FSR October 2022

YourTake

REACHING OUT TO COMPANIES AND EVENT PLANNERS CAN BRING BACK BUSINESS DINERS.

LIZ GEAVARAS

ADOBE STOCK / DINOVA

“Aswemove into the private dining season, escalating the value proposition, creatingdemand, and targeting the decision-makers for off-site business events are all essential.”

services is a rising trend. As collaboration is key, I reached out to chief marketing officers from a range of restaurants, including fine dining (MINA Group), polished casual (Pacific Catch), and fast casual (Urban Plates). We discussed how each is formulating an impactful strategic plan against a back drop full of landmines and also capital izing on the tailwinds. Each concept had its own priorities, which can be distilled into the following: 1. Focus on your value proposition “ e industry is wrestling with the com bination of inflation and the public pull ing back on spending. ere is a lot of dis counting out there, and it’s clouding the public’s ability to reset their understand ing of what value is in the face of inflation. As a brand that’s dedicated to everyday value, Urban Plates focuses on our core value proposition by emphasizing the value surety of our lower-priced entrées along with the craveability of our menu favorites.” —Steve Greer, Urban Plates 2. Create demand “With remote and hybrid working, it seems more difficult than ever to reach decision-makers for business events and holiday catering. As a result, we are focused less on ‘selling’ and more on ‘demand generation.’ For us, this

volume and higher total sales.” —Leah Smith, MINAGroup Adding to Smith’s point, the Global Business Travel Association recently reported that meeting and event plan ners are juggling more responsibilities than ever, including expectations that events be pulled together in a third of the time. is pressure will lead to more outsourcing in the private event space, and restaurants that can help these time- and resource-strapped planners will have amarked advantage in bringing in new business dining opportunities. LizGeavaras is the director of strate gic partnerships at Dinova. For the past 20-plus years, she has worked for mul tiple restaurant brands, including Daily Grill, Country Kitchen, TGI Fridays, Ele phant Bar, Public School, Grill on the Alley, and Black Angus Steakhouse. A for ward-thinking professional with prov able success in planning, developing, and executing marketing programs, Geav aras recently joined Dinova to expand its national restaurant partnerships.

means developing more creative pack ages, investing in great photography, leveraging gift cards as rebate incen tives for event bookers, and promoting our offer primarily via geo-targeted dig ital and paid local search.” —Steve Kelly, Paci c Catch 3. Target meeting planners “ e driver for dining in this dynamic and ever-shifting world has changed for con sumers, but evenmore so for businesses. [Business dining] is a way to balance the benefits of remote work and meeting in person—with very high stakes. It is crit ical to find the right venue to match the persona of the attendees. Luckily, many of our restaurants are located in mar kets with temperate climates year-round coupled with great outdoor options that many clients still prefer. We are also see ing more indulgence both at the indi vidual level and with groups which is exactly what MINA Group restaurants deliver so well. Promoting your restau rant’s features and offerings to the cor porate meeting planners, event special ist, and concierges is key to increasing

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FSRMAGAZINE .COM

OCTOBER 2022