July 2008 Entries
I thought it died a decade ago. Really. Like some of you, I took my prom date to a Steak & Ale restaurant, and spent many hours (and dollars) in Bennigan’s in my formative years. BITD (back in the day) it was the quintessential place to go and pick up chicks, and generally be cool, especially for those of us who lived where a TGI Friday’s had not yet opened.
I also called on Metromedia in Dallas for years when I was in chain accounts. I remember when Bennigan’s brought in a creative hot shot into menu development, and he...
Before we all bought flat screen TV’s, we used to watch widescreen movies on HBO or TCM on our “square” (4:3 standard aspect ratio) screens in what is called “letterbox”. This meant that widescreen films would be shown in a 16:9 aspect, with two black bands across the bottom and top of the screen to allow the entire picture to be shown on standard 4:3 television screen. The peripheral action on the edges of the screen could be seen as well, in the way the director intended when he filmed and edited it.
It’s a somewhat dorky metaphor, but letterbox can...
I was thinking the other day of how no one writes letters anymore. Take this blog for example…in the old days (the 90’s) I would have created a monthly “Newsletter,” printed it and sent it out by mail to my clients and prospects. Now it’s a BLOG. It’s a little easier on everybody concerned, isn’t it?
But what about YOUR customers or prospects? How do you “stay in touch”? Primarily thru email and occasional telephone calls, I suspect. But today’s technology offers a number of different ways of maintaining that important line of communication, as well as further building your business and personal relationships. Here are a...
“That was then, and this is now.” We’ve all heard the saying. “What was before isn’t necessarily what’s needed now.”
The last few years have seen a number of sales agency consolidations, buyouts, and alliances for regionalization throughout foodservice. Pressures on the full-service agency’s cost-to-serve --- further exacerbated by shrinking commissions --- has created an atmosphere where organization mergers and acquisitions are suddenly even more common than before. These have been further fueled by a few key manufacturers openly stating that they “…want to reduce the number of brokers they work with to no more than six over the next few years…” and you have...
Walking the aisles of the National Restaurant Show six weeks ago, I was struck by the total absence of “outside the lines” innovative products and processes. Granted, this show designed for commercial representation of companies and products; and likewise, I was not escorted to any “behind the curtain” presentations of prototype innovations. Having said that, it is now six weeks later and I have yet to hear any buzz about totally new and different ideas for foodservice.
I am not talking about the latest new flavored fry, or “break-thru triple filtered oil”, but true innovation of the type that created by a tipping...
I saw an article this morning on “Performance Management” from FinanceOnline, and it brought back some memories.
In the 90’s, I worked for one of the smartest management leaders in business. One of the first things he did when he was installed as our division president was to restructure how we all thought of strategy, and our place within it. He initiated what he called True Performance Management.
Effective performance management systems focus on the development, communication and monitoring of strategy. Tactics will derive directly from the strategic plan and include both financial and non-financial measures. Non-financial measures will typically outnumber the financial ones because...
As I have grown more attuned to the issues in the industry, some potential “tipping points” (TP’s) have emerged that bear some thought…
Redistribution (ReDi) Centers and services
Sales agency consolidation
Technology
Chain dominance
Cross-functional teams
Online...