The
trend is your friend and there seems to be not stopping the momentum of Barbie
the movie and everything that comes with it including restaurant sales.
According to Steven Johnson Grocerant
Guru®
soon there will be ‘streaming Barbie parties’ and front and cent will be
grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared menu items that are
PINK just for fun.
Just
think about it now, there are concepts that embraced Barbie-themed menu
promotions are reporting new customers and double-digit sales lifts. Enough
said. Barbie hasn’t just been a hit at the box office, several restaurant
concepts big and small have also gained momentum from tapping into the cultural
phenomenon.
So,
Cold Stone Creamery, for instance, is offering an All That Glitters is Pink
flavor, with pink cotton candy ice cream, graham cracker crust, dance party
sprinkles and whipped topping, while Pinkberry launched a Barbie Land Berry
Pink Swirl, featuring dragon fruit and strawberry flavors and topped with
“dream sprinkles.” The Barbie Frappuccino – a secret menu item at Starbucks –
proliferated on social media shortly before the movie’s release.
As
reported in local news, independents have also jumped into the moment. The
SisterYard, a cold brew concept in New York City, introduced Barbie Lemonade to
the menu, while Palm House Hospitality in San Francisco launched several
Barbie-themed cocktails at its venues. Jacksonville, Florida’s Spoonful Bakery
featured a week-long menu of Barbie-themed cookies, while Luminary Kitchen
& Provisions in Springfield, Mass., offered Barbie Funfetti French Toast.
In
Los Angeles, Café Landwer introduced an entire Barbie-inspired menu, including
four drink options, a pink house-made hummus and pretty in pink waffle topped
with pink whipped cream. Across town, Niku Nashi debuted a vegan sushi Barbie
roll. Have menus ever been this pink? We doubt it.
SpotOn’s
chief marketing officer, Kevin Bryla, stated, restaurants on its platform added
over 200 Barbie-themed items to their menus. Most of those items are beverages
or cocktails, while many are also breakfast, brunch and dessert offerings.
Bryla
continued, “Interestingly enough, nearly
every category or concept of our restaurant clients has gotten in on the Barbie
trend - quick service, full service, fast casual, cafes, bakeries, and bars,”
This
could be just the beginning according to Johnson, it seems as though the effort
has been worth it. Yami Correa, founder and
co-owner of The SisterYard, said the Barbie Lemonade quickly became
one of its top three best sellers since launch, for example. She called the
response “overwhelming.”
“The way people have drastically and positively reacted
toward the movie from the beginning has been jaw-dropping. People are excited
to see Barbie at their favorite coffee shop and enjoy taking part in the
community,” Correa said.
The SisterYard had not previously released a pop
culture-related promotion. Correa said the draw behind this movie, however,
changed their perspective.
“My sister and I were on the train and noticed that 90% of
all posts were Barbie-related, so why not? I don’t think anything has been as
big and easily relatable to jump on it,” she said.
The drink was pre-made in the mornings and the team only
needed to know how to serve and garnish. Because of the response, and the
simplicity, Correa said this experience could ignite future similar promotions
for The SisterYard.
“This gave us a huge measure of how important it is to jump
on these promotions to increase sales and visibility in the near future,”
Correa said.
The SisterYard isn’t the only concept that is energized to
do more such promotions. Benson Wang, chief at Palm House Hospitality, said his
company will also continue to be opportunistic and look for movies that work
well with its brands after experiencing a strong tailwind from its Barbie
promotions. That tailwind included a 20-to-30% lift in sales and “a lot of
first-time guests.”
“The
scale of the reception with Barbie was unlike any other movie we’ve seen. The
amount of positive public reception and momentum leading up to this film was
unique and I think this had to do a bit with the nostalgia of the film, high
marketing dollars put to work, but also a lighthearted film that cut through
gender stereotypes and just gave people permission to have fun and be
entertained,” Wang said. “Barbie filled a void.”
For
Niku Nashi, the timing and the location were both right to leverage Barbie
mania. The vegan sushi concept is located in the heart of Hollywood and the
movie was released just as Executive Chef/Co-Founder Niko Zaragoza was looking
to do something fun on the menu, something that people would talk about.“This
checked all the boxes,” Niku Nashi’s Brad Saltzman said.
Its
Barbie Roll features pink soy paper, fried oyster mushroom, pickled cabbage,
plant-based caviar, plant-based spicy tuna, burdock root, and avocado. The
creation, which is available until mid-September, required two days of
training, but that time has paid off thus far.
“The
Barbie Roll is our second highest selling dish on the lunch and dinner menu,
and the highest selling dish on our delivery platforms,” Saltzman said. “We
have received a lot of tags on Instagram. It makes guests smile when it’s
served to their table.”
Because
of this response, Chef Zaragoza said there will “absolutely more menu tie-ins
like this,” and thinks Wonka, scheduled for release in mid-December, could be a
good fit. That said, no plans have been solidified yet. Such a plan will
require the right product and process to ensure Niku Nashi maintains its best vegan sushi in Los
Angeles title,
he adds.
“At
the end of the day, you can have the best promotion,” Saltzman said. “But if
the food isn’t incredible, it’s a moot point.”
Though
it’s easy to get caught up in a short-term windfall, Niku Nashi’s patient
approach should be the standard. According to Bryla, restaurants wanting to
strike while a cultural moment is hot should make sure such a promotion won’t
sacrifice profit.
“Restaurants
already run on extremely tight profit margins,” he said. “Run the numbers and
make sure the promotion makes good business sense. Leverage ingredients you
already have or can easily access at a good price. Ensure it works seamlessly
into your existing kitchen or bar program. And if it’s not working, don’t be
afraid to end the promotion.”
It’s
also important to track guest sentiment, on social media and elsewhere, to
understand if a promotion is resonating with customers.
“Like all decisions in a
restaurant, start with a really deep understanding of your customers, and what
resonates with them. There are some bars and restaurants where Barbie makes
absolute sense. And others with more of an Oppenheimer crowd. Know what works
for your guests and experience,” Bryla said.
Also,
once you have an idea, it’s important to promote the heck out of it – email
lists, social media, two-for-one promotions when a movie ticket stub is
presented, and so forth. Such efforts are often worth it.
“Restaurants
are constantly competing for mindshare, especially the independents that lack
the advertising budgets of larger groups. Doing something that taps into the
zeitgeist gives people a reason to talk about your restaurant,” Bryla said.
“That can help drive interest and traffic with new customers and give your
loyal guests a reason to keep coming back.” Barbie is not going away any time
soon. Get Pink it pays!
Are you looking for a new partnership
to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing
tactics look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the
clue you need to propel your continued success.
