Chipotle upped the ante once again with an even more streamlined menu than before.
Burrito's, Taco's, Bowls...boom, done!
Chicken, Steak, Carnitas, Barbacoa, Vegetarian. Done.
That's it.
We have a billion dollar company who's core product line is set on a 1 ft x 1 ft board.
Wow. This is cool. Jamba Juice...are you listening?
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Chipotle Gets It: Simplicity of Menu Design
Friday, June 27, 2008
Jamba Complicated Juice
Jamba Juice. A smoothie that's fresh and good for you: done! It's a great idea, a great product.
Entering a Jamba Juice you can't help but notice: friendly, clean and that Jamba Juice "smell" - fresh fruit, blenders, almost a rubber / sterile / fruity / airy smell to it. I'm sure it's trade marked. Truly exceptional.
What throws me off is the lack of simplicity, clarity and ease in their menu layout. One walks in wanting a "Jamba Juice" or a "smoothie", yet the menu options seem, although flavorful, daunting and almost confusing.
There are 11 Categories. Some of them are sub-categories, but I can't quite tell. There is "Breakfast All Day" which has 3 sub categories: "Yogurt and Fruit Blends”, “With Organic Granola" (3 additional options) and "Freshly Squeezed Juice and Juices". Wait, no, the "Juice and Juices" is it's own 'domain', with 4 options under its category.
The "ALL FRUIT" category: Ok...I feel like I'm taking the S.A.T. Let's see (by the this point I've stepped out of line because I'm...slowing it down, but then I notice those people meandering about, pretending like they know what they are doing, perusing the menu and decoding as I am.)
ALL FRUIT had 4 flavors. "JAMBA LIGHT", also it's own category, which has 3 flavors, but can I get those flavors as a "BLENDED WITH PURPOSE", which is the category next door? I don't know. Then they have "OUR CLASSICS". But I want a "Strawberry Nirvana", which is under the "JAMBA LIGHT" category, but I don't want the "Diet coke" version of a Jamba Juice. Ok, so there are the "Strawberries Wild" and "Strawberry Surf Rider" under "Our Classics".
I feel like going to sleep or leaving. I can't quite tell.
I asked the very nice and smiling employees: "Hi...I'd just like a Jamba Juice...like a "smoothie"...like that one! (pointing to one they are just putting a lid on). I didn't want to order wrong and get something that resembled a grocery store juice or a milk shake..I wanted their traditional jamba juice - the healthy person’s version of a 7-11 Slurpy!
Maybe if you had pictures next to the menu items? Maybe that would help?
Jamba Juice. Please. Take a page out of Google & Apple's playbook, or even the store next door, Chipotle. Simplify, streamline and make ease and menu clarity your main goal. Streamline the prices and I daresay...reduce them. If you can get to three prices, $3.50 being a 16 oz, your business would get really interesting. Right now my only option is to pay $5 for a smoothie, or $6 for a GIGANTIC burrito with organic ingredients next door at Chipotle. Chipotle wins, unlses you have a $3/$3.50 option with at least 12-14oz, than I'll pay just around $10 for dinner with both products.
The names are fun and cute, but they seem to be a bit over bearing. Too much!
Reduce clutter. Streamline blends and prices. Simplify.
Jamba Juice: A great idea, great stores, fun/nice employees and not a lot of lines. Maybe the menu is just...too much.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Starbucks Wireless Terrible, Embarrassing
Starbucks new "free wireless" does not work! It's not functional, it's hard to log into and only one Starbucks Partner I talked with out of 15 over four or five stores knew how to log in, and he was a techie. There is no literature in the store to tell you how to log in and beyond that, there shouldn't be! It should be an easy, seamless log in process.
The partner I spoke with had only one way around the problem: His solution: "I just give customers my id and password who want to log in because no one has been able to figure it out quite yet. You can't log in because you need to access your email to retrieve your account info and validation. Of course you can't do that unless your online. Beyond that, there are no instructions, just the log in screen." (Log in screen seen below)
The above photo is of attempt 1. Logging into the ATT network. What follows is the access point - where you put in your "id and password".
The problem here is that no where does it say "Hey guys, if your new to our new free internet wireless network, WELCOME! We're excited about our new service and the best way to use it is as follows" and continue on with an easy step 1, 2 and 3 process. This is by far more complicated than Tully's process, which simply says "CLICK HERE TO LOGIN". Done! That's it! Free, easy and strong internet wireless.
But Starbucks has an impenetrable wall to their free wireless connection. The only way to access their network is to purchase a Starbucks card, go home, log in, sign up for an account, save your account information, go back to Starbucks and log in with the information you have. Embarrassing!
Again, this is a symptom of a company that doesn't know how to be big. Just last week an Ex Starbucks Executive told me: "Their 10,000 stores..it's hard to execute on those details"
The Partner I talked to above mentioned, while shrugging his shoulders: "I think there just leaving it up to ATT to take care of it..I don't know..but that is what I heard".
Wow. This is too bad. A great opportunity sputtered away.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Starbucks going big. NYTimes.com
Starbucks ain't backing down. While McDonald's cruises around Seattle with side boards on busses reading "$4 is DUMB" - Starbucks is advertising on Maureen Dowd's New York Times articles.
Know your target!
"Yeah, we're Starbucks. Whatever. We are what we are."
And McDonald's...$4 is dumb, and a $1 cheeseburger is really smart. Thanks for trashing our environment and introducing billions of cows to hell on earth in the process. That makes me feel good all over.
Still: McDonald's is sooo good. Comfort food extraordinaire.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Taco Del Mar: Annoying Commercial & No You Tube
Local (Seattle, WA) mega franchise to be Taco Del Mar has a commercial on TV that comes on nightly, In fact, it comes on many times per evening - with a woman hopping across the screen saying "chicken - chicken - chicken - chicken!". It's really annoying! The whole commercial...annoying. And to annoy you further, they play it over and over again. It's annoying.
My question: why not formulate an aggressive, interesting and creative YouTube / internet video campaign?
Right now, Taco Del Mar on YouTube has many videos associated with their name, but a paultry amount of views. 12 here, 430 there, 18 here, etc. They should at least have the TV commercial on YouTube, allowing comments. Maybe others love it. But, they don't.
If Serious Pie's Tom Douglas can get 102,717 YouTube views (April 2, 2008), why can't Taco Del Mar get a similar number?
Come on Taco Del Mar corporate - whatchya thinkin'?
Sphere: Related Content
Classic Brands / Packaging part 2 - HERSHEY
Hershey - another very classic 'brand' with 'classic' packaging!
The beauty behind the Hershey "brand": you wouldn't know that the Hershey Company "about" ($9 billion + in total net sales) with 75% of those sales originating from their chocolate category ($6.9 billion) spends about 15% - 17% of total sales on 'marketing', which is about a cool $billion!
Either way, another classic, simple brand that, much like the Crimson of Alabama, never changes their packaging and 'look' to accommodate changing styles - their style is in the not changing part, the consistency 'play' - a 'classic' move!
Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Best Selling Drink at Wholefoods
What costs $2.99 and sells better than most, if not all drinks at Whole Foods? You got it! Kombucha! Synergy! Kombucha Synergy - the amazingly 'buzz-powerful' concoction made of fermented tea (very little to no alcohol) which helps with a whole litany of physical and mental attributes: From memory to skin and digestion, this is apparently a wonder drink that actually works, er, sells.
Yesterday at Whole Foods, the gentleman ahead of me was purchasing about 12 of these drinks. At $3 a pop, you have to wonder why. In asking a few stockers at this Bellevue, WA location, they said Synergie's Kombucha sells about as well as any drink at Whole Foods, including the $0.49 Whole Foods label canned sodas, which are actually quite excellent.
Why do they sell so well? I don't know. But I can give you my opinion: it's actually good! You can actually feel the difference. Their packaging is amazing - REJUVENATE (who doesn't need to rejuvenate?) - restore, revitalize, replenish and regenerate. They use all "r's" which makes it so easy, like Apple and Google.
http://www.gtskombucha.com/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kombucha-tea/AN01658
Beyond that it's unique. Try one. It's fizzy. It cuts through the fat. For someone who doesn't drink alcohol, this is a great after dinner drink, unlike any other drink you've had.
I've run into more bubbly, brimming enthusiasts of this drink who swear by it's health benefits. At this weekend's Vegefest in Seattle, WA, I talked with a very bubbly, smart and enthusiastic "jammer" of a woman named (I forget) who swore by the benefits of Kombucha - she's 72, acts 40 and, looks 65 and says that ever since she started drinking Kombucha daily, her memory test scores have increased. She's actually part of a controlled study on aging and dementia, and she credits her memory increase exclusively to Kombucha, as her mental prowess and 'engagement' remained fixed previous to drinking it daily. I wish I had a picture, or better yet, a video. Next time!
It takes a little getting used to in terms of taste. It's definitely bubbly. A bottle can last someone a few 'sittings', or if your like me, one. It's a great appertif - poured into a wine glass or cocktail glass, to sip on during parties, etc. I just happen to not drink, and this happens to be one of the only, if not the only drink I have found in this category of a nice drink to sip on during the 'party season'. "Talking Rain" & "Dry Soda" come a close second.
The thing Kombucha has got going for it, much like 'organic' and 'local', is the "STORY". It rejuvenates. It's organic. It's been around for hundreds of years. It restores and its health benefits have been studied. And with each sip, the fizz and bite remind you of this story. It's a great story, one I'm willing to participate in - a grand, perhaps factual placebo - and perhaps its all very scientific. I just know that it tastes good and like so many other things at Whole Foods - it just makes me feel good for being a part of it, ingesting it, eating it, breathing it. What's the alternative?
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