60-Second Stretch

“Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation,
and never shrinks back to its former dimensions”
(Oliver Wendell Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, 1858 ).

Boston Market's Image Upgrade

Posted by Eric Wilbanks Friday, February 23, 2007 0 comments

Fast Casual magazine has an interesting article about the transformation going on at Boston Market.

"(Success) starts with a brand promise of saving time, and our chef-driven food is a bridge to that promise," said Trey Hall, Boston Market’s chief brand officer.

While the menu stays the same, the tableware and employee uniforms are changing. Hall said Boston Market also is working with distributors to select new plates and cups. “We thought there was a bit of a disconnect between the quality of our food and what it was served on.”

As for the new uniform, employees wear brightly colored T-shirts, white caps and blue jeans. "The new digs help workers revert to a fun and exciting place," Hall said.
The Lake Mary, FL store recently had the facelift completed on the building. Actually, it was my 10 & 12 year-olds that noticed it first.

"Dad, look! Boston Market is trying to copy Chipotle."

Hmmm. I wonder if that's the message Hall was trying to send? Of course, our family loves Chipotle, so we don't mind the similarities at all.


Sell Out to Your Niche

Posted by Eric Wilbanks Thursday, February 22, 2007 0 comments

Greg Stielstra of Pyromarketing fame recently wrote:

"People are sometimes reluctant to try PyroMarketing because the first step--gathering the driest tinder--seems limiting. They are afraid to focus all of their efforts on the people most likely to buy because they imagine that a narrowly defined niche is too small to meet their sales goals. In response people often make foolish mistakes [such as] diluting their product or service. They mistakenly believe that a product with a less specific appeal will attract more general interest. "If we can make that women's book less feminine," they reason, "then it will appeal to men." But people are attracted by the presence of specific characteristics and traits not by their absence. This approach does not broaden a product's appeal to a larger audience. Instead it reduces its appeal to the one audience that might have bought in the first place."

I often find this to be the case in designing book covers. I recently developed a powerful, emotive cover that was aimed straight at women (the primary target), but the author insisted on a more unisex (and much less interesting) design.

I Love the 80s (Ultimate Playlist)

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