Keewood

LATEST ARTICLES ( 235 )

• Smile, Your Customers Are Taking Pictures: It’s Civility and Etiquette Vs....

  

  (as originally published in Food Drink International, 9/9/2013) First, it was the lady taking a phone call loudly at her table. “Eric? Yes! Hi! Yes, now’s a... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• My Six Favorite Restaurant Marketing Moments of 2013

  

  As with yesterday’s 2013 Year-End List of the Best Year-End Lists, I presented a similar list to this one last year. That makes each of these lists TRADITIONS,... Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• My 2013 Year-End List of the Year’s Best Year-End Lists

  

  Last year, I did a similar round-up of round-ups. Everyone’s making so many “best of ’13” lists at the end of the year right now, it seems like we need a curato... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Three Legit Reasons My New Book Makes a Decent Gift, and Two Kinda Bogus Ones.

  

  I just released the three-dimensional, offline form of this blog, and it’s available on Amazon (http://amzn.to/18UV2dx). Of course, I’ve been making like John... Read more

  Posted on 13 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• All Politics is Local. Some Starbucks Are.

  

  It’s hard to be a mega-corporation. If you try to be nice and fit into the local culture, people still complain, or at the very least mock. Read more

  Posted on 10 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Qdoba Buries the Lead on This Coupon.

  

  These coupons were laying around the agency. I’m certain the franchisee pulled this out of a marketing binder or website and gave our receptionist a stack to... Read more

  Posted on 06 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Applebee’s: Revolutionizin’ Self-service Payments in the Neighborhood.

  

  Aren’t they my friendly neighborhood meetin’ place? With photos of old local sports heroes by the bathroom and a flattened tuba over the bar? Please. Just... Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Is Arby’s Trying on a New Hat, So Soon?

  

  Friend of the blog and professional designer Uriaha was watching some TV the other night (and yes, of course, apparently there was at least one other screen... Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Judge Basically Says You May Now Name Your Business After Starbucks If You’re...

  

  A little New Hampshire coffee roaster that works out of a barn got sued by Starbucks. Here’s why. To be honest, there was one time where I mixed up a bear and... Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2013 FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Why You Are Happy You Are Not a McDonald’s Advertising Agency Executive Today.

  

  On the same day Adweek deems McDonald’s Number 5 on its list of Ten Brands That Changed the World, Advertising Age publishes a much more chilling article in... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Uh-oh. Hamburglar Turns out to Be a Corporate Mole.

  

  Borrowing my lead from The Wall Street Journal’s Corporate Intelligence page: Uh-oh, it looks like the Hamburglar has been up to no good. Read more

  Posted on 05 November 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Wendy’s Asks Us All to Tell Them How Much We Love Their Pretzel Buns.

  That headline there sums up my problem with Wendy’s new attempt at goofy viral fun. They’re taking “your” tweets and using them as a ridiculous script for... Read more

  Posted on 01 November 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• A One-word Piece of Advice for Denny’s Social Marketing Team.

  

  Maybe this isn’t necessary. Possibly Denny’s marketing team is unaware of what’s going on. Take a look. Those are screen grabs from a site that gathers... Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Fazoli’s Demonstrates Its Awareness of FunnyOrDie.com.

  I like post-ironic humor. (FunnyOrDie.com, by the way, is NSFW. Be careful out there.) I like Fazoli’s breadsticks, and believe they are a huge favorite among... Read more

  Posted on 22 October 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Burger King’s Split Personality Summed up in a Single Drive-Thru Visit.

  

  Well, there it is. The miserable, ingratiating, too-cute, punning name (I can barely bring myself to type it) “Satisfries™” on the top panel; the brilliant,... Read more

  Posted on 17 October 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Restaurant Marketing Classics, Entry #1: They Might Be Giants Riffs on Dunkin...

  This is my first entry in a new, highly idiosyncratic series of personally beloved restaurant marketing campaigns. These aren’t necessarily campaigns that... Read more

  Posted on 11 October 2013 BUSINESS, DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, MARKETING & ADVERTISING, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Maybe Burger King’s “Fries King” Stunt is Catching Me at the Wrong Time.

  

  First, let’s deal with the Satisfries™. It’s so debasing to force me to say something cute when I’m hungry. “C’mon, say it. Say “Satis–frrrrrriiiies,‘” the... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• KFC Go Cups: [sound of QSR Industry Hitting Forehead] “Of Course. Duh.”

  They’re lower and wider than drink cups and nestle nicely into your car’s cupholders to hold the chicken and French fries you just drove away with—which is an... Read more

  Posted on 30 September 2013 DINING OUT, SOCIAL MEDIA

• First Chipotle Made You a Pixar Short; Now Taco Bell Has Made You a Rockumentary...

  

  So, this is a well-made documentary of two bands, Passion Pit and Wildcat! Wildcat!, playing a stage at South by Southwest last year. The stage was sponsored... Read more

  Posted on 16 September 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA

• Chipotle, You Just Might Change Two Worlds at the Same Time.

  Which is harder to change: the food racket, or the media racket? Chipotle takes both on in this. Watch it and then we’ll chat. Okay. Read more

  Posted on 12 September 2013 DINING OUT, FOOD & DRINK, SOCIAL MEDIA