Restaurants can sell more with small, high quality photo menus geared to young buyers
by Ben Rutter, Teen on The Street
You haven’t felt the power of print until you’ve tried to wipe away a drop of water on a menu and realized it’s a realistic detail on a well-printed photograph. Yes, that colorful blended fruit drink (with drops of condensation on it) is a big money item for the restaurant…and print is going to help it sell.
Contrary to popular belief, print holds significant power in the influence over what teens choose to buy, especially in the case of food.
A well-printed mini menu that stays on the table – whose sole existence is to peddle to an individual waiting to order – can be the reason the bill nearly doubles from the entree price. These specialty menus are where the pricey and luxurious items linger, and, if done right, are the most effective bits of advertising in the restaurant.
Cardstock that feels heavy in the hand of the guest, in addition to high-end photography and a coating to give those items a vibrant and realistic pop, are the subtle nudges a teen customer responds to.
If you’re in the food service business, getting customers through the door is the biggest marketing challenge. But then you need to get them to spend money on your profitable items.
If you make your products look good enough in print – mouth watering, attractive, top quality – that’s pure advertising, and you control it.
The mini menu is always on the table, always in sight and within reach.
In addition, a specialty menu that remains on the table can also promote desserts or take-out items.
Furthermore, a tabletop menu is a soft sell that’s particularly appealing to the teen buyer. The waiter doesn’t have to remember to suggest high ticket items or relentlessly upsell (“do you want fries with that?).
Now, I’m not saying human contact always fails with the teen market, and thus all contact and marketing should be printed. However, print should be a key player in a restaurant where hungry teens spend time and socialize.
The solid, tactile experience of a printed menu or specialty promotional piece that looks delicious and inspires a purchase, well, that’s truly the power of print.
High schooler Ben Rutter is Print Media Centr’s Teen on the Street. He has grown up around the printing industry and appreciates well-executed print collateral. You can find him staging print pieces for judging and display at PrintROCKS!, an annual printing competition held by Pacific Printing and Imaging Association.
