Now that I have your attention, I get to talk to you about marketing and in specific for F&B. This could very much be influenced by my experience in the GCC and in particular UAE followed by KSA, however, there are common factors that I see very much applicable if you take to a different country.

Let me start by saying, 2 years ago, I took an online Digital Media analytics course which was interesting and I do recommend it (get in touch if you want to know more). I felt I needed to pick my brains as my job became quite routine – ish. I attended the online course alongside marketing people (or marketeers) from Europe and the Americas. Never would I have imagined that we had the same issues.

Issue number 1: Everyone seems to excel in their understanding of marketing. That’s a common disease in workplaces. Literally, everyone.understands.marketing.and.has.an.opinion. ‘But nobody is telling you how to run your Ops department Susan’ and ‘No Jack, the influencer that your son recommended doesn’t work because he’s not our target market’.

Issue number 2: Slash them marketing budgets from everywhere and make sure the marketing department still reaches the same KPIs. Hold on a sec, let me grab my magic wand from the drawer.

So fellow marketing people / marketeers. You’re not alone, it’s a global phenomena.

Now that I have that off my chest, let me talk to you about F&B marketing.

1. The social media clique.

One of the biggest variables in marketing F&B is the social media presence and how you use your social media to sell your restaurant / brand / concept. With Instagram rocking the list and Snapchat being super popular in KSA, creating content and sending it online for people to view is key, thematic storylines inspired from your target’s lifestyle and your brand’s DNA. People are on their phones 24/7, people scroll their feeds all the time. Create reasons for them to follow you and go through your content. And promote your posts. It isn’t enough to keep swimming within your pool, you need to raise awareness and create a bigger circle. Having said that, social media on its own isn’t enough marketing and yes you need to spend on social media; you need great content creators, you need objectives and your need to reach people.

2. The aggregator dependents.

These are the ‘we only spend with aggregators’, ‘our business model is 80% delivery driven so we should’. With competition levels being extremely high, dark kitchens on the rise, the lack of awareness of these brands off delivery channels and apps is very visible. It’s definitely great that you’re targeting your target market through their channel of choice, but loyalty in such environment is questionable. Because aggregators are in competition and brands within these aggregators are also in competition, there’s a lot of offers and promos running on daily basis. I’m not saying don’t spend with aggregators, I’m definitely with, they are your partners. But you also need to build your mix and spend some marketing dollars on awareness outside the applications. Build that name, engage with your target market outside the application, build your tribe.

3. The we don’t need PR support group.

How can brands not need PR? People need PR, companies require PR. Again, this is about content creation, about being recent and on trend. Being able to reach your target through different channels of media to stay on top of mind. Cover your B2C and B2B through PR. Make sure you’re featured on monthly basis, you participate in awards, profiling and interviews.

4. The influencers tribe.

I worked with a team that created a program for the influencers where they could come at anytime, whenever they want, enjoy a meal with their friends, on the house. The problem is, I barely saw posts from these influencers. Why waste your money on such a method? Influencer marketing is important and there are agencies that help you see results and work with influencers that are suggested as per your brief. Create campaigns for influencers, brief them, give them background info to get them to come and enjoy an experience, talk about your restaurant, whether in a dine in context, takeout or even delivery. Decide on objectives before you create campaigns, what’s your aim? Engagement? Footfall? Word of mouth? Be very precise with your campaigns and make sure you go through the results.

5. The digital crowd.

I don’t think restaurants are being smart about digital in this area of the world. QSR uses digital as it is part of their mix and most of them have developed online ordering tools and apps. And you’ve got others that depend on aggregators. Brand presence on digital platforms can be maximized with correct digital and media spend. Retail and entertainment do a great job at it. You literally close a search engine and an ad pops up to remind you why you need to buy a bag or buy a ticket. We don’t want to bombard customers, but we do want to inform them when we have a new menu or they search for a certain meal or ask about a promo.

6. Promo creations and NPD

That needs a blog post on its own and is one of my favorite as you can quantify it and get results super easy. A collab between Ops, Finance and Marketing, this is one tool that helps marketing build stories and drive sales. Don’t milk your menus, create new items and re-engineer your menus twice a year. Remove items that aren’t selling and expand items according to trends in the market. Create calendars with LTOs, these also help you assess a product and know if it’s worth launching it on the menu and running it for a longer period. Seasonal items and celebratory items are also perfect to create social stories, PR blurbs and in-store / dine-in promos. Believe it or not, some people will drive to your location if they see something they like and worth taking a pic of a video of.

I’m not a fan of print, however mentions in certain publications or placing an article every once in a while is great for awareness and will fall under PR. Video content is great as well, showcasing your content on social media channels and business channels and websites is important when you have a certain campaign.

I’m a big believer of mixing and matching the marketing mix according to the campaign and the objectives. End goal is sales and driving footfall / more orders. But you need to build healthy awareness and offer your target what they’re looking for through a mix of channels rather than focusing on one or two exclusively.

 

Dee xx