Opening a restaurant is the most creative experience you can undertake . It demands you think about all that a customer will experience through their senses – what they see, touch, hear, smell and of course taste. It’s a huge undertaking, but like all big projects it should be thought of as a jigsaw puzzle and be broken down into manageable pieces, sections and tasks. For most people starting the process of opening a restaurant, they have been dreaming about this moment for years and the idea has evolved into a serious business proposition. Here I breakdown the various different restaurant branding elements, which will hopefully put more meat on the bones of your restaurant business plan.
Positioning
Where does your brand sit, when compared to everyone else? When I started thinking of opening a pizza / Italian restaurant it was borne of a frustration of having to eat in high street Italian restaurants where the food, décor, music etc was average at best. I wanted to eat in a place where the kids would be welcome, enjoy a pizza or pasta dish and the adults would also enjoy the food, wine and overall experience. In terms of positioning I wanted something higher than the Italian chains found on most high streets but not at a fine dining level. I believe my restaurants Clerkenwell and Marylebone do just that.
Personality / Attributes
We always run through different personality traits with clients in our restaurant branding workshops. In our experience grading various different brand attributes on a scale of 1 to 10 is an important part of the process as is comparing these to your competitors. Here are a few examples of brand personality traits and attributes:
Sophisticated
Casual
Value for money
Environmentally friendly
Authentic
Provenance of suppliers / ingredients
Heritage
Trendy
Classic / timeless
Humorous
Child friendly
Passionate
Street food
Quirky
Fun
Healthy
Organic
Seasonal
Rustic
Brand Associations
What do you want your brand to say? What do you want people to think of when they hear your brand name? Will it be your signature dish or some other brand attribute? We always divide these into primary and secondary associations which will be key elements to think of when we devise your brand communication strategies.
Look and Feel
Pinterest is a fantastic tool for anyone in the process of opening a restaurant – it definitely makes our job easier and that of the restaurant designer when a client has created Pinterest boards on all elements, including example menu designs, colour schemes, lighting, seating, bar, signage etc. So getting Pinning and think about how those different elements reflect and reinforce the brand associations / attributes as well as carving out a distinctive niche in a competitive market.
