Meet Ellen Malloy with Restaurant Intelligence Agency
This week I have the privilege of chatting with Ellen Malloy the founder of Restaurant Intelligence Agency. Ellen runs a PR site for restaurants and has huge clients in Chicago among other places. I am a huge fan of her blog called RIA Unplugged. Before I spill ALL the beans, let’s get to the interview!
1. First off, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us Ellen. Let’s get started, you’re the founder of Restaurant Intelligence Agency (R.I.A.). Can you tell us the story behind R.I.A. and why you created it?
Oh, gosh. Sure. The very first germs of an idea for RIA came one day while I was training for the Marathon in 2007. I was opening Table 52 for Art Smith and while on a run, got a call from a journalist who needed a menu. I let her know I would send it to her in about 2 or 3 hours, when I got back to the office and she suggested that I get in a cab and go get it right then because that was when she needed it. I was dumbfounded because although I had learned as a publicist the need for always being connected, I hadn’t faced needing for all information to be available 24/7. So, I started trying to engineer around that.
Then, we just started down the path of learning. First, we learned we had to enhance the press kits every day with news. Then, we needed to distribute news through other channels like Facebook. Then, we needed to build systems for collecting the data from restaurants. Now, we are rebuilding the premise of RIA to focus more on a lifestreaming-style of data. Great technology solves problems, so basically we’ve been solving the problems of restaurant PR for the past three years.
2. The main focus of R.I.A. is providing chef driven restaurants affordable PR. Can you explain what a chef driven restaurant is to our readers? Why are chef driven restaurants different when it comes to PR, promotions, and marketing?
I’ve always struggled with how to define our market in words because once you start gaining awareness and sales from people you never meet, you have to use static words more than conversation to describe yourself. I can’t just channel Justice Potter Stewart and say I know it when I see it because no one would understand that. So, I define it as chef-driven as a shorthand way of saying, “the focus of the restaurant is that there is a chef in the kitchen who is working on a menu in an independent, creative way.” That last bit is important because, if you are one to parse words, there is a chef in just about any kitchen. The ability to work on a menu in an independent and creative way is the swing vote.
By virtue of the creativity, chef-driven restaurants are different. In terms of PR, etc., you are dealing with someone who is a bit of an artist, not a corporate dude in a suit. The artistry is what makes chefs so fascinating to people.
3. Both R.I.A. and UrbanBacon are very active on Facebook and Twitter. We also encourage restaurants and chefs to do the same. How is R.I.A. different from these marketing tools?
We create content for our clients, where as on Facebook and Twitter, well, you have to create your own. Restaurant people aren’t communicators by trade, so absent of a lot of training and prompts, it can be kind of hard for them to generate the amount of content needed to be relevant.
4. On your Twitter Bio you quote “dragging chefs kicking and screaming onto the Interwebz.” Can you explain what that means? Do you feel chefs are reluctant to get online?
Ugh, most are, yes. I had a meeting the other day with a multi-unit operator who doesn’t have an email address. At. All. He has an assistant instead. So retro. And so expensive! A lot of other chefs are still not on either Facebook or Twitter. They have all sorts of bizarro reasons why, but the crux of the problem in my mind is insecurity. Maybe they don’t feel comfortable typing or maybe they are afraid someone will discover they aren’t all that. Who knows.
But this is the world. I don’t think it will always be about Facebook or Twitter, those are just the tools du jour. But the social aspect of our communication and the life-streaming style of presenting one’s personal brand, those things are never going away.
5. In early March you wrote a blog posted titled “5,772 new customers – how can I not love Groupon?” This blog post created quite a stir in people, because many people really do love Groupons. But from a restaurant standpoint, this may not be the best marketing tool. Can you explain why you feel this way?
Aside from the fact that it is staggeringly expensive marketing? And what kind of restaurant can withstand any marketing effort that costs that much money? And that the majority of people who discover your restaurant through Groupon are really not going to convert into amazing customers because, of course, they are dining elsewhere with other Groupons?
Aside from all that, my real issue is that Groupons are often used by restaurants to try and mask real problems. In the last few weeks in Chicago, there was a Groupon for a restaurant that is either in bankruptcy or has been fending off bankruptcy since the middle of last year. The restaurant isn’t relevant, that is why no one goes to it and why they are in financial trouble. Groupon isn’t going to make it magically relevant. Another restaurant that Grouponed in the last few weeks is just plain old bad. They are in a prime location with tons of walk by and no one eats there because it is a dated design and the food doesn’t make sense. Again, they are relying on Groupon to change that … somehow.
I am not saying that it never works. But what I am saying is that it is a risky proposition to try and see if you can hope away your problems with a lot of customers.
6. If you had your choice: “Five Stars on the Town” or “Preparing a Feast with Friends?”
I eat out for a living — I’d choose Feast with Friends in a heartbeat.
Tags: Ellen Malloy, Interviews, PR, restaurant intelligence agency, restaurant marekting, Restaurant PR, RIA