Fine dining restaurant chain considers a break with the past

Challenge

A fine-dining restaurant chain was concerned that their leather and wood look was not resonating with millennial customers. They wanted to know what branding and design elements would help attract new customers without alienating their loyal base. They had done some initial creative and ideation work with focus groups but wanted to test out their concepts and design ideas with a larger sample of fine-dining customers before undertaking a costly remodeling of their restaurants. 

Action

A mix of fine-dining customers who use and don’t use the target brand was sampled. Consumers in the sample assigned positive and negative adjectives to rebranding images and design elements intended to communicate a more modern and fashionable restaurant setting. They also rated their overall liking of different design elements and their motivational appeal, including their likelihood of responding to promotional email offers and events designed to drive visits from new and lapsed customers. 

Result

Results revealed that some of the modern and fashionable rebranding elements failed to resonate with Millennials who were unfamiliar with many of the cultural icons and symbols the brand was referencing. The rebranding also had the potential to alienate loyal customers who spent heavily with the brand. The brand modified their rebranding strategy to focus on updating subtle elements of the environment (e.g., tableware) and changing the way servers interact with guests. They were also able to identify the email offers and events most likely to appeal to Millennials and drive new traffic from them.