for your guests, you put your best foot forward and grasp from your own meaningful experiences throughout your career. There’s no doubt that you have fond memories of sitting at the bar at a Michelin Star restaurant ordering your favorite dish with some dim lighting and a little Jazz accompaniment in the background.
Your brand’s values and mission statement
Your customer base shares your values and your mission. That’s why they walked into those front doors in the first place. It’s never too early to identify your mission statement. Why do you deserve a place in this industry? There are thousands of carbon copies of your restaurant. What’s the je ne sais quoi, or undefinable quintessence, that yours brings to the table?
What target audience are you marketing to?
Once you figure out the niche you’re hoping to tap into, identifying your audience is the natural next step. The beautiful thing about having a target audience is that you know exactly what they’re looking for and precisely how to deliver it to them.
Create a unique brand identity
Your brand identity will consist of your vision and a team of people who know exactly how to make that dream come to life through striking visuals.
Brand voice and personality
Your brand voice and personality will bleed into all aspects of your restaurants every move. Are you the playful dive bar or the fine dining connoisseur? To know your voice is too confidently attract those it resonates with.
Typography and style
Typography and style are crucial elements of your visual brand identity. You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the font they use on their front door, their menu and merchandise. Consistency throughout those various styles is what will set your brand apart from the 2.5 star joint on seventh ave.
Color palette and imagery
Of course, your color palette should exude the mood, essence and overall feel of the ambience at your restaurant. Choosing colors is one of the most exciting parts about your Your brand’s imagery alone should be able to tell your restaurant’s story.
How to design other brand elements
Brand elements are essential to increasing volume and curiosity about your restaurant. When you invest in resources to create brand elements, your gift yourself a chance to be recognized through passive advertising.
Your restaurant logo
Your restaurant logo is a great example of passive marketing. If your delivery van Is making its rounds through a local neighborhood, passersby will get a glimpse of your logo and business snapshot all at once.
Maybe they’ve been dying for a sushi restaurant that uses the fresh catch from a local seafood market. If your logo echoes the focal point of your business, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised when people tell you that’s how they found you.
They might remember a single word or they may take a photo for later reference. Either way, a strong brand identity will pull customers through the most unlikely sources.
Restaurant website
Your website Is where the whole picture comes together. Logo marks, brand elements and images complement one another throughout each web page.
Navigation should be centered around a few basics: merchandise, about us, menu and contact. These four elements are the most visited areas of a webpage. The better the story you tell about your brand, the more inviting your website will feel.
Social media content guidelines
Your social media may be the first place your future customers swing by to get a read on what your restaurant is all about. From here they’ll be able to see tagged photos, customer reviews and what your kitchen has been up to.
Your social media content I will draw attention based on how you post, when you post and what you post. There’s an entire science behind social media marketing. Your profiles should involve current happenings, special events or miscellaneous themes like the seasonal rotation of your menu. If you pride yourself on things like utilizing local farmers and produce, tagging those community partners in your posts can help with the perfect web of connection, advocacy and tether your patrons to meaningful resources.
The more you share through this virtual window, the more excited people will become about dining with you. And with a little neighborly collaboration, you might just find yourself amongst the living, breathing amoeba of incredible small businesses and restaurants.
The feel of your restaurant interior
The inner feel of your restaurant, as discussed earlier, can make or break a person's experience. Think of the best restaurant or best dinner you’ve ever had. What were some of the elements that the interior offered? Was it dim lighting and moody ambience?
Maybe it was the thoughtful tokens of appreciation in the washrooms. A hot towel upon being seated, or an homage to unique traditions related to your cuisine style. People remember tiny moments of authenticity. Let your restaurant interior shine bright and genuinely by being intentional with your brand
Upon entering the building, your guests' eyes will be searching for the host. Give your guests an entrance to remember, and remember that less is more.
A brand made to last and evolve over time
Building a successful restaurant brand requires discipline, strategy and a mind that is open and willing to accept feedback from experts in the marketing industry.
There are thousands of businesses that already have your idea. What will set you apart is your commitment to making your restaurant branding align with your mission. If you’re curious about how to get the ball rolling with your restaurant branding, connect with us today.
