Credit card issuers know that you, as a consumer, are more loyal to brands like Avon, Barnes & Noble and Amazon than you’ll ever be to them. The first offer of a lower interest rate that lands in your mailbox, and you’re likely to be off – which is why card companies are increasingly hitching their stars to other brands. To win your favor, they’re offering to help you buy more of your favorite products. Is there a downside to these deals?
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Upscale Restaurateurs Offer Concierge-Like Services for Guests
Upscale Restaurateurs Offer Concierge-Like Services for Guests
These days it can be tough to tell the difference between a maitre d’ and a hotel concierge.
Need collar stays? Spiaggia has them. Cuff links? Seasons will get them. A spritz of Static Guard? No problem at Des Plaines’ Cafe la Cave. A size 52 long sport coat? Ambria has it.
“Places really interested in growing their business use their maitre d’s very much like you would use a concierge,” said Isidore Kharasch, who heads Deerfield-based consultancy Hospitality Works.
“I think part of what we do is attention to detail. You need to notice things,” added Chris Gerber, the dining room manager at Trio in Evanston.
That’s especially true in an industry that expects to pull in $440 billion this year and is enjoying a small jump in consumer spending for the first time in five quarters, according to a recent report by NPD Group market researchers. [Read more…] about Upscale Restaurateurs Offer Concierge-Like Services for Guests
Burger King revives 'Your Way' tag in new TV campaign
MIAMI (March 8) – Burger King broke new TV ads under the familiar “Have It Your Way” tag, the first step in what will be a broad-based marketing campaign to revive the brand and its sales.
The two 30-second spots are the first work for the chain by its new agency, Crispin Porter Bogusky of Miami, and were developed less than a month after the agency had won the estimated $350 million account. [Read more…] about Burger King revives 'Your Way' tag in new TV campaign
Finger scans let shoppers get done quickly
Shoppers at a chain of Southern grocery stores can pay for purchases simply by pressing their thumb to a special screen, thanks to technology developed by San Francisco company Pay By Touch.
The Bay Area company says its method, which uses finger scans linked to customer’s financial accounts, will speed patrons through cashier lines, reduce merchants’ costs and cut fraud.
“Somebody can steal the last four digits of your social security number, your checking account or your PIN, but they can’t steal your fingerprint,” said Craig Ramsey, chief executive of Pay By Touch, launched last year.
During the coming months, finger-scanning payment systems are scheduled to be installed at all 116 stores in South Carolina and Georgia owned by grocery chain Piggly Wiggly Carolina.
Pay By Touch is one of several firms looking to make money from biometrics, the science of using biological properties such as fingerprints, voice recognition and retina scans to identify individuals. Interest in the field began as a way to identify people for security purposes, but now is being explored for its retail potential.
Other companies including Information Architects of Florida and Biometric Access of Texas are also developing fingerprint-secured retail transactions, according to NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association, a coalition of banks and credit unions. [Read more…] about Finger scans let shoppers get done quickly
You want it your way
Picky, picky, picky.
Americans won’t eat — or drink — just anything anymore. Starbucks knows it. Whole Foods knows it. Frito-Lay knows it.
The driving forces are as diverse as the nation’s population. America is becoming a nation of ultraselective eaters. Selective as in: Gimme-a-world-of-choices-so-I-can-customize-my-diet. There’s a powerful sense of control in saying, ”Hold the bread” — or ”Hold the foam.”
[Read more…] about You want it your way
MSNBC – Got a quarter for an Atkins snack?
https://msnbc.msn.com/id/4456943/
CHICAGO – The office vending machine, with its carbohydrate-laden cookies, candy bars and potato chips, is probably the last place the numerous Americans on low-carb diets would think to go for a snack.
Pure Foods LLC Friday announced the launch of the machines, which will include Atkins-branded shakes and bars, as well as other low-carb items. The machines will carry 17 snacks and eight low-carb beverages, the company said
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Bizarre ad icons become heroes to sandwich chain
The pop culture question of the moment is: What the heck is Quiznos thinking?
The stars of the Denver-based sandwich chain’s new ad campaign have bulging eyes and human teeth, they’re covered with fur and they look like nothing so much as deformed gerbils.
Yet they’re a big hit.
“It has produced by far the largest consumer response we’ve received to any ad campaign we’ve launched before,” says Stacie Lange, vice president of public relations for Quiznos. “We wanted to break through the clutter of advertising and get noticed, and we’ve done that.”
Charlotte Observer
Nobody knows what “spong monkeys” are supposed to be, but for Quiznos sandwich shops, they’re a pop-culture hit.
Quiznos has logged more than 14,000 e-mails, letters and telephone calls about them.
“Some people love them, and others just want to know what they are,” Ms. Lange says. “People ask: ‘Are they hamsters? Are they potatoes?’ ”
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No one really knows, says Kerry Feuerman, vice chairman and group creative director for the Martin Agency, Quiznos’ advertising firm. “It’s part of their mystique,” he says.
Their creator – a 27-year-old British animator named Joel Veitch – calls them “spong monkeys.” Again, no one knows why, and Mr. Veitch couldn’t be reached to explain.
https://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022504dnickspongmonkeys.19e81.html
Setting The Menu
https://retailtrafficmag.com/ar/retail_setting_menu/index.htm
Restaurants and retail complement one another like a fine red wine and a juicy steak. Just ask any mall owner who has watched droves of stuffed customers migrating from Cheesecake Factory throughout the rest of the center after a meal. Moderately priced, full-service restaurants (which comprise 20 percent of the casual dining market) are in-demand anchors now that department store sales are slumping.