HEAD WEST TO SUCCESS:
MENU REINVENTION
By Mark Jenson
Friday, February 6, 2009 
They are rarer than a mild-mannered chef – those moments when an idea strikes and makes complete business sense. When they do, hold on tight. It’s a wild ride.
One of those lightning bolts found Taco John’s and an idea originally conceived as a brand position for marketing ended up creating a whole new quick service category. We’re talking about West-Mex, a concept that recalibrated the Taco John’s menu and still keeps consumer traffic high in store locations across the country today.
Adding a nugget to the menu, playing around with the appetizer selection or even tossing in a special consumer favourite promotion isn’t really new to many quick service franchise brands but menu recalibration certainly is. And that’s really what Taco John’s did in 2004, when marketing teams met to revamp the brand image. The result has differentiated the menu from other quick service Mexican competitors and created a distinct, new flavour of familiarity with taco fans.
“Mexican is a busy, booming area of the quick service industry but there really isn’t anyone else with such a unique meat and potatoes twist on the typical menu items,” says Chris Preston, executive creative director at Kerker, one of the teams that engineered the West-Mex concept.
“We knew we needed a new nomenclature for the brand. West-Mex became a way to express the brand’s very particular menu items. But it soon grew to become a rationale for new product introductions and also a smart, effective way to address some long-held consumer perceptions about the Taco John’s brand.”
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"West-Mex became a way to express the brand’s very particular menu items." |
Restaurant brands need to be in touch with their customers’ gut feelings. Ongoing research can be the most important key to making the restaurant fresh and customer experience positive.
In an effort to get a real read on customers’ pre-existing perceptions about Taco John’s, the company conducted qualitative and quantitative research (in 2004 before the new concept launch and again in 2005 afterwards.) Customers were asked to provide feedback on potential new brand positions that would go on to affect everything from the brand’s persona to the touch, feel and taste experience in-store.
The results: Taco John’s old position, “A whole lot of Mexican,” wasn’t really doing much more for the customer than identifying the restaurant chain.
If you ate at Taco John’s, did that mean authentic Mexican food or large portions? And what about the popular potato oles? Potatoes in Mexican food – that didn’t say authentic.
Furthermore, the research pointed to the fact that customers crave Mexican food. That was unanimous, unsurprisingly. But it turns out while consumers may have a strong desire for a burrito or a taco, the craving does not extend to chain or brand. Customers will follow their noses and instincts to the source of good food, so the key to restaurant success is definitely associating your offering with those cravings.
It became very clear: The Taco John’s brand needed a distinct identity, a stand out personality – that elusive lubricant that can grease the wheels of the marketing mix to bring a brand to life and create big profits.
Enter, finally, West-Mex – one of several concepts Taco John’s presented in focus groups across the United States, to get both a fast gut check and a deeper, more reasoned review from customers.
The outcome?
Here’s that true moment of business clarity that works on many fronts, like a great dish where the spices and individual ingredients reveal themselves slowly as you savour.
Other concepts that chartered the restaurant experience: Bigger portions, bolder flavour and fresher ingredients spiked reactions but sometimes mixed reviews. Customers had different opinions on what constitutes bold flavour. Does spice equate to flavour? And, if it does, what about families with kids? Are they out of luck?
In the end, West-Mex created what few in the restaurant business have done: It highlighted the menu’s successes while finding a positive way to explain away any weaknesses.
“Honesty is at the root of West-Mex,” says Preston. “And that works well for Taco John’s restaurants: the independent, non-corporate place where you can get something a little different. It holds up its hands to say, ‘Sure, we’re not pure Mexican.’ And (it) explains the place of meat and potatoes in a very fun, menu innovation manner.”
This kind of change in menu, brand and scale can be daunting. Loyal customers can feel threatened or, worse, infuriated if a big change is handled poorly. But Taco John’s is lucky to have an internal marketing team that knows how to engineer real, positive change.
You now see, “The Fresh Taste of West-Mex,” everywhere you see Taco John’s.
Customers are immersed in the experience from the in-store environment to employee uniforms, new packaging to the ad campaign featuring the face of West-Mex – Whiplash, the Cowboy Monkey.
So, in the fast moving food service world, what should a quick service restaurant do to keep customers coming and the registers ringing?
Serve up new ideas that are hot, a little surprising and a warm welcome to new and returning customers.
In short, when the plate is clean and we’re left with a taste in our mouth, it should have a little heat, a twist of this and a hint of that. It should satisfy and create a customer connection that works not just on the plate, in the wrapper or on televions but as a total, craved brand experience.
Mark Jenson is vice-president at Kerker Advertising and a specialist in food and beverage marketing, branding and communications. Contact Mark at mjenson@kerker.com.
