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WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON IN TUSTIN?
You don't have to have been around Hot Shots or Slow Burn Marketing very long to know we bang the gong for the F-word. Focus! Focus! Focus! Yes, we love us the focus. Fooocuuuussss! And as an adjunct to brand focus, I have long been a proponent of the focus-driven restaurant model. For me, one of the finest such brands is the long-lost Killer Shrimp in Los Angeles. CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THEY SERVED? You got it: Shrimp. It came one of two ways: as peel & eat shrimp simmered in a secret blend of herbs and spices, or as peeled shrimp simmered in a secret blend of herbs and spices. Every time I was at the location in Marina del Rey, it was packed. But, as with so many legendary favorites, it eventually closed. It went on to become merely a legend. But not before a good, long run. Recently, the name was resurrected for a chain of restaurants with a broad menu that seems to be doing its best to hang on, despite having closed two of three locations. And if you read the reviews, it sounds as if Killer Shrimp lost its specialness in an attempt to become more things to more people. IT SOUNDS LIKE THE LACK OF FOCUS UNDID THEM Yet, as a student of the restaurant business, looking at it from the outside as a marketing guy, I remain fascinated by the single-item menu model. It streamlines operations. It keeps away anyone but a customer interested in the one thing you serve. And done properly, it can be a gold mine. Which is why, when the website FastCasual.com reported on Yang's Braised Chicken Rice opening a store in Southern California, I was intrigued. YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF YANG'S BRAISED CHICKEN RICE This chain has 6,000 units. And their average unit in China serves an average of 400,000 dishes daily. Yes, according to Fast Casual's report, that is 400,000 dishes per location every day. But despite a presence in China, Singapore, Japan and Australia, they've never had a store in the US. Until now. This has been news in the industry press for some time. But the actual restaurant hadn't been open--until now. HERE NOW, THE GOOD This menu is everything you could possibly want in a simplistic, streamlined model of operational efficiency. They sell exactly one dish: Mr. Xiao Lu Yang's secret family recipe for Huang Men braised chicken and rice. He learned how to cook at his grandmother's knee, and her recipe, tweaked over the years, is the one that he serves. This dish has helped him skyrocket to fame, opening those 6,000 locations in just six years. For a relative barometer, California-based Panda Express is 33 years old, and has almost 2,000 restaurants in the US, Puerto Rico, Guam, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. Opening 6,000 restaurants in six years, Yang's Braised Chicken And Rice has been busy. FAST CASUAL CALLS THE CHAIN A "ONE-DISH WONDER" They say that the secrets to "Yang's gangbusters success is his one-dish model and the high quality of its sauce." Mr. Yang is quoted in the article as saying, "Our innovative single-item menu is rooted in tradition, with our braised chicken recipe passed down and perfected over the years." Fast Casual goes on to say, "While other concepts often juggle complicated menus and offer a variety of choices, Yang focuses on one dish only. The only other thing on the menu is soft drinks." Says Mr. Yang, "With a single menu item and consistency in ingredients, we were able to quickly scale up operations across China to meet rising demand." And according to reports, Yang's single US location is relying Yang's original secret sauce, which is being imported directly from China. SO YOU'D THINK IT WOULD BE A HIT, RIGHT? It's a global phenomenon. People love it! It contains Mr. Yang's proprietary sauce with Grandma's magic touch. The limited menu is designed specifically for ease of replication and quick scaling up. How hard can it be to create a huge splash? Very hard. Just ask Yelp. THE OPENING IN TUSTIN DEMONSTRATES DISCONNECT AND DISAPPOINTMENT After a soft open that doesn't sound like it went all that well, Yang's officially opened its doors to the public on September 10. People stood in enormous lines to come and sample the world famous Chinese braised chicken. And they left disappointed. Many didn't care for what they described as a simple dish exhibiting none of the savory delight that has been described in glowing media reports. Some diners described a fatty, skin-laden dish that required cherry-picking the meat from the fatty, unappetizing bits. But far and away, the biggest complaints were about the long wait for mediocre food, the lousy communication, and the rampant disappointment. Maybe a Chinese location can serve 400,000 bowls of chicken and rice daily. THE TUSTIN LOCATION HAS HAD A PROBLEM TURNING OUT 1/10,000 OF THAT QUANTITY There have been reports of volume limited to 40 portions. There have been rampant complaints about published hours not coinciding with actual hours. There have been complaints about mystery reservations being required. There have been complaints of standing in line for two hours only to be told there's no food left. The impending opening of Yang's Braised Chicken was big news. The reality of the opening if Yang's Braised Chicken has been disappointment and anger. ONE OF THE WORST THINGS A BRAND CAN DO IS WASTE YOUR TIME Especially in a business model that's all about efficiency, speed and scalability, you'd think that the place could be better than inefficient, creeping and unattainable. It really is a mystery. Opening this store was a big deal. As Mr. Yang himself said in the Fast Casual story, "Our main focus right now is the first U.S. store. We want to make sure that the flavor is right, the service is right, our guests' feedback has been heard and we can perfect this store." Maybe it's because they're so far removed from their home base in China. But when you have a business that obviously isn't ready to serve people, why would you go ahead with the open? Yes, I admit that I have been a proponent of the Mark Zuckerberg aphorism that "Done is better than perfect." But I'm equally a proponent of another aphorism: "You get only one chance to make a first impression." DONE MIGHT BE BETTER THAN PERFECT, BUT INEPT IS A FAR CRY FROM GOOD ENOUGH And that 2.5-star average rating currently on Yelp, and the word-of-mouth accompanying it, are all going to hurt Yang's Braised Chicken and Rice in Tustin far more than delaying the opening would have. Interestingly, the Yang's brand is a big brand. It's huge in China and Down Under. And it's a big brand that has a lot of drive from small-business owners. A lot of the people who've opened Yang's franchises are customers who fell in love with the product. Mr. Yang himself has said that his business has helped thousands of people realize a dream of owning a business and creating job opportunities. It seems, though, that such dream and opportunity is going to be on hold in the US for a bit. They need to get it squared away. I am hopeful. BRAND FOCUS IS GOOD--BUT YOU NEED TO BE SURE YOU'RE ALSO FOCUSING ON YOUR CUSTOMER If you're not ready to launch, don't launch. If you're not ready to serve, don't try. If you're going to publish your hours, don't change them on the fly. If you want an event to be big, be big enough to make it so. Wasting your customers' time is going to create ill will. And in an age of instant online vitriol, word of disappointment is going to spread quickly. Yang's may be big enough to survive this initial failure. Their focus is intense, and their resources are vast. But most small business owners will not have such luxury. As always, Blaine Parker Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in Park City www.slowburnmarketing.com
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IS IT YOUR KIND OF PLACE?
A hap-hap-happy place? Or is it someone else's place, and you're just an interloper? As the Fabulous Honey Parker and I continue to span the nation in the Slow Burn Marketing Brand Response Unit, we've been spending some time in the Fun-Size State. That would be, of course, Rhode Island. It's cool. It's hot. (As the infamously short-lived, multi-million-dollar tourism branding campaign tried to tell us a couple of years ago.) We've been enjoying off-the-beaten-path Rhode Island, which is cool and hot and truly fun-size and most people do not know about it. While everyone's over in Newport, whooping it up at the Jazz Festival in the shadow of billion-dollar Russian oligarch mega-yachts, we are flying below the radar in a sleepy little hamlet that tourism almost forgot. AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY So does the town, apparently. And in that town, there's a small restaurant that we frequent, which has some excellent seafood, some simple and elegant dishes, a good wine list, and an array of small-batch microbrews on tap. Finding refuge there late in the afternoon, we will sit at that bar and imbibe effervescent, frosty-cold malt beverages while indulging local bivalves on the half-shell at special mid-day prices. The restaurant is not cheap, but it is reasonable. It is foodie enough for those so inclined. It is an honest effort by a determined entrepreneur with a distinct vision who has put her stamp on it. (She also likes us, and will occasionally buy us a round when we come in and say hi.) One afternoon while we were there, a man of a particular style came in. He was youngish, tall, dressed in a expensive jeans and a cheap white T-shirt. Except for his face, all of his exposed skin was covered in tattoos of questionable quality (quantity seemed more the point). He wore a heavy tweed driving cap (yes, in August), and his earlobes had been augmented with big, black rubber grommets. We'd been joking with the bartender when this man approached, asking, "Do you have any good bourbon?" The bartender said, "We have those," pointing to the top shelf behind the bar, "And we have Maker's Mark." WE CONTINUED HAVING FUN WITH THE BARTENDER Meanwhile, the gentleman perused the shelf, regarding it as if it might be a bad smell. We were joking to the bartender, "Good bourbon, indeed. There is no bad bourbon." The tattooed gentleman snorted. He said with disdain, "Well, that's debatable." He returned to his table without ordering bourbon. Honey and I looked at each other. Each of us immediately flashed back to an episode in another bar. THE SNAKE PIT IS A DIVE-BAR LOVER'S SIREN SONG When we lived in Los Angeles at Fairfax and Melrose, the Snake Pit was our local joint. We were there at least once a week. It was a dump with friendly bartenders, excellent beers and liquors, and a solid kitchen that turned out some surprisingly good fare. Details Magazine once named it one of the city's top-ten dive bars. It looked rough. But if you scratched the surface, you realized it was a diamond. Some years ago, there was a fire there. Stunned regulars from around Los Angeles got out of bed and were standing on the sidewalk in front of their bar at 5am as the fire crews battled the blaze. It had that kind of following. HONEY AND I BECAME FRIENDS WITH THE STAFF We performed a wedding for one of the bartenders. The manager has become a dear friend, whom we periodically see in Utah. She's originally from the genteel South, and moved to LA seeking fame & fortune on the screen. She found she preferred the relative anonymity of running a good, simple bar owned by a blessed-out, post-hippie, surfer-dude with a home in the Pacific Palisades. Her T-shirts and boisterous demeanor belie a first-class education and a background in game hunting and equestrian pursuits. Her personal brand is one of interesting contradictions. One night, we were sitting at the bar, talking to her when a customer walks in. SHE TURNS TO THE CUSTOMER AND SAYS, "WHAT CAN I GET YOU?" The young woman replies, "I'd like a frozen margarita!" Our friend looks her square in the eye and says, "It's not that kind of bar." "Oh." The woman looks around a bit more, orders a beer and takes a seat. We've always enjoyed that simple, direct moment of unapologetic brand honesty. "This is where you are, and your choices are limited. We are focused, and you are welcome to join us. Otherwise, there are plenty of other bars with sugary, frozen drinks just down the street. "We do not try to be all things to all people." Everyone was welcome. Nobody was turned away unless they were disagreeable or over-served. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT Back in the heady days of her Big New York Ad Agency Career, Honey was once sent to Mississippi to work on an agricultural product related to cotton farming. She and her team were in the middle-of-nowhere rural south, surrounded by farmland, and had gone into a rustic, redneck roadhouse for drinks. You know the kind of place. "Oh, honey, we have both kinds of music: country and western." Richie, one of the New York guys on Honey's team, saunters up to the bar. The bartender asks, "What'll you have?" Richie says, "I'll have a Toasted Almond." The bartender says, "What's that?" Richie explains the cocktail. "We don't do that." Richie orders a beer. IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF BAR Moreover, it doesn't apologize. It knows its brand. It know its core customer, and how that core customer should feel about the place. The place back in Rhode Island is fancier than either the Snake Pit or the Mississippi roadhouse. But it still knows its brand, too. It knows it's off the beaten path. It knows who its customers are: sensible New Englanders who like shellfish, catch of the day, and other unfussy food and don't really give a damn about small-batch bourbons. And the place doesn't apologize. BUT IT DOESN'T EXCUSE THE BAD ATTITUDE OF THE TATTOOED FUSSBUDGET Especially when you're walking around inked up with mediocre artwork and have earlobes outfitted with hardware big enough to run a hawser through, and you're in the land of pragmatic people, a sailing town to boot, wearing a heavy wool hat on a sunny, 89-degree day with 97 percent humidity, your brand says, "Fish out of water." Your brand says, "I make choices you don't." Your brand says, "I don't care what you think." Your brand says, "Look at me. What are you going to do about it?" There are all kinds of aggressive, in-your-face things his brand package is saying to the world. And interestingly, everyone we've ever known who has such a distinctive personal brand like this is usually pretty low-key and gregarious. They're usually happy to have a conversation and be friendly. We certainly knew plenty of them during our time in the Snake Pit. THAT'S LOS ANGELES FOR YOU You're going to meet all types and draw no conclusions about them until you have enough information. But here, in this small, New England seaside town, in a nice little joint with a good feeling, with a brand that obviously cares about its customer, this man violated one of the cardinal rules, to wit: "Don't be a dick." In seconds, he branded himself as a problem customer. Because it's not that kind of bar. Let's face it, if you know anything about bourbon, you know there is very little in the way of bad bourbon. IN SOME WAYS, BOURBON IS LIKE CHAMPAGNE To be of the bourbon brand, it must come from a specific region of Kentucky. To be a true Champagne brand, the wine must come from a specific region of France. Producing anything but good Champagne is financially ruinous. In other ways, bourbon is a very American, egalitarian tipple. Even the people who make it have no pretenses about it. By all kinds of measures, most bourbon is at least good. Better bourbons are really good. The best bourbons are stunning, both in taste and brand power. If you have disdain for Maker's Mark (the Ford F-150 of bourbons) or small-batch whiskeys that aren't your favorite, and you are willing to express it openly to people you don't know, you have a problem. You are an overt snob about something that doesn't matter. And you are going to miss out. You don't know who you've alienated. You have no idea who might buy you a drink. You have no clue what might be squirreled away somewhere in that bar that a sympathetic bartender might be willing to share with you but not the gen pop. BUT THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A LECTURE ABOUT BEHAVIOR It's a reminder to be true to your brand. You're never going to please all of the people all of the time. We've had clients get complaints about the craziest of things. One didn't like a radio commercial that championed mom as her family's primary care provider. Of course, the client didn't do anything about it, other than say, "I'm sorry you feel that way." If you've approached your brand in a way that's honest and makes sense, and you can live up to, have at it. Once you've committed to your brand, be that brand. Be committed and unapologetic. And let the uninformed customer know it's not that kind of bar. Even if someone else's personal brand requires that they pee on it, your honest, authentic brand is much easier to make live, and to live with. As always, Blaine Parker Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in Park City www.slowburnmarketing.com |
AuthorBlaine Parker helps people sell their stuff. An advertising Creative Director and Copywriter at Slow Burn Marketing, he specializes in big-brand thinking for small-business marketing. He has the voice of a much taller man. Archives
February 2018
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