Selling Eating

Should your restaurant exist? This book dares to ask that and many other fundamental questions about getting customers to care about your brand. Hopper draws on twenty years of restaurant communication experience to offer recommendations on everything from "The Seven Very Specific People Your Restaurant Needs to Reach?" to "Three Things Every Menu Should Do," to "Fifteen Forbidden Food Words to Never Use" when marketing restaurants. Branding. Advertising. Food photography. Content marketing. Social media. Kid's programs, packaging opportunities, TV ads, point-of-purchase materials, dealing with online reviews: it's all here, along with experts ranging from celebrated food photographer Michael Somoroff to renowned researcher Bob Drane. With a forward by Russ Klein, former Global President and CMO of Burger King, Selling Eating contains a variety of perspectives. Hopper holds up campaigns from Domino's, Jack in the Box, Outback, Panera, Burger King, Applebee's, Wendy's, Ruby Tuesday's, Taco Bell, Texas Roadhouse, Subway and many more-and points out strengths and weaknesses, drawing lessons and offering insights all along the way.

Should your restaurant exist? This book dares to ask that and many other fundamental questions about getting customers to care about your brand. Hopper draws on twenty years of restaurant communication experience to offer recommendations on everything from brand positioning to advice on communicating motivating, compelling, sales-building "deliciousness" without merely repeating the word "delicious" a bunch of times. Do you know "The Seven Very Specific People Your Restaurant Needs to Reach?" Do you know the "Three Things Every Menu Should Do," or the "Fifteen Forbidden Food Words to Never Use" when marketing restaurants? Selling Eating has the answers to those questions and many more, and contains tips for avoiding the cliché terminology common to ads in the restaurant category. Branding. Advertising. Food photography. Content marketing. Social media. Kid's programs, packaging opportunities, TV ads, point-of-purchase materials, dealing with online reviews: it's all here, along with answers to bigger questions of positioning and brand personality. With a forward by Russ Klein, former Global President and CMO of Burger King, Selling Eating contains a variety of perspectives. You'll hear from experts ranging from celebrated food photographer Michael Somoroff to renowned researcher Bob Drane. Throughout, Hoppers holds up campaigns from Domino's, Jack in the Box, Outback, Panera, Burger King, Applebee's, Wendy's, Ruby Tuesday's, Taco Bell, Texas Roadhouse, Subway and many more-and points out strengths and weaknesses, drawing lessons and offering insights all along the way.

Charlie Hopper is a principal at Young & Laramore advertising, and has been marketing restaurants for over 20 years. He teaches advertising and writing at Butler University, blogs at SellingEating.com, and has spoken at the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show about effective restaurant communications. He’s also a contributor to Food & Drink International and Adweek, and has a column about the role of food and restaurants in works of fiction at The Onion’s A.V. Club website. His work for restaurants—especially his long tenure as creative director and writer for Steak ’n Shake restaurants—has been featured in The New York Times, Communication Arts, and Nation’s Restaurant News. He’d been creative director for Steak ’n Shake restaurants for many years at the point Nation’s Restaurant News said of the agency’s work, “They respect the intelligence of consumers. They set Steak ’n Shake apart from the competition without resorting to gimmicks or stale jokes.” Six different CEOs and CMOs credited that work as the main engine of growth as the chain went from 150 restaurants to over 500 while the agency handled everything from TV ads to chili pepper bottle labels. Hopper lives in Indianapolis with his wife and three kids, all of whom prefer different restaurants.