Food Blogs

Restaurant marketing: personality matters

Posted by jamescollier on Nov 06, 2009
Filed: Restaurants
Tagged: marketing palominos stupid things people say twitter

Update: I awoke to 15 unanswered tweets from the Palomino's account, none of which remove the bitter taste from my mouth. For the record, I'm not actually advocating that anyone boycott the restaurant, nor do I expect a social movement by posting any of this. It's obvious to me that the account holder does not grasp brand-related terminology, so I'll end that discussion with him.

I've heard from others that an employee manages the account, and the comments below confirm what others have said about the owner, Paul. Paul, if you're online, I welcome your perspective on the line between personal and private social accounts.

My original point (it was late, I may not have been clear) still stands: personality is tied to experience, and experience is tied to how much money people spend - either in one visit, or through repeat patronage. If you're connected to a restaurant that has bucked this, please correct me.

I worked in the restaurant industry long enough to know that personality sells as much food, if not more, than flavor. Attentive service, a smile, a friendly compliment; anything that provides a positive experience for a customer—we called them guests, actually—helps him or her to relax, and (hopefully) spend money.

For restaurants looking to adopt emerging marketing tactics—especially those built on online conversations—it's important to understand how experience transcends physical location. More than ever, brand perception is influenced by association.

A side note

TasteFresno is an attempt to capture experiences through restaurant reviews, and individual perception is the reason that I encourage friends to post, even if a restaurant has been reviewed by someone else. While I try to speak positively of local businesses (I've been criticized for being a bit lax in reviews), I've outlined tonight's experience with a local restaurant below. It diverts from the usual review format because I didn't step foot in the restaurant.

Twitter me this

I follow almost any local business I find on Twitter, including Palomino's in the Tower District. (I'll point out here that Palomino's profile does not indicate whether or not this is an official account, but the logo is the same as the restaurant's.) I've questioned the content of this account from a business perspective, but I've pretty much tuned it out. Until tonight, that is.

Around 8:15 p.m., a RT (retweet) caught my eye; not only did it drop an F-bomb, but it included a joke that I'd label as racist. Read for yourself, if you must. I'm not one to get offended, and I've posted more than my share of questionable comments, but this wasn't a personal posting, it from was a company. A restaurant. A brand.

Okay, I realize that there really is a person behind the technology, but I don't know who that is. I challenged the comment, but was essentially told to mind my own business and keep away, if I'm so inclined.

Lesson learned

Let the record show that I am so inclined. I'm also inclined to start my own hashtag in protest of a business that is so ignorant with their use of communication tools.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 01:07

Your fine

jamescollier | Fri, 2009-11-06 01:11

IP addresses are a beautiful thing, Floyd.

Anonymous (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 16:56

they are ugly and impersonal strings of numbers

kielts (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 01:18

I've had many great experiences at Palominos. The owner, Paul, is very personable and relaxed. The food has also always been good. With that said, the bar staff and possibly the person that maintains the twitter account is on a different wavelength. I think twitter is powerful and best with a personal touch. It also can be an unfortunate look in the back door of a business like James writes here.

jamescollier | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:01

Kiel, thanks for balancing the perspective. It's been a long time since I've eaten at Palomino's, but I recall taking issue with service, not the food.

I think it's important to acknowledge that Paul is not the one posting on Twitter (as I understand it, anyway), though I hope he's at least aware of what's posted on behalf of his restaurant.

Kevin Kennedy (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 09:38

Interesting chatter last night on Twitter between @Palominosfresno @jamescollier @mikeoz and others on social media "branding." I thought @jamescollier built a mountain out of a molehill, but it did illustrate you have watch your P's & Q's when representing a company on Twitter. There is fine line between being edgy and being offensive to some. I guess you have know your customer and potential customer.

I think @palominosfresno tries to bridge the gap between serving business owners lunch and dinner and promoting its edgier night life offerings. Probably most of those business types aren't spending much time on Twitter to care about this "controversy."

Personally I have two Twitter accounts, one for my business, CoolcatReport.com, and one personal. This allows me to separate my personal views and professional life.

jamescollier | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:06

Kevin, I admit to building it up a bit - but the response was more to the general use of that Twitter account than to the individual tweet. I don't see @palominosfresno as anything more than the personal account of a Palomino's employee; that employee obviously has friends online, and those people no doubt come to the shows/events he promotes, but I wouldn't consider that an attempt to bridge any sort of gap.

I think the model you use is wise, and it's what I would encourage Palomino's to explore.

katrinaneufeld | Fri, 2009-11-06 10:59

I think @jamescollier's response to @Palominosfresno's tweets is spot on. As a "business account" @Palominosfresno's communication on Twitter is inappropriate, childish and, at times, downright rude. I'm not going to tell Palominos how to run their business, I'm just making an observation and confirming the obvious: Palominos irresponsible use of Twitter has left a bitter taste and is causing its brand to sour.

Perhaps @Palominosfresno should follow the lead of many other area businesses by creating two Twitter accounts, one for business use and one for personal use.

As a side, I wonder if Palominos' owner, Paul, is actually aware of the content of the tweets coming from @Palominosfresno.

Like I told @Palominosfresno last night, I wouldn't want him tweeting for my business.

jamescollier | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:08

I liked his response to that - obviously, he feels secure in his job. I, too, wonder if Paul knows anything about this. That's the danger in handing over social keys to others.

Kevin Kennedy (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:14

I think it's unclear who is doing the posting, the owner or an employee. If you have someone representing your company on social media, you have to follow it and possibly develop a policy for its use.

I wouldn't say this is obvious: "Palominos irresponsible use of Twitter has left a bitter taste and is causing its brand to sour." But it apparently is to at least a handful of Fresno Twitteratzi.

ed (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:23

james,
you are right, that joke is ethnocentric and offensive (although technically not racist as mexicans aren't a race). ;)

the tweeter in this case has the right to say or rt whatever they want. and, you have a right to follow or not follow. but, i would think that this last year has shown that people in fresno don't appreciate homophobic, racial, ethnic slurs in the media (radio, blogs, twitter, etc) and are willing to voice their concerns as well as avoid those businesses.

some will say that it's just a joke. sure, but that doesn't excuse the offensive nature of it. imagine a politician tweeting that joke. they would get killed (not literally) over it. in similar fashion everyone tweeting such jokes should be questioned.

in reading through the twitter dialog, it looks like whoever runs that account is going to stand behind freedom of speech (and "i'm mexican," "i think it's funny"). they also called you a pussy (ah, personal attacks always prove a point) with a different sense of humor. shoot, he didn't even seem to care for mike oz's attempt to clean up the mess. it's one thing to make a joke, get called on it, step back, rethink and apologize. it's a whole other issue to get questioned and go all defensive shell and insulting.

reading the palominosfresno twitter feed does not make me inclined to go there. there are plenty of other tower district business owners that need my support.

jamescollier | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:38

ed, good point about the joke not being "racist," though that never was my focus. That one tweet was simply a spark. And I'm certainly not advocating against free speech. Responsible speech, maybe, but that's not (nor should it be) enforceable, at least not in this case.

I suppose I should now leave it alone. Besides, it's much more fun to focus on new places to try.

Mike Oz (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:45

I don't really care about the joke as much as all the social media branding stuff, so I'll make a few points about that:

- First off, I told someone recently that it wasn't actually Paul Palomino posting from that Twitter account and that person didn't know that. That's a problem right there. Maybe it's just because the business is named after him-- so people will assume Paul. If even a few people are out there thinking that it's Paul behind those tweets, Palomino's venture into social media isn't looking too good.

- Second, I don't think I've ever seen a Tweet about the food there. And that's primarily, what the place is, a restaurant, right? Shouldn't that be what you're selling? What you're trying to get people to buy in to? Gimme pictures from the kitchen. Tell me what the daily specials are. Entice me. That's the role I'd like to see from a restaurant Twitter account.

- Maybe the Twitter account is just meant to be push the nightlife portion of the company. Make that clear. The Palomino's MySpace page was "Palomino's After Dark" -- branding the Twitter page that way would clear up some of what's being talked about here.

At the same time, the Twitter profile page doesn't have a Web site, address or phone number for the restaurant. So what's really the point of this Twitter account? I don't think anybody asked the question beforehand, which is why it's not an effective use of social media.

jamescollier | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:55

Well articulated, Mike. Very good points.

ed (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 13:04

like james said, mike, well articulated, great points.

this really illustrates the need for all business owners to know what their employees are doing in their name.

bradley | Fri, 2009-11-06 11:57

I can assert with 100% certainty that Paul Palomino is not on Twitter. @palominosfresno is Juan's account, the person who does the entertainment booking for the restaurant.

Louis (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 14:04

That's great to know. It's unfortunate that there may be some confusion about who is representing the restaurant on Twitter.

As a small business owner, I'd be extremely upset if one of my employees was making comments, on behalf of my company, that had the potential to offend my customers. Anyone who has built a business from the ground up knows how much hard work goes into cultivating a reputation and that your public identity or brand, as James notes, is related to your bottom line and is extremely important.

Some may think that social media services like Twitter have limited reach, but I’ve seen many television news stories and articles in newspapers reference blog and micro-blog posts and even use them as catalysts for bigger stories. If Paul Palominos is okay with the type of comments that are posted under the restaurant's Twitter account, well, then, that's his prerogative. If not, I hope he's given the chance to correct the issue before any major damage is done.

Anonymous (not verified) | Fri, 2009-11-06 13:20

IP's are great... The problem with all of this is the onus lies with the Paul, to ensure that things are being handled correctly! If Paul ran a tighter ship, things such as this would never occur or at least not occur on a regular bases.

Mike Osegueda is correct in the fact that if this account isn't being handled for business purposes then the name should be changed.

If this Juan is the person using the logo and restaurant name he is responsible for the remarks being placed on Twitter, respondeat superior, applies to a full spectrum of things (if you'd like to get semi-legal). NO THIS ISN'T KENDALL either!

Long story short, there are too many comments which are questionable on Twitter and other social sites; however, most of these comments are being made by the owners of the accounts and not the "surfs".

Everyone has been spot on in regards to this issue and I'm sure there will be more comments throughout the day.

- Bobby