Restaurant branding is all about the experience your customers get. Your restaurant’s branding tells customers who you are and what they can expect from you, from your marketing to your menu to your main meals. A brand is crafted from a great dining experience. The cuisine, staff’s attitude, and atmosphere all need to work together.

So, what are some of the most crucial aspects of developing a restaurant brand? First, we will discuss some essential Brand Elements based on Keller’s book on strategic brand management.

Most importantly, we will focus the examples on restaurant and beverage brands. This way, you will get a clear idea of applying these elements in your restaurant and food-related business.

Memorability

Memorability of a brand may be improved by using memorable or attention-grabbing brand components. For example, short brand names are often easily remembered and recalled by many people.

Let’s discuss the Starbucks logo. The mermaid image is an anti-mainstream logo for a cafe. The emblem only has two colors which are green and white. This way, people can memorize and separate it from competitors easily.

Meaningfulness

Brand managers must ensure that their logos and other design components

 have descriptive or persuasive purposes.

 Information on the product category as a whole or about a single brand’s unique features and advantages are good examples of this kind of data.

Meaningfulness helps people become aware of and remember your brand. The following are great restaurant examples of this element:

• Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen
• Pizza Hut
• Taco Bell

Ordinary people can quickly guess what the restaurant sells.

Likability

Brand elements need to be engaging and intriguing to be likable. They must also be visually beautiful and appealing to the intended audience.

Mc Donald says, “I’m lovin it,” to unconsciously make people believe they “love” their products by simply stating it.

Note: The first three we discuss above is the “Offensive Branding Strategy,” which focuses on developing brand equity. Customers will remember, like, and engage with a brand if memorable, meaningful, and likable. Hence, all of these help build customer loyalty and lower the cost of marketing messages and activities.

Transferability

Transferability refers to the brand’s components that are introduced to new items in the same or other categories, whether they are part of the brand’s line extensions or not.

In addition, it is essential to consider how well brand aspects can enhance brand equity across regional borders and market groups. For example, in the case of Nestle, the brand name denotes a bird’s nest.

It is a universal, primary logo that people in any country can understand. Nestle can also attach this logo to other products the company releases.

Adaptability

Adaptability refers to how easily a brand’s aspects may change over time.

 Consumer perceptions, views, and preferences evolve throughout time.

In general, the more elastic a brand element is, the simpler it is to change over time to keep up with changing customer tastes and fashions. So, for example, the design and feel of logos may be updated to make them seem more contemporary and relevant.

Coca-Cola, for example, has updated its logo regularly throughout the years to keep up with current trends and viewpoints.

Protectability

A brand’s “protectability” refers to how it can be legally and from its competitors. Therefore, if you want your brand to have worldwide legal protection, you must carefully choose your brand aspects.

Note: The last three brand elements are the “defensive approach” for leveraging and preserving brand equity. Thus, the brand aspects that can be easily transferred, adapted, and protected are more likely to sustain and leverage the brand’s value.

Final Thoughts

Brand elements are the key to building brand equity. Remember, you have your offense and defense elements. The first three elements (offense) will help develop your brand equity. The last three elements (defense) will help leverage and preserve your brand equity. Applying these elements to your restaurant will help you obtain a sustainable and valuable brand.

Want more tips on branding? Check out my blog on how to achieve brand resonance.