A Tip From a Pirate: Brand Voice Matters

Continuum Blog Post

Meet Pete. Hailing from the turquoise waters of the Caribbean (or perhaps the Indian Ocean), Pete is a salty dog who sails the high seas, looking for loot, swashbucklin’ and plunderin’ for treasure. That’s right, Pete is a pirate. But I think Pete should reconsider his career path: he just might have a future as a copywriter.

Allow me to explain.

When I’m not developing messaging strategies, writing copy or collaborating with designers, I’m the mother of an aspiring pirate. I recently read her a book called “Pirate Pete’s Talk Like a Pirate*” and as I read it, I kept thinking what a great tool it would be to illustrate what it means to have a distinct and meaningful brand voice.

In the book Pete tries to recruit new talent to join his pirate crew. He posts a sign on his ship that says “Buccaneers Wanted” and sure enough several “rascals” show up to—for lack of a better word—interview. Pete tells them, loud and clear, exactly what he’s looking for:

“Ye needs a peg leg and an ol’ eye patch,
A fierce-lookin’ hook and a beard ye can scratch!
Ye gots to load a cannon and know how to fire it,
But most of all, ye gots to talk like a pirate!”

The first rascal steps up to make his case. He appears to meet Pete’s requirements, but when asked if his beard “hankers for a scratch” he responds:

“It is quite itchy, especially during the summer when the weather tends to be sultry.”

Pete is not impressed. He says, “Ye don’t talk like a pirate! Walk the plank!” As the man plunges into the water Pete says:

“Ye should’ve said,
‘When the sun’s a-blazin’,
Me beard gets the itches,
Worse than a bucket of sand down me britches!”

This pattern continues as three more rascals attempt to prove their worth to Pete. Each time he is disappointed and restates their responses in his proprietary pirate speak. While technically their statements mean the same thing, their words clearly convey different messages about those speaking them. And Pete, has a reputation to uphold—one that he does not want to be watered down by a bunch of “squiffies” who clearly do not know what it means to talk like a pirate. Instead he decides to stick with his trusty parrot and sails on his way.

So what can we learn from Pete about building and communicating a brand? While what we say matters, how we say it is just as important. When developing messaging, it’s critical to create a distinct voice and use it consistently to communicate personality and character. Without it you might just blend into the crowd and end up like these unsuccessful scallywags—swimming in the drink—or something like that.

*Reference: Pirate Pete’s Talk Like a Pirate, by Kim Kennedy

How Your Dining Experience Can Stand For Something

By Leah Schwartz & Carin Stimolo

Everyone is talking about food. With the success of the Food Network, cooking blogs, and innovative food delivery services such as Blue Apron, ordinary people, particularly Millennials, have become more sophisticated in their tastes and dining habits. They know what quinoa is. They crave Brussels sprouts and even know how to make them (with bacon, of course). Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan and other top-shelf cookbook authors have become household names. Their subject matter regularly finds its way into everyday conversation, leading to lively dialogue about grass-fed beef and non-GMO wheat. People are interested in knowing what goes into their food and seek items that contain few ingredients, all of which they can pronounce.

At Continuum, we’re very interested in food. Through consumer research, design thinking methodologies, and close collaboration with restaurant professionals, we have come to understand why it’s so important for businesses in the restaurant space to know their customers and embody that understanding through a strong brand.

A Millennial State of Mind
In our research for restaurants such as 2ovens (Bertucci’s) and Captain D’s, we've observed that when it comes to food, Millennials want a shared experience. They want to try unfamiliar dishes—ethnic cuisines from unfamiliar countries and unexpected flavor combinations. They want to see their food being prepared for both entertainment and the promise of freshness. They want all to excite all their senses, to feel that their experience is authentic and novel, and they don’t want to do it alone. They see food as a centerpiece of being social. As one Gen Y customer put it: “We don’t have money or good jobs, but you have to eat, and you can make eating a social event.”

Competition Is Fierce
Whether they’re eating charcuterie at home with friends, checking out the nearby banh mi food truck, or building their own burrito at Chipotle, it’s clear they have many options to quench their thirst for interesting culinary experiences. With the early success of chains like Panera and Pei Wei, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs have tried to capitalize on the fast casual trend. The limited service restaurant category grew by 2.5% in 2014 and is projected to grow by 3.5% in 2015. With so many new concepts being cooked up, the market has become dense, making it difficult to stand out on restaurant row.

Complicating the culinary landscape: the competition goes beyond the quick service category. Depending on the customer’s mode—his or her goal or state of mind in a given moment—there are many options that could meet the right needs for the occasion. For example, someone looking to catch up with a friend over lunch could easily do so at Qdoba (quick service), Zoe’s Kitchen (fast casual), Chili’s (casual dining) or the Cheesecake Factory (casual dining plus). On the other hand, a road warrior looking for a safe-but-satisfying option might choose Subway (quick serve), Shake Shack (fast casual), or Red Robin (casual dining). At times, the lines between categories become blurred, thus increasing the competition and making it even more difficult to survive.

Establish Your Point of View
So, the obvious question becomes “How do you make it in the quick service market?” Success isn’t about mimicking the competition. Sure, you can learn from them, but if you’re going to beat them, you’ll need to differentiate with a unique point of view.

Suppose you want to tackle Gen Y as your target customer base. That's smart—they're estimated to bring $200 billion of annual spending power by 2017. Start by talking to those customers, and truly understanding what they want. You'll arrive at some common themes, which you can translate into attributes you'll want to represent in everything from your menu to staff attire to the layout of your space.

Bring Brand Attributes to Life
Using brand attributes in this way allows restaurants to stick to what they know and do that one thing exceptionally well. It offers a clear point of view that compels customers to seek them out. The key is to apply this point of view to every aspect of the experience: menu, service, design language, messaging tone, space, packaging, online presence, and so on. Every single thing a customer touches should feel connected and tied together. Through our research, it became clear that Millennials are looking for certain qualities in their restaurants. The words we heard weren’t surprising. They get tossed around the industry quite frequently: local, fresh, customized, authentic. Many restaurants claim to be these things. But what do they look like and how do you create experiences that live up to their promise?

 In today’s crowded market, it’s more important than ever to stand for something. The qualities you embody will depend on your offering and your core customer, but it’s up to you to make the hard decisions that keep your brand true to itself. 

Buzzword Breakdown: How to Embody Your Brand Attributes

Continuum Blog Post

Whether you’re perusing Timeout, reading Yelp reviews or visiting the website of the newest restaurant in town, it’s hard not to notice common themes and the recurrence of certain descriptors. Fresh, customized, local, and authentic—they’re everywhere and they’re what Millennials want. These buzzwords are in many ways driving the direction of the restaurant space. But words are open to interpretation and bringing these attributes to life isn’t always an easy feat.

So, how do we create experiences that not only talk the talk but walk the walk too? Through consumer research, design thinking methodologies, and a highly iterative creative process, a multidisciplinary team at Continuum has identified key differentiators that give these words their buzz. Take a peek at some of the imagery we’ve created to bring these attributes to life. With our own photography and artwork, we showcase our take on these trends, and illustrate how having a clear and relevant point of view can strengthen a restaurant brand.   

Authentic
Authenticity isn’t necessarily about recreating the past or being culturally exact. Perhaps that’s because in the recent past the word authentic has taken on a slightly different form. As the Gen Y voice has taken hold, it has become clear that for Millennials, authenticity is about having a story and staying true to it. Whether centuries old or born yesterday, the origin story is critical. And the values messaged are of equal importance. Being authentic means making a strong statement and living up to it in every aspect of the experience.    

Take Rubio’s for instance, a concept conceived in 1983 by Ralph Rubio following several spring break “pilgrimages” to Mexico. Today, Rubio’s still tells the story of Ralph’s time on sunny Mexican beaches, his instant love of fish tacos and his commitment to bringing them, first to San Diego, and then beyond.

Customized
Customization is all about putting the customer in control—or, at least, perceived control. Regardless of whether diners are part of the cooking process or just have the ability to select ingredients, they still want to be led in a direction. Delivering on the promise of being a customized restaurant is not about letting your diners craft a meal from scratch, but making small adjustments to an existing item to give it a truly personalized feel. Smashburger has this down, taking the burger and allowing people to personalize it in innumerable ways.

Fresh
Fresh is not just about using organic produce. While using fruits and vegetables is certainly important, it goes beyond green garnishes. Customers want food they recognize—food that has been minimally processed, that makes sense for the season, and doesn’t feel, look or taste like it’s been sitting under a heat lamp for hours. It’s about an appreciation for the ingredients—celebrating them, not hiding them under a flood of bottled sauce. And, beyond the food, fresh is an attitude, one that is bold in its stripped down nature and unafraid to take a stand. Using simple yet colorful design and messaging and minimizing service, fresh lets food take the lead.

Relatively new on the scene, Shophouse (owned by Chipotle) does this well, offering a variety of Southeast Asian noodle bowls. It puts bright, colorful ingredients right in front of the customer and communicates its thoughtful approach to food across all experiential interactions.

Local
Local is often a scary word for restaurants; it brings to mind expensive ingredients and limited access. But customers don’t want to pay extra high prices for truly local food. Local is also a way of being. It means creating a handcrafted, neighborhood vibe. Showcasing the cooks behind the kitchen door helps build character specific to that location. Shared tables encourage casual conversation between friendly strangers. When all aspects of the experience are considered, chains stop feeling like chains; instead they cultivate a feeling of community that customers value.

Sweetgreen’s online video, “Meet the farmer,” community involvement, frequent messaging about sourcing and friendly food preparers, all exemplify the essence of local.

In today’s crowded market, it’s more important than ever to stand for something. The qualities you embody will depend on your offering and your core customer, but it’s up to you to keep your brand true to itself.