It is easy to succeed in a business than to sustain that success. You can reach the heights of a business by effort and perseverance but if you lack agility and evolution, then it is nearly impossible to maintain that position. To be the best, one must keep upgrading to the status quo best. Rebranding becomes important to keep up with the times and maintain the relevancy of the latest customer demands.
Talking about the restaurant business then it won’t be wrong to say that this business is critically vulnerable to changes. Everything new has a great impact on the industry, from technical advancements to global awareness. Being a restaurateur, if you stagnate your efforts and strategies for restaurant improvement and marketing, then after some time your business will be curbed by developing peers. So, if you want to maintain your restaurant's position in the market, you must keep rebranding your restaurant as per current trends and customer expectations.
Here are some important tips that you can use for rebranding your restaurant without risking market recognition.
Do you really need rebranding?
Rebranding your restaurant just because others are doing it doesn’t make sense. You must know when and why your restaurant needs it. You can nail the rebranding only when it is well-timed. It is not difficult to know when the right time is. Just like we know when to repaint our home’s walls or renovate the architecture and interior, rebranding of the restaurant also comes naturally. Here are the green signals that you must catch as they are shouting for a rebranding:
- Reducing Profit Margin: despite regular customers and good sales, are you still running low on profits? The possible reason behind that are your unrevised prices. To keep your customer base intact and retain the trust of your visitors, you refrain from revising the rates of your menu. But, your expenses do increase, and the prices of commodities regularly increase, thus shrinking your profit window. If you are dealing with this situation, then it is high time for rebranding. When you will offer your guests a fresh and renovated ambiance and menu, then they will happily pay more.
- Your customer base is shrinking: Do you witness only random visits of family dinners or mid-age couples dining out weekly? Does your restaurant’s doormat wish to be stepped by young steps? If yes, then you must be alarmed. GenZ and millennials form the largest audience for the food industry, and if you are not catering to them, then something is seriously wrong. What is wrong is that you are not updated with their latest demands and expectations. You must immediately rebrand your restaurant and roll out a more voguish version that all generations like.
- You are receiving bad reviews: There was a time when the mere presence of Pizza in a restaurant was considered a delicacy, and people would blow that they sell pizza there. But is it so today? Today if the pizza sold by you tastes bad, then no one is going to turn back and will post a lot of bad stuff about your place, as options for customers today are innumerable. If your restaurant constantly receives customer flak on social media, or through word of mouth, then you must evaluate what’s wrong. You must rebrand your restaurant to turn all the negative reviews into positive ones by analyzing people’s views about your place.
- You do not fit anymore: Do you feel that your restaurant is a misfit in the surroundings and other restaurants look much like a newborn in front of yours? Alarm again! If you find yourself the odd one out but for all the wrong reasons, you must start thinking of bringing changes to your place. When your competitor restaurants attract your customer base, you lack the temptation, which rings the bell for rebranding.
How To Rebrand Your Restaurant?
Now when you know that you strictly need to rebrand your restaurant, then a question arises of how to do it. You are already experienced with setting up a new restaurant. It is kind of the same but with much of the work already done. All you have to do is align your restaurant with the present trends ruling the restaurant market. Here are some steps that you must take to rebrand your restaurant without compromising market recognition:
Attend to reviews and suggestions
Put up a suggestion box in your restaurant if there is not one and see what more your visitors expect from you. Also, go through each and every review from every source possible about your restaurant and analyze where you lacked in impressing your customers. You will definitely get a lot to change from there. Rebrand your restaurant as per the expectations you comprehended in the reviews and suggestions.
To get better, you can take the help of food and restaurant bloggers to analyze your place and give tips to bring effective modulations. Here are some tips for reviews to respond negative reviews.
Study your Peers
Copying others is not going to benefit at all, but taking inspiration or motivation will absolutely do. Study how your rebranding steers your restaurant as compared to your competitor restaurants. If they are getting a good amount of customers then there is a reason for it. Analyze the reason and try incorporating them effectively in your rebranding spree.
Play on your Strengths
The rebranding includes incorporating new things and smartly retaining what you are best at. If your restaurant has made it so far that you need rebranding, there are certainly some very positive points. It may be your unique menu, delicious dishes, ambiance, service, or any other important restaurant attribute. Grab that point and focus on it during rebranding. Maintain the authenticity of your restaurant's strengths as it will maintain market recognition and retain the fragrance of originality.
Identify your weakness
Reviews and peer studies will help you find the mole slowing down your sales. The whole rebranding process must be effective enough to eradicate your weaknesses completely. If your restaurant's decor or interior is outdated and repelling, then get it all renovated with state-of-the-art fashion. Get your restaurant set up friendly for all generations to expand your customer base. If your customer service is lacking efficiency, then arrange professional training for your staff or you might consider adding some more experienced members to your team that can cater to millennials and the Gen Z generation.
Smell the Threat
Genius always learns from the mistakes of others. Be one and analyze not just the successful restaurants of your concerned area but also the unsuccessful ones. It will help you to know what you must refrain from doing. Acknowledge yourself about the possible crashes that might lead to straining your rebranding.
Work on your menu
If you are emotional about your menu and recipes, then it is not mandatory to completely change them, but you need to polish them according to changing customer expectations and commodity prices. Try changing the names and presentations of the dishes. Add vegan and keto options to the menu as the customer base is expanding daily. If you are a theme restaurant, then try to get a twist in the tale with fusion dishes, but without jeopardizing the authenticity of the cuisine.
Revamp Your Restaurant Marketing Strategy
With digital innovation ruling the marketing world, you need to remodel your restaurant marketing strategy for an effective and viable rebranding. If you are present on social media, then strengthen your presence with regular updates about the rebranding. Get a mobile application developed for your restaurant to increase your customer reach and step into the modern room of restaurants. Advertise about your reopening with a peek-a-boo of before and after photos of the restaurant to create anticipation in people's minds.
learn about new restaurant marketing tips
Roll out new offers and discounts
Not the latest but a tried and tested strategy that can amplify the effects of your rebranding is providing discounts and offers to the customers. You can list your coupon codes on famous coupon apps to let people know about your deals.
Leverage Innovations
Living in the generation of millennials, you cannot skip the technology part of a business. Your rebranding must have a strong technical section where you incorporate all the avant-garde innovations of the restaurant industry. Get restaurant digital menus, Food Delivery apps, virtual experience, online bookings, and many other cutting-edge technical facilities. You can also include digital marketing in your rebranding marketing strategy. Going by a bit of science will take your restaurant a long way.
End Note
Rebranding is not going to be easy. From financial to mental, it will need an intense investment. But, if done right and well-timed, it will pop out ecstatic results for your restaurant. Hopefully, the above tips will help you efficiently rebrand your restaurant.
