The Unspoken Secrets to Having Your Restaurant Dishes Shared Online

If you want to get people talking about your dishes, do not take a page from McDonalds. They took quite a backlash last year for their Instagram ads when they started using a promoted campaigns and this week they are back at if trying to advertise their “thick and juicy” burgers.

So how do you get people to remark about you on social media?

Recall the last few times you personally participated in word-of-mouth culture about your experience with a product or service. The product either exceeded

your expectations or fell substantially below them (this is where McD landed). Either way, that word of mouth was a result of the product’s performance along with one or a combination of the following triggers (first identified by Roy H Williams):

Architectural: This is a product, package, or store design. When a product or experience is planned or controlled for a specific effect, it’s architectural. Aesthetics and a unique appearance and experience are architectural triggers.

– Product examples: iPod, Bose, BMW, “Halo” (video game), RAZR, and Michael Graves’ products
– Experience examples: McDonald’s playgrounds, Apple retail stores, Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme stores
– Restaurant example: Beautifully plated dishes, mouth watering appealing food will drive shares

Kinetic: This is energy and performance, in the show business sense of the word. Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, which the well-known book “When Fish Fly” is based on, is the quintessential example of a kinetic trigger. Hipness, selection, fashion, and outstanding product performance are also kinetic triggers.

– Product examples: BlackBerry, “Tony Hawk” (video game), Red Bull, Starbucks’ products, and Airborne
– Experience examples: Any slot machine, Cabela’s stores, HDTV, JetBlue, and iTunes softwareRestaurant example: Beautifully plated dishes, mouth watering appealing food will drive shares
– Restaurant example: Dishes that are prepared table side,  flaming or sizzling dishes that every can see or hear like a Bananas Foster

Generous: A generous trigger occurs when perceived value substantially exceeds the price of a product or service. Extremely large portions in a restaurant, oversized seats on an airplane, and consistently low prices are all generous triggers.

– Product examples: Kia, Vonage, Skype, Hyundai, and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys
– Experience examples: Great AYCE buffets, Wal-Mart, Warby Parker, and the first-generation iTunes Music store.
– Restaurant example: Oversized dishes and portions, like a mile high sandwich, or the Kitchen Sink ice cream dish.

Chili’s Grill and Bar, trying to appeal to more tech savvy audience that likes to share pictures of their food on Instagram, has taken extra care on how food is

presented. They are placing french fries in stainless-steel containers, sitting its burgers up higher on the plate and using buns with more visual appeal in order to make their food more photogenic.

There are even restaurants that are serving dishes on special plates and using “perfect” lighting in order to leverage this digital sharing audience.

How do you plan on being Remarkable? What is most remarkable about your business?