The Mental Image ((Friday’s’ Positioning))

Even though T.G.I. Friday’s is a casual dining restaurant, the experience and product it offers is anything but casual. Every good businessman and marketer knows that to make a product successful excellent product positioning is crucial. A product’s position is the mental image the product holds in the minds and hearts of its consumers compared to its competitors. Since there are many casual dining establishments like Perkins, Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday and Denny’s to name a few, what makes Friday’s special? What makes Friday’s a better deal than all of its competitors? Is it the amazing food ,the décor or the cheap price or is it the fact that your dollar goes further at Friday’s? Or is it the new Ultimate Recipe Showdown Menu?

Actually, it’s a little bit of everything. Friday’s is the innovator of casual dining. How do they keep up with that image? By revamping classics! If you love mac and cheese, why not try a new appetizer, ‘fried Mac and Cheese’, or how about the ‘potato skinny dippers’, potatoes that are ‘naked’ and ready for dipping in a yummy cheese sauce! Friday’s has also implemented recipes inspired by cooks on ‘Ultimate Recipe Showdown!’ on the Food network. The newest editions include the Ultimate Burger, inspired by the winning burger recipe and sweet spiced cupcakes inspired by the winning ‘baby cakes’ cupcakes made with baby food.

Friday’s is also unique in the way it runs its commercials. When the new appetizers, potato skinny dippers, green bean fries, and fried mac and cheese were introduced, commercials featured consumers who were appalled and shocked by the dishes. The commercial then said: They’re not ready, are you? It was almost like a dare to its customers, a dare to go and try the new appetizers.

A while back Friday’s also ran a commercial in which its décor was changed. Perhaps this was to shake the image that Friday’s only offered subdued lighting and (some may say stuffy) Tiffany lamp décor.

Friday’s has been able to ride the recent economic slump with relative ease because in 2007 it introduced ‘The Right Portion, the Right Price’ menu. Now customers can get a smaller portion of their favorite entrée for a cheaper price. This enables customers to eat out and still have something left in their pockets in such uncertain economic times.
Ahh…Eve more change are in the air!

Once again Friday’s is leading with way in great customer service. With the introduction of ‘Give me More Stripes’ rewards card customers can turn the dollars they spend Friday’s into points. With every 100 points, they get an $8 certificate. Members also get a free dessert on signing up, upgrades on beverages and complimentary welcome tastings. There is one catch however you have to be at least 21 to sign up. If you’re 21 or older, go for it! Get yourself some stripes!

Core Competency

The four P’s of marketing are: Price, Product, Promotion and Placement (Distribution)

The price at Friday’s are great, back in New York City you can find a Friday’s pretty much everywhere and the promotion of it all, BRIGHT red and white stripes! Who can miss that? But what is Friday’s core competency?

Product.

The food aside, Friday’s also offers an interesting atmosphere. While it isn’t high end fancy dining, it is a little fancier than oh say the burger joint down the street. Tiffany lamps, subdued lighting, and F shaped handles. Friday’s is a great place to sit down and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Now for the food, Friday’s offers many, many types of dishes. From Friday’s serves appetizers, entrees from the Jack Daniel’s Grill, seafood and many types of pastas to satisfy any taste palette. For the health conscious Friday’s offers salads like the Chicken Tostada Salad, the Cobb salad and soups! Friday’s also offers low carb low calorie options. How about the Brownie Obsession or the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie?

Everyone has room for dessert and Friday’s has A LOT to choose from.
Don’t forget the beverages! Friday’s offers wines, beers and other non-alcoholic drinks like smoothies slushies.

With the addition of Ultimate Recipe Showdown (hosted by Guy Fieri) recipies, Friday’s keeps adding to its menu!

Missions and Visions

Since this blog is for a business class, let’s start at the top. Well, at the bottom, let’s look at Friday’s foundation as a company and understand what they stand for. Here’s the mission statement right from the Friday’s website:

Vision: To be the most respected restaurant company on the planet.

Mission: Category leadership by building the best relationships in the business.

This missions statement is short, sweet and to the point. Words like “most respected’ and ‘best relationships’ show that Friday’s intent is not to just succeed as a restaurant but to also be a leader in the business world as a company. While the mission statement does not make reference to customers, it does address the aspect and necessity of fostering strong relationships, and these relationships can exist with customers, employees, share holders, and other companies involved with Friday’s.