Brand protectionism never works. Brinker International Inc lead by Doug Brooks has continued to operate under the Norman Brinker rules of chain restaurant operations. That worked well during the golden age of chain restaurants. The problem is the golden age of chain restaurants ended in 2005 as we have well documented in our white paper on Restaurant Consumer Discontinuity. Doug, the customers are not static they are dynamic. It’s time that Chili’s become a dynamic chain again. How many employees in the marketing department at Chili’s have Masters Degree in Food Marketing? Heck, how many have Masters Degree’s in Marketing? Great people doing the same things that they have always done worked well during the golden era of chain restaurants. However you will not get the desired results when the customers have moved and your mindset has not.
The picture for the restaurant industry is brightening up and showing signs of recovery. While Chili’s sales continue to decline and today reported down almost 8 percent. Chili’s no longer leads within it’s niche. Chili’s has lost ground in the” beleaguered bar and grill segment” to companies the likes of Ruby Tuesday and Applebee’s.
Doug Brooks stated on the conference call that “if sales gains remain elusive in the short term, Brinker would need to "transform" its business model”. Doing nothing, waiting to see what the economy is going to do is doing harm. Times have changed, the customer has evolved it’s time that Brinker International evolve. Doug, success leave’s clues and many of us have been following what works.
Outside eyes can deliver top sales and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson
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