11 Tips For Restaurant Branding: Learn & Become A Legend
If you are a restaurant owner, it is important to know how to brand your establishment. Restaurant branding is the process of creating an identity that will attract customers and help stand out from other restaurants. In order to create the perfect tone for your company, there are some things that you need to consider.
Successful restaurants always have logos that stand out, catchy names, and recognizable colors. In addition, they also create meaningful values and the right type of restaurant for their target audience as well as a beautiful exterior and interior.
With the above things in mind, you will have a great start on having an unforgettable brand under your name. However, if you want to fully understand how it’s done and all of the other important aspects of restaurant branding I highly suggest that you stick with me as I walk you through what needs to be understood about this process and some ideas for making them happen!
Contents
Choose a Name to Remember
The best way to establish a brand is through the name of your company. The right choice can make all the difference as it helps people remember you and what you stand for. Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO has found that simple names are more memorable than long or difficult ones which can be at risk of being forgotten by up to 25%. As humans with limited short-term memory spans, this doesn’t come as much surprise!
In addition, the name of your restaurant should be descriptive of what kind of food you serve and convey the personality that your business has.
If you find it hard to choose a name, you should try the free Business Name Generator! I personally love the way it works and it generates many great ideas by simply inserting some words in it!
Invest in a Memorable Logo
Having a memorable logo is an important step in creating a strong brand. Your logo can be used on all of your marketing materials, social media pages and even food packaging to help customers remember you! A good way for restaurants owners to come up with their own logos is to think about what their restaurant is all about, like the food they serve, values, and personality. Also, its important to include the color scheme and typography in the logo itself but more on those later!
Consider hiring a graphic designer for this step in your branding process because it will likely be one of many that you need help with along the way!
However, if you are a creative person or even a decent at mixing up different elements etc, there are some great opportunities out there that you can create a logo extremely cheaply. If you want to create a logo by yourself, be sure to make it original enough and modify them enough so it is unique because a lot of people have access to these platforms.
Below you can see my top recommendations on getting the right logo for your restaurant branding!
48hourslogo
48hours logo is a contest for logo designers. Simply give a description about your business and then you can pick the best logo suited for you from the many that have been created and only pay to the winner. This is a cheap way to get a professional logo just in a couple of days.
Logo Joy
Logo Joy is an extremely affordable logo maker that is praised to be the #1 in its industry. Logo maker’s products start from $20 and the more advanced options tend to get up to $60-$70, which is ridiculously cheap for getting a logo for your business.
Deluxe
Deluxe business services is another great way to get a logo for cheap, however, they also offer full premium packages where you are able to get real quality logos. I highly recommend checking Deluxe out.
Banner Buzz
Last but not least isn’t exactly similar to the ones above but its’ definitely worth a mention. Banner Buzz offers physical items with your logo on them such as banners, metal frames, table covers, and virtually any other physical product that you can use to make your restaurant more memorable.
Decide a Catchy Slogan
”Eat Fresh” by Subway, ”I’m Loving It” by McDonald’s, Finger-Lickin’ Good by KFC are slogans that we all have heard at some point. Your restaurant should have a catchy slogan so that when your customers are thinking of going out to eat their first thought is about you!
The best slogans are ones that evoke emotions and leave the customer with a lasting impression of your restaurant. The slogan should be short, easy to say, eye-catching, but most importantly it has to have a personal touch because no two restaurants are alike which means there is not one single perfect slogan for them all. Thinking about these factors when creating your slogan will get the best results for you!
There are many additional things on how to get your slogan fast because this is a part where you can procrastinate for a long time without advancing anywhere. If you find difficulties coming up with one, you should try this free Slogan Generator! Simply insert a word or two that you would like to include in it and voilà, choose a slogan!
Select a Color Scheme
Selecting the right color scheme for the restaurant is a key part of any branding plan. It’s also one that can be difficult to master if the restaurant doesn’t have a specific color scheme to start with. The easiest way is by selecting colors that represent your cuisine or style of food, also you should consider the potential customer base that you should always research before starting a restaurant. However, if this is difficult as well there are some additional things to rely on. For example, you should check these Color Palettes and Schemes, there are thousands to choose from!
There are also some great services out there where you can talk to a professional, get ideas, courses, color analysis, and most importantly get that second opinion from an objective perspective!
Your Color Style
My personal favorite is Your Color Style that offers all of the things I mentioned and can help you achieve the best color world in your branding possible!
Think About the Typography
The way your restaurant menu is written, perhaps there are writing on the walls and food packaging, the writing on the bathroom doors are all aspects that your customer will notice, therefore it needs to be recognizable to your restaurant!
There are many things to consider when choosing the right font for your restaurant. These aspects include the space between the words, are the letters bolded, are the letters a little crooked or do you add a humorous feel to them?
Invest in Exterior and Interior
The exterior of the restaurant is the first thing that people see, and if you do not invest in this area then it will reflect on your restaurant’s branding. The way the restaurant looks from the outside will also affect if people want to come in and enjoy a meal. There are a lot of things to making the exterior look more inviting. You can place appealing metal frames outside of the restaurant with professional pictures and incentives in them, banners that calls out your brand and invites the customers to come for a grub, and much more!
The interior of your restaurant is just as important as the outside. Make sure you invest in an appealing color scheme and unique décor that represents your brand’s image while making people feel at home with comfortable seating arrangements, ambient lighting, and decorations for a warm aesthetic.
Create Staff Appearance Standards
The staff’s appearance will reflect the type of restaurant you’re running. If it is a fine dining establishment, they should wear black or white shirts and ties on their neck. Suits and vests are appropriate for some establishments as well!
If you are running a casual eatery, it’s best if your waiters have more of a flashy appearance in order to attract customers. This way they can be both professional and dress casually at the same time!
The choice is really yours and you can choose the dress code and working clothes as you please but think about your restaurant in general and the style it holds, then you can easily choose the right clothing for your staff.
Presentation of The Your Food
Many restaurants use baskets, smoky cast iron plates, and other containers to present their food. This is because the food can look more appetizing and creative when it’s not on a plate.
Edible decorations and garnishes are also an important part of the presentation. These things can make food look more appealing to customers and they help complement other features on a dish like dipping sauces or breadsticks, for example.
Thinking about the color scheme and the restaurant’s theme can be used in the presentation of the food as well. This creates a sense of continuity and helps things blend together better instead of looking like they’ve been thrown there randomly.
Food packaging should always be recognizable, which means that the logo, color scheme, typography, and all the other things we talked about previously need to be on each takeaway item such as paper bags, mugs, napkins, etc.
Also, packaging the food can serve as a free advertisement when people see them in the hands of others, in the trash bins or where ever. Once upon a time, Red Bull was thinking about creative and cheap ways to stand out from the insane competition of energy drinks. They filled all the nearby area’s trash bins with empty Red Bull cans in order to create an illusion of high demand. Today Red Bull is the most successful energy drink company in the world so don’t underestimate the power of food packaging.
Set Up Respectable Values
Values are without the question one of the most important aspects on this list and you should consider adding some of your own.
People love that businesses have certain values and are not afraid to show them. For example, Carhartt is a clothing company that has been making clothes of the same quality since 1889 while being committed to never changing their original designs or production methods for people to get durable workwear at an affordable price again without compromising any standards.
With so many ways for restaurants to include values into their business, it’s hard to know where you should start. Luckily I have a few great examples below!
- Donating a certain % of the profits
- Using only locally sourced ingredients
- Always use fair-trade products
- Having health standards
Have an Online Presence
In the modern-day, having an online presence on social media platforms, having a website or a blog, and participating in conversations that consider the restaurant world in the nearby area is extremely important and even required in order to have great success.
With social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter being popular platforms to post information about restaurants, people are starting to get more involved in what restaurants they visit because there isn’t just one opinion anymore. This creates much higher competition than ever before, however social media opens some great opportunities as well which does outweigh the cons.
It has been proven that if you start building awareness on social media sites then people will be more likely to visit your restaurant because they have heard about it before and want the experience that they have heard of!
Learn more: How To Promote My Restaurant In Social Media
Offer Personalized Services
Offering personalized and innovative services for your customers will not only make them feel more welcome and appreciated when they visit the restaurant, but it’ll also increase their likelihood of coming back. This will make them feel less of a number that walks in from the doors and more like a valued acquaintance.
For example, Starbucks is well known for writing your name on their cups, Chipotle greets you by your name upon entering, and Panera Bread will ask about any preferences before they start making your sandwich. These small things make customers feel appreciated! Some fast-food chains like McDonald’s or Burger King don’t offer this level of customer service, however, it isn’t something terrible but it is a lost opportunity of separating yourself from the others and creating a unique brand image.
Conclusion
With the steps above you should have no problem creating a recognizable brand for your restaurant. With your new restaurant branding, you will be able to make a lasting impression on customers and they won’t forget about the experience.
The key takeaway from this blog post is, if people can easily identify, recognize, or relate in some way then there’s a higher chance of them sharing their positive experiences which ultimately means more traffic and fame for our business!