UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging

Chapter 4. Restaurant That Didn't Get It

WHEN YOU OPEN a new location-based business that relies on a specific geographic clientele, the biggest hurdle you have to over-comeisgettingpeopletocometoyourbusinessthefirsttime."New customer acquisition" is where start-up businesses spend most of their marketing dollars. Why not get people to come by using the foundation of human nature: making people feel special?

A friend of mine who runs a graphic design firm brought me in to speak with one of her clients about marketing a new restaurant. She was designing the restaurant's menus and had been asked if she knew anyone who could come up with some unique ways to market the place. I was excited to work with a place that was open to doing things differently. Well, I was wrong about that.^[11] But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We sat down together for an awesome lunch,^[12] and they told me about their vision for the restaurant. They were in a downtown location on the western outskirts of Toronto's core, which is an area with many restaurants. They knew it was going to be a battle to build a customer base.

We discussed a few different things and ideas that they had. We all agreed that their biggest challenge was going to be getting people into the door to try out the food for the first time. The owners had a lot of faith in the quality of their food and service and knew that if we could accomplish getting people to try out the restaurant that they would come back for more.

Perfect! Let's get ready ...