Greg Goyne and Firehouse face a challenge distinguishing Boston Gourmet Pizza from other sports bar/grills and family restaurants. Please answer the following two questions:
1. Assuming the target is 'lively, young escape artists' (love that whoever said it), and the frame of reference is bar/grills, what would you say is 'one thing' Boston Pizza can say that will set it apart from competitors?
2.On Wednesday, we will be discussing brand architecture and naming. Would you recommend re-naming the brand? What would you re-name it?
If you have any other ideas or feedback for Greg, please email me or provide it in your comments. He'd love to hear from you.
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19 comments:
1) The 'one thing' that Boston's seems to offer is a classier sports dining experience.
(I apopted this from bits and pieces of our discussion today.)
2) As I mentioned in class, Pizzera Uno recently changed its name to Uno's Chicago Grill in all locations outside of Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due in Chicago. This has helped them leverage their brand equity, while expanding the concept of the restaurant with more menu choices.
Boston's has this opportunity. The word Boston, in its current font depicts Sports, so I don't think its necessary to have Sports in the name. I'd recommend Boston's Bar & Grill at a first shot.
3)On other topics, I'd recommend that Boston's adopts a no smoking policy in the restaurant area regardless of the city/state ordinances regarding smoking. A restaurant that is no smoking has a perception of being more family friendly. Such a decision may begin to change a perception and drive restaurant sales.
Another thing I'd recommend is a pizza cookie concept. Currently at BJ's Pizza and at Uno's Chicago the pizza cookie concept is the best selling dessert. The dessert consists of a cookie, baked or reheated to order, with ice cream and chocolate sauce. yummm.
Boston's key differentiator among the “bar and grill” restaurants is being a bit more elegant with its higher quality and variety of food. This is a key characteristic that they should leverage in their positioning.
In order to effectively transmit this, I would definitely consider changing the name to simply “Boston’s” or adding the word “gourmet” somewhere in the name like “Boston’s Gourmet Bar & Grill”.
Just to add to my last comment. I would not include the word "Sports Bar", beacuse you would be excluding a large part of your customers.
Boston's offers a classier sports dining experience. In other words, they are a classier for on Applebee's or Chili's. I happen to think that is a terrible position, because people that go to Applebee's can't afford or don't want a classier experience. I would take the words " the gourmet pizza" out of the name. In fact, I would keep it simple and just call it Bostons. If that infringes on someones name, maybe call it Boston's Bar and Grill.
1. A place to escape from your day to enjoy the ball game with a beer and delicious meal.
2. I would rename it Boston's Sport Grill. Boston's Pizza implies that they only serve pizza and therefore categorizes itself with a very specific food group alienating some consumers. Most people either want pizza or anything else- if they don't want pizza specifically they won't go somewhere named Boston's Pizza!
1) Boston's has found a sweet spot between Applebee's and Cheesecake Factory, but with a classier sports bar feel. I think it is probably comparable to Buffalo Wild Wings atmosphere with more of a family dining slant to it.
2)Having "The Gourmet Pizza" on the logo and the huge pizza slice on the exterior of the restaurants clearly creates confusion for first time diners. I would change the name to "Boston's American Grill". This describes the cuisine much better, while the Boston's seems to echo the sports/bar aspect, as the logo definitely looks like it could be on a baseball uniform.
1) Boston's is a "step-above" Applebees and Chilis because of the quality of food it serves. I think Boston's needs to emphasize that they make their food with fresh ingredients and many items are hand-made. Their competitors use ingredients from a box or that contain multiple perservatives. This will appeal to families and healthy, active people, which happens to be their target market. Boston's needs to take advantage of increase in people's perceptions of "healthy eating."
2) Pizza should definitely be taken out of the name-it is very deceiving. People think that this is a simply a pizza parlor, therefore, losing many customers who are seeking other food selections. I would change the name to "Boston's."
The one thing that Boston offers is a place to refresh - revitalize your senses with great food and revive your sense of excitement/fun at the bar.
Boston Gourmet Pizza should definitely drop the "gourmet pizza". Pizza limits the type of restaurant it can ever be - just a place to grab a bite. I think Boston's alone is a good name. Boston's can conjure up different meaning for different people and it sets no limit. Most importantly, it will not alienate current customers from a big name change.
1) Boston's big point of different to me is that it offers a more upscale experience (food & atmosphere) when compared to more traditional bar and gamewatch places.
2) I think Boston's Pizza can keep the name as is, with the exception of any locations around places such as New York or Chicago -- cities that have a strong 'pizza identity.' With strong ties to NY and Chicago, I initially wondered what the city of Boston knew about making a good pizza, and I could imagine people easily turning to Uno's, Gino's, or one of the million Original Ray's establishments in downtown NYC. However, the city of Boston itself has a very positive association with bars, and I think if that is how Boston's is positioned in the Chicagoland and New York City areas, it will be successful.
1. Based on our discussion in class, I would say the 'one thing' that sets Boston Pizza apart from its competition is a classier sports dining atmosphere.
2. Looking at the information and marketing materials we had available, I would recommend renaming the brand because it seems like having "pizza" in the name is too constricting for the concept. If the restaurant wants to be known for more than just pizza and it wants to give the illusion of being more upscale/classier, I would recommend a rename to "Boston Grille" or "The Boston Grille."
I would rename the chain to Boston's and focus on positioning it as a sports grill.
However, I think they need to position themselves lower and compete directly with Applebee's and Chili's. Right now, they are priced are too high to compete in that segment while their menu items aren't upscale enough to compete with Cheesecake Factory and others.
1) The one thing that seems to set Boston's apart from other bar & grills is the food. Both customer serveys and management seem to think that Boston's food is better than that of their competitors. Also, stressing better food may be able to suggest the classier dining experience.
2) In order to have the name of the restaurant suggest this better food/dining experience, I think 'Gourmet Pizza' should be removed. I would start with either 'Bar & Grill' or 'Sports Grill', but feel that even these don't scream 'classy dining experience'.
1) Boston's give the young professional a place to have an relaxing atmosphere to enjoy a classy time with friends and family.
2) I think anything in the realm of Boston's Sports Bar & Grill, Boston's (Pizza & Sports Grill), or Boston's (Classy Bar & Dinning)... Just throwing names out there.
3) There's a great of competitors currently occupying this market, Boston's needs to differentiate and separate themselves from the pack and truly have an original separation points.
1) Boston's has positioned itself as a casual restaurant in a classier setting. This seems to be one of the few places you can go watch sports and actually get high quality food.
2) I think it's always a risk to change the name of a successful restaurant. It appears that Boston's has done well in Canada, so they should be cautious about making any significant changes. That being said, I agree with many of my classmates that adding language that emphasizes the gourmet food or the setting might draw in a crowd that would normally see Boston's as just another Applebee's or Chili's.
Boston’s Gourmet Pizza offers a more upscale bar/grill experience because of the quality of its ingredients, its food and the energy of the place. Many of its current customers identified it with the word “trendy”.
I would also remove Gourmet Pizza because that limits the range of products that can be associated with the brand in the mind of the customers. Moreover, that name limits the way they identify the brand I their marketing materials. For example, in their website the first image you see is a picture of a pizza even though they offer a lot more than that. I believe the name Boston’s Sports Grill would clarify its identity.
The one thing that sets them apart is their quality food in a comfortable setting. I thing that is what they should focus on when coming up with the positioning statement.
I think they should change their name to "Bostons Bar and Grill" because pizza just doesn't make sense for them at this point. They offer so much more than just pizza. I think "grill" classes up the name as well.
1) For the lively, young escape artist, Boston's Pizza is the best bar & grill for quality food in a fun atmosphere.
2) I think Boston's should drop pizza from its name but keep the pizza slice on its store front and continue to focus of having great pizza.
I think that being a premiere sports bar is definitely a trait that can distinguish Boston's from its competitors. I also think that the company needs to portray itself as the hip place to be for these lively young escape artists.
As far as re-naming the brand I do not believe its a good idea to drop Boston entirely from the name. Maybe just utilizing Boston's and dropping the pizza aspect is what is necessary.
Really nice .
Brand Strategy and Positioning
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