STORYTIME (14) - The Magic of Great Storytelling

Speaker A: So over the course of the Pandemic, I was working with a theater in Manhattan, and it was over on the west side. And, uh, I was brought in to do their marketing. Uh, it got stalled because of the pandemic. So I was eventually left, uh, that project. But I want to talk about some of the things that we were doing on that project, some of the things that we put into practice, and then some of the things that I actually never even saw realized. But we're going to be really, really good. I want to talk about that because it's right in keeping with the stories that we're telling on Restaurant Strategy. There's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown. Um, this is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking. Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning in. You know me, my name is Chip Close. I am your host here of, uh, the Restaurant Strategy Podcast. Two episodes every single week. We cover marketing operations, everything in between. We are interested in profitability, helping you make more so you can ultimately work less. I wrote a book. It's called the Restaurant Marketing Mindset. My new book is called the Restaurant Profit Playbook. Comes out in just a couple of months. I have a membership site. It's called Restaurant Foundations. You'll find that link in the show notes. I run a coaching program called the P3 Mastermind. You go to rsprophate.com you can learn more about that program. But I also host one big live event every single year. The Restaurant Profitability Summit happens in Minneapolis. October 18th, 19th and 20th. Two days in a room together. Eight hours on Monday, eight hours on Tuesday. Yes, we give you lunch in between, but tons of actionable playbooks, things that you can take home, put into practice right away. If you are struggling to generate a consistent, predictable 20% profit every single month, then this is the event for you. Join 200 other restaurant owners from all over the world who will descend upon Minneapolis to level up. To dial in profits, go to the link in the show notes to grab your tickets. We only have 200 spots, so secure your seats. Today, Ajinimoto is your answer to every busy dinner rush spent deep in the weeds. When hungry customers walk through your door, they expect good food, right? Good food that tastes homemade. But making every dish from scratch can cut into your profits. Certainly what we're talking about today, especially with the cost of ingredients and, yes, the cost of labor. That's where agenomoto foods comes in. Ajinimoto has a huge catalog of fast, easy to prep frozen Asian products that taste and look homemade. That includes classics like fried rice dumplings and onion rings and new trendy fusion plates like kimchi chicken pot stickers. See, choosing Ajinimoto is choosing over 100 years of proven expertise in the food service space. Choose to save time, choose to save money in your busy kitchen without compromising on the quality your customers have come to expect. Learn more about ajinimoto@ajinimotofoodservice.com and yes, you'll find that link in the show notes. Okay, so today I wanted to talk to you about this, uh, event space that I was helping to open. I was running the marketing. It was during the pandemic. Uh, it got stalled because of the pandemic. And uh, so I didn't fully see it, uh, realized. But I want to talk about the things that we were able to put into practice, and I want to talk about some of the stuff that we were going to, um, that I don't think ever came to fruition because when they brought in, uh, you know, eventually another, uh, another team to do it, they weren't thinking like I was thinking. But I think the stuff that we had in mind was, was really, really cool. So this theater had a lot to do with magic. Magic was going to factor in prominently. There was a restaurant and then there was a theater space. And the theater space was going to have magic a couple times a week. Uh, other, you know, musical acts, comedy, stu. Um, it was sort of like a variety theater. Uh, but magic illusions were going to factor pretty prominently into it. So it was sort of woven into the entire, uh, the entire property is a bunch of cool stuff. We did, ah, part of it from a marketing standpoint, you know, like at the bar, for example, we had coasters. And what we were doing is we were putting NFC tags in the middle of the coaster so that when somebody came up to the bar, the bartender would say, hey, how you doing? What can I get for you? They'd say, I'll take an old Fashioned and shelve a martini. So great. And we'd say, if you want to scan the, um, you know, hold your phone close to the coaster. There's an NFC tag in there. It'll prompt you, uh, to watch a magic trick. People would be like, oh, really? So they'd scan it, it would ask for their name, phone number, email. So it was data collection for us. But they would do it because the curiosity of seeing a magic trick. So they would do that, it would take them to a landing page eventually where there was a video of somebody doing a magic trick, um, for the camera. It worked every single time. It was amazing. And in fact we have four of these. And so after people watched the one, they were like, whoa, that was amazing. And the bartender would say, here's your drinks. And if you want to scan the other one, we actually have four magic tricks. So there's a really good chance that you'll get one of the other ones if you scan it. It was a great way of getting the other person to put in their name, email and phone number again from a data collection point, which we firmly believed was the most important thing, especially for, uh, an opening, a new restaurant opening. Um, it was a great way to do that, but it was also a great way to weave in, right to, to coordinate, to align the theater with the restaurant. And it was a great way to show our guests a good time. Guess what? It was also a way to give them context to talk about us. Because how many times have you gone to a bar, ordered a drink and been prompted to watch a magic trick? I'm going to say zero. That's why we came up to it. That's why we came up with it. It was zero, which is really why we did it. We were trying to give people the thing saying, you know, oh, I went to this restaurant. Oh, really? How was it? Oh, it was great. But Jude is crazy. You know what they did again, that comma. But we got to give them comma, buts. And what we talked about is. I talk about it a lot with my P3 members. I talk a lot about speed bumps that over the course of the meal, people have to come in contact with something unique or a series of somethings. Unique, right? So I always talk about my son's elementary school. Um, every road all the way around, there are speed bumps. You're not going to hit all the speed bumps, but if you're anywhere near the school, you're going to hit at least one or two of the speed bumps. And so the speed bumps are doing the job. If you get closer to the, if, uh, you get closer to the school, they want you to slow down. That's why you're going to hit the speed bumps. So what we do is saying when you are here, you are going to be prompted to do this. For example, what we did at half hour. So the shows all started at 7:30. At 7:00'. Clock. We knew what was going to happen is that people Were going to start getting nervous that they were going to miss the show. So what we did is we created these hourglasses. We actually sourced them and get really beautiful hourglasses. Anybody was pre theater. And we were really meticulous about finding it out. Everybody. So the bussers of the servers would all bring them out at the same time and we'd put them out and set uh, like 659. And then at 7:00 clock we'd all sit there and whoever the manager was on duty would basically conduct them. He'd watch his watch and he'd conduct them at 7 o'. Clock. Everybody would flip them at the same time. And so what happened is that we would see, you know, the guests would see an army of people walking into the dining room holding hourglasses. So everybody walking, you know, synchronized was, was, uh, I, it was choreographed. We were like, oh, and then everybody had these hourglasses. We were like, what's that? And then half the tables maybe got an hourglass set on their table. And then together again, choreographed, synchronized, all together, we flip the hourglass and it was a 30 minute hourglass. And so then we would say, then quietly, the server, the manager, whatever would say to the table, say this is a 30 minute hourglass. The show begins in 30 minutes. So we don't want you to have to keep checking your watch. We don't have you to worry about it. This is it. The show will start at 7:30. So this way you can manage your time. So sit, relax, enjoy the dessert, have another glass of wine. You've got all this time. And so what it did is it kept people seated just a little bit longer, getting that extra glass of wine, getting that extra cocktail, that extra cup of coffee. And so then they weren't all rushing over to the theater and waiting in the, you know, in the vestibule, waiting in the lobby. We didn't really have the room for that. So we didn't need them going over there early. All the tables were reserved in the theater so we needed them getting there really just in time for the show or maybe a few minutes before so they could order their drinks or food or whatever else they were having in the theater. But this is a great way to do it, right? Um, so the NFC tags and the coasters, I'd never seen this hourglass wasn't even my idea. It was the general manager's idea. Uh, it was, it was something that we hadn't uh, we hadn't seen before on Friday, Saturday nights. So on our busiest Nights we used to have a roaming magician. So a magician would pull up a chair and do like, uh, and do card tricks at the table. So if you've ever been to a party that has a roaming magician, they're amazing. When they're good, they are good. And then we also started booking parties where you could, uh, book a seat at a table. So it was like a table of 12, and the magician was right in the middle, basically holding court. And all throughout the night was basically doing trick after trick after trick after trick that was in the restaurant. But again, it was keeping our connection to the magic and to the theater that was hosting all this magic. It was a way of weaving this all in. And listen, it was an Asian themed restaurant, so it wasn't like it stood on its own. It did its own thing. But we didn't want to ignore the fact that we were under the same roof. And so there are all these ways that we were doing it. And as you can imagine, all these speed bumps were stories where what people were talking about, right? Oh, we went to this restaurant. Oh, how was it? Oh, it's great. But you know what's crazy? They had this magician wandering around, right? Oh, how was that restaurant? Oh, it was really good. Do you know what they did 30 minutes before the theater? They came out with hourglasses and then they tell that story. And we had about 12 or 15 of these that we did. Those are the three most obvious and I think most unique. So that's what I wanted to share with you. But we had like 12 or 15. The idea being you're not going to come across all of them during your meal, but you'll probably come across two or three of them for sure. And we wanted to make sure that we would do that again. If you want permission, this is me giving you permission. You have agency to do anything you want with your restaurant. And don't think just because you're casual or you're just pizza or just a sandwich shop or just whatever that you can get away with doing this. I promise you, there are other people out there that are doing these things and they're stealing your guests. The way you get your guests back is by giving them something to talk about, Right? Remember there wasn't there a song about that? We talked about that, right? You got to give them something to talk about. That is the story I wanted to tell you tonight. Listen, I appreciate you guys making time for this show every single week. Reminder, if you want to work with me personally, me and my team, we run something called the P3 mastermind. Go to RSprophet.com, grab time on the calendar. You'll chat with me or someone from my team. Let's see if you're a good fit. Again, we just ask each other a bunch of questions. If you're not a good fit, good fit, so be it. If you are, though, we'll talk about next steps. We'll talk about how we can help you. Again, rsp.com it's the best way we know to how to help people. It's through the P3 mastermind. Thank you very much, guys. I appreciate you. I will see you next time.