The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - August 26, 1997

Here are a few interesting ideas that were forwarded by Mike Jay with the comment, "I know we all have too much to read but I have found their concepts, their books and their insights invaluable! Definitely recommend!" It is from an e-mail newsletter from 1:1 Marketing which you can subscribe to on their website http://www.marketing1to1.com. When you start to get a glimpse of what's possible, it causes you to re-examine your own thinking which is definitely a worthwhile exercise.

The 1:1 Fast Food Market: Really Making It "Your Way" by Tyson Brown
As we sat in Burger King eating our lunches the other day, a friend and I had a business revelation: fast food chains are in the perfect market to employ one-to-one customer service. Their menus typically have dozens of options, not to mention the fact that lots of people like to place special orders (e.g., a "whopper" with no mayo and onions, my personal favorite).

Burger King tried to offer individualized service with its "have it your way" campaign, but it seems that "your way" is still "their way" because they are no better at customizing your order than other fast food restaurants. So why not create a system which allows for mass customization in the fast food market?

Enter the one-to-one fast food chain, where you receive a magnetic stripe card that remembers your favorite meals. Instead of shouting an order through an annoying intercom, you could simply swipe your cards at a drive-through kiosk to see a list of the last five meals you ordered (or, if you prefer, you could create your own list of favorites through a process which should be as simple as it is valuable). Either way, you would not have to wade through a sea of choices to enjoy a meal that is much closer to being delivered "your way."

Join our fast food franchise discussion already in progress in our INSIDE 1:1 Reader Forum: http://www.marketing1to1.com/1:1/wt.cgi/discussions.html.

Earning McBreaks, One Order at a Time by Martha Rogers, Ph.D.
Earlier this year McDonald's introduced the McBreak card as a loyalty program in 212 of its Dallas/Fort Worth restaurants. Whenever customers use the card, they earn redeemable points for menu items. There is a "window" on the front of the card where an updated summary appears after each use (e.g., cumulative points, points earned during this visit, marketing messages, etc.).

The McBreak card is a thermal card, rather than a magnetic stripe card. The thermal technology is capable of storing transaction information on the card itself, in essence a portable database. Each day the franchises send McBreak card data via modem to a centralized database at McDonald's marketing department.

Additionally, franchises can print coupons for customers with each transaction. At this point, individual information does not drive the type of coupon printed for each customer. But, the technology can match a customer's previous transactions to the available coupon options (e.g., because *this* customer never purchases McChicken sandwiches, McChicken coupons are not printed). The cost of the thermal card itself is only about 75 cents, which makes it a cost-efficient relationship-marketing vehicle even when selling fast food.

This thermal card technology is just one of several applications Customer Knowlogy, Inc. in Parmdale, California manufacturers; visit their listing at http://www.marketplace1to1.com to learn more about their other marketing programs.

MICHAEL'S ON EAST
To see a restaurant website that is definitely on the leading edge, check out Michael's on East (http://www.bestfood.com) and look at the article in Nations Restaurant News, August 11, page 80. Michael Klauber has some interesting ideas on how to use the web to promote business, including a new "Michael's on the Web" e-mail newsletter. You can subscribe for free at the website.

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