Balancing Menu Innovation with Brand Consistency

While chasing fads can be an effective strategy as long as they align with a brand's core focus, it carries risks. 

The biggest risk is losing your brand identity and alienating customers, explained Joe Lanni, co-founder of Currito, adding that a more sustainable strategy is being customer led, not trend led. 

“If a trend fits who you are, it can be great. If not, let someone else chase it. Ultimately, brands must protect their existing customer base while attracting and retaining new customers who will appreciate what the brand stands for. Consistency, reliability and a relentless focus on aligning a brand's offering and communication with its target market are paramount to these efforts.”

Evolution Is a Good Mantra

While it may be a little overused, evolution, rather than revolution is a good mantra for operators, Lanni recommended. If things are working, changing too much too often can lead to operational issues, confusion, and customer disappointment. Rapid change also causes a lot of work for your team at HQ, he noted. 

“Customers like your concept, they choose to spend their hard earned dollars there for a reason. The focus should be on enhancing the concept by leaning in to what is working rather than constantly changing things at the risk of alienating your core customer base.”

Because they are so close to their brand, it’s often difficult for operators to see things through the eyes of the customer who comes in once a month or even once a week.

“They do not care if you think an item on the menu feels stale; if it's selling, that might be why they come in every Monday.  If new items aren't selling, take the lesson, adjust, move on and focus on what is working. Remember- every restaurant in the world has an item that is the low seller, they can't all be hits.”

Know Your Unique Value

For each brand Lanni and his team created, they have "three uniques” that are core qualities designed to give an edge against competition. For example, Currito's three uniques are: Variety of Global Flavors; Healthy Options; and Flavor First Focus. 

“Aligning our team on these three unique qualities gives us a filter for decision-making. The team can review new menu items or marketing campaigns and decide if the idea amplifies those three uniques.  When a trend is spotted these help us eliminate ideas which do not align.”

Reading reviews religiously, monitoring their sales mix, and being objective rather than clinging to an idea they like when the data is screaming something else are among the most effective ways for operators to listen to their customers and understand any behaviorial shifts, Hanni advised. 

“We have access to thousands of reviews and there are many services that aggregate and analyze trends in them. Often, our operators key in on one specific piece of feedback they heard from a few customers in the restaurants. Sometimes this can be good information, but often it reflects a recency bias because they heard something today or this week.  By examining thousands of touchpoints over longer periods, we can verify if these items represent meaningful trends in our feedback or if they reflect the preferences of only one or two customer groups.”