Pop-Up Stores Drive Brand Electricity

Legacy food retailers including grocery stores, chain restaurants, and convenience stores understand that brands can lose their luster with consumers.  The also understand that consumers are dynamic not static and retailer must be as well if they want to maintain customer relevance.  What are you doing to drive customer adoption and new electricity?

One company that is doing a very good job recently adding value to its brands is Yum! Brands, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Under the outstanding tutelage of Yum! Brands, CEO Greg Creed each of brand has formed new partnerships to drive new electricity according to Johnson.

Taco Bell after launching their “free taco every week” giveaway with T-Mobile Tuesdays during this year’s Super Bowl, T-Mobile and Taco Bell are going even bigger, creating their first co-branded T-MoBell stores to bring the ultimate experience— smartphones and tacos—to everyone. Coming July 23-25 to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, T-MoBell stores will serve awesome—and free—exclusives, including a limited edition T-MoBell Freeze, free tacos and co-branded merchandise. Plus, each T-MoBell location will be serving up celeb meet-and-greets to celebrate the opening.

John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile stated “When we launched free tacos every week on T-Mobile Tuesdays, TacoBell.com had its highest online order day ever and T-Mobile Tuesdays was number one in the App Store. Since then, Un-carrier customers have snagged more than 14 million free tacos from the app,” 14 Million Free Taco’s is New Electricity according to Johnson.  Legere continued “People love tacos. And they love their phones. T-MoBell is the ultimate fusion of those two loves, and we can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve cooked up.”

The T-MoBell stores will open at T-Mobile’s local Signature Stores in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, with free tacos, freezes and in-store DJs and giveaways from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. daily on July 23, 24, and 25, while supplies last. Those first in line will get first pick at the exclusive merchandise.

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, plant based  foods,  sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, Pop-Up stores, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.

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 that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Battle for Share of Stomach

Yum Brands Consolidated Catering Platform

Success does leave clues and regular readers of this blog know that Steven Johnson, our Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has been speaking highly of YUM! Brands and Greg Creed since 2015 as Yum Brands has been evolving with consumers, address grocerant niche customer migration and taking positive action steps.

Regular followers of this blog also know that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® thinks there is one dominate element that will power success within retail foodservice over the coming years.

 Johnson calls it the new electricity that is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, sustainable packaging, local beer & wine, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing. Yum Brands GrubHub partnerships is all of that.

Food companies the ilk of Restaurants Supermarkets, Conveniences Stores, Dollar Stores, and Department Stores selling food that want to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

In a move to garner incremental customer relevance across all of Yum Brands banners CEO Greg Creed  made a power move in fast food’s delivery this week announcing an expansive U.S. partnership with third-party giant GrubHub. 

Partnerships that work are good for both companies first KFC and Taco Bell’s ability to offer online ordering,” in all existing GrubHub markets is a win for both brands.  However with a $200,000 Million Dollar investment into GruHub clearly the partnership begins with plenty of respect on both sides.  The cash inflow will allow GrubHub the ability to build out new markets for expanded delivery service with building restaurants waiting for the taking. 

Close to y half of YUM!’s 45,000 restaurants already offer pickup and delivery via online ordering. Greg Creed, CEO of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum, said KFC delivery is being tested in several markets, citing Indianapolis, Ind., Louisville and Omaha, Neb.

What GurHub and Yum Brands have done is take legacy delivery programs and integrate a platform for branded consolidated catering to be offered market by market.  Yum Brands consolidated catering program now has Take-Out, Online-Line Ordering, Mobile Ordering and Delivery.  Today Yum Brands marketing strategy looks more like tomorrow than yesterday.  What does your marketing strategy look like Yesterday, Today or Tomorrow?

Once Greg Creed shows he understands the mind-set of the grocerant consumers and he is doing all the right things according to Johnson. Proof YUM! is purchasing $200 million of common GrubHub stock, enough said. What’s under your catering umbrella, yesterday’s tactics or tomorrow’s strategy?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.