Restaurant dishes up Meltdown Deluxe

File this under DO NOT ATTEMPT.

The very public and unintentionally hilarious social-media meltdown of the Arizona restaurant known as Amy’s Baking Co. has taken another strange turn.

The beleaguered husband-and-wife restaurateurs, Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, have now hired a PR firm to represent them. It didn’t take long for Rose+Moser+Allyn’s Jason Rose to take to Twitter in an attempt to turn the tables, firing off tweets declaring “2 sides to every story” and noting that a planned May 21 “grand re-opening” is already sold out.

A news release posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page says that during the reopening, “customers will be able to decide who is correct: a famous celebrity chef or the marketplace that has supported the small, locally-owned business for six years.”

And the release continues: “When re-opened, a portion of proceeds will benefit a charity organized to bring awareness to cyber bullying.” In other words, implying that the Bouzaglos have been bullied. By many thousands of people. Like, basically the entire Internet.

The highest-rated responses to these posts, as of noon today, were “Thumbs up if you liked the page just to follow the train wreck” with over 20,000 likes, and “Customers will be able to decide who is correct: a chef with 13 Michelin stars & restaurants all over the globe, or two psychos who can’t even cook a (expletive) pizza,” with over 17,000 likes.

Wow.

The reality is, this goes back far beyond a disastrous recent appearance on Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares” show in which the celebrity chef in question, Gordon Ramsay, walked out on them during a taping of the show because of their outlandish behavior.  (And why did they go on that show to begin with? Didn’t they know his entire shtick is provoking his subjects?)

The problems started a few years back, when the restaurant had gotten some bad customer reviews on the social-media review site known as Yelp, particularly a 2010 entry by a “Joel L.” that was highly critical of the pizza and service he received on Amy’s outdoor patio. The Bouzaglos did not react well. Amy purportedly wrote back on Yelp: “Dear Joel,L. It is blatantly obvious to me why you were ALONE on a Saturday night!  Read any of the reviews that have been written about us and you will see that EVERYONE loves us!! The only people that don’t  is our “Competition”. We knew you had been sent by another restaurant before you even ordered your $14.00 Pizza.
“As for you having the Patio all to yourself unless you have been living on another PLANET it is summertime in ARIZONA MORON!!! Only TRAMPS and LOSERS want to sit outside in 110 temperatures!!!!”

The restaurant owners’ allegedly intemperate remarks have gone on for years now, which is one reason the TV show was interested in the first place.  “I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD” is a good example of more recent remarks.

But hold on. This week the Bouzaglos claimed their Yelp, Twitter and Facebook accounts had all been hacked. “We did not post those horrible things,” they said on Facebook on Tuesday. Police are investigating the hacking claim.

This is all a long way of stating what I hope is the obvious. Dealing with unhappy customers who make snide remarks about your business can be extremely frustrating. But it’s best not to call your customers – or the entire Internet – losers, tramps, morons, or stupid people who don’t know good food. You’ll be better served taking the high road.

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News from GE is clean outta sight!

It’s exciting to watch GE’s Appliance Park growing stronger again – and to support the folks there along the way.

New West helped coordinate today’s big unveiling of two new assembly lines, producing high-efficiency frontload washing machines and dryers. These new lines, costing over $100 million, mark the first time GE has produced a frontload washing machine and matching dryer from one of its U.S. plants. The new products mean about 200 more jobs for Louisville.

These are the last of the new product platforms in GE’s $1 billion investment in GE Appliances, which has created 3,000 jobs at Appliance Park since 2010.  Last year GE opened two refurbished factories at the sprawling site to house the first of the new product platforms—the GeoSpring™ Hybrid Water Heater and French door refrigerator. It also added lines in two existing plants for new dishwasher and washing machine models.

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Behind the scenes at Floyd Memorial Hospital

New West is back at Floyd Memorial Hospital, here is a behind the scenes shot.

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On sports, business and chemistry experiments

“To have the opportunity to come out here to show my talent, win a national championship with my brothers, it’s unbelievable. I love these guys like they were my real brothers. That’s it.” – Chane Behanan, Louisville forward

Buried inside this marvelous basketball season for the University of Louisville is a lesson for business. Maybe two.

The first one is obvious: Teamwork gets it done. You can’t rely on one or two players if you want to make it to the top.  Everybody matters. Look how the Louisville men’s team pulled together after one of their own suffered a gruesome injury halfway through the tournament.  Look how they overcame big deficits both Saturday night and last night – with huge contributions from second-string players.

The second lesson is to relax and let your people do their thing. You can analyze, strategize and hypothesize forever – and indeed a good strategy is important – but at some point you have to believe enough in your personnel to set them free. The U of L women’s team was not given much of a chance against better-known opponents throughout the tournament. But now look at them, pooling their talents and competing for the national title tonight.

Why? Because they’ve kept loose, enjoyed themselves and worked together as a unit. Sometimes it’s more than X’s and O’s. Sometimes it’s about confidence. It’s about chemistry.

The economy is bouncing back. The companies that get a jump on the competition might be the ones whose people are given the freedom to excel. What is your business doing to get back in the game?

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Working with the Media, Part 2:
Just say no to brain freeze

Our phone rings /vibrates when a client or prospect either wants to make news or learns he or she is about to become news. With our staff of former reporters and government press secretaries, we are familiar with both scenarios and had success navigating clients through each one.

In this blog we will cover preparing for the “gotcha” or reactive moment.

A reporter calls – or shows up – and wants an interview on something in which you are involved. Your brain freezes. You realize this interview will affect your reputation or the reputation of your company/organization – for the good or otherwise. So what do you do?

Over the years, our knowledgeable staff has helped hundreds learn to work effectively with the news media. Here are just a few of the tips we tell our clients as they prepare:

1. Ask questions. Before you agree to an interview, you have the right to know the subject of the story, who else is being interviewed, where the interview will take place and generally, what types of questions you will need to answer.
2. Prepare your thoughts. The reporter needs you, so this is your opportunity to communicate your messages, and not simply answer his/her questions. Determine what you’re going to say, how to say it and, during the interview, when to say it.
3. Speak in human terms. What does this mean to real people? You don’t want to sound like a robot.
4. If you don’t know the answer, say so. Offer to help find the answer if possible.
5. Tell the truth.
6. When you’ve said what you want to say, stop talking and listen. This is a two-way conversation. Don’t feel like you have to fill up silence by continuing to talk.
7. Forget “off the record.” Everything you say – from the time the reporter walks into the room until the time he/she leaves should be considered “on the record.”
8. Be sensitive to their deadlines. While you should allow yourself time to prepare, respect the fact that the reporter has deadlines for TV, radio, newspaper, blog, etc.
9. If you say something in error, stop yourself and correct it. If this happens after an interview, call the reporter and let him or her know.
10. Stay calm. How you respond can be more powerful than the words used in the response.

We offer workshops for individuals and organizations that want to improve the way they work with the news media. If you’d like to know more, contact jlilly@newwestagency.com.

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Working with the Media, Part 1:
Do your homework up front

Our phone rings/vibrates when a client or prospect either wants to make news or learns he or she is about to become news.  With our staff of former reporters and government press secretaries, we are familiar with both scenarios and had success navigating clients through each one.

In this blog post we will cover the proactive angle.

Content is king.  Every reporter, blogger, correspondent and pundit has space or time to fill every day.  The explosion of media outlets and formats means there are lots of folks looking for reams of content.  There has never been a better time to share your story or your expertise.  You can help position yourself or your company as a resource by following some basic rules.

Define your specialty area.   We all can’t be experts in everything, but chances are you are very good at a particular skill set.  Write down what makes you a specialist and why.  It also helps to have some other person validate your specialty position.

Be a news consumer. See what makes news and watch for trends in your specialty.  Many stories cascade from one market to the next – local issues become national news and vice versa.

Identify, study and reach out to the right media and media people.  Don’t bother a camera tech writer with news about your latest dog grooming breakthrough.

Be accessible.  The term 24/7 is overused, but in this case it fits.  Media outlets run round the clock and need fresh content regularly.  If you reach out to the media, be prepared to respond when they come calling.

Be credible.  If your goal is to become a regular resource for media, this is paramount.  No one likes to write a retraction or correction. So have relevant facts or data handy to support your content.

Of course, all this comes with a caveat. Once you have shared your story, you no longer control what happens to it or how it is used.  So before going proactive, make sure you have thought through the various possible outcomes.  Sometimes it’s better to just read the news rather than be the news.

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How Low Should You Go?
Can deep discounts sink your ship?

The cruise line industry seems to be keeping the US Postal Service afloat these days based on the sheer volume of direct mailers that have shown up at my home and office.

Frankly, the offers are amazing.

It seems a person can cruise the rivers of Europe, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, or pick your own body of water, for about the cost of a few nice dinners at an upscale restaurant (with wine).  OK, very upscale.

It is no secret that the disasters the cruise industry has faced in the last few years – outbreaks of mass illness, a wreck of historic proportions and, the stranding of thousands at sea – have brought the industry to this point.  For me, the question is whether these deep discounts become yet another disaster to overcome.

I’m reminded of a Firesign Theater skit where the used car salesman is touting “eleven dollars down, eleven dollars a week and if you don’t have eleven dollars, we’ll LOAN you the eleven dollars.”  The hidden message – run, don’t walk away from this clunker.

Besides signaling a questionable product or experience, at what point do the deep discount prices become the standard prices? Some of the offers are coming from companies that have solid reputations.

Is there a better way than deep discounts to maintain a steady stream of customers while maintaining a hard-earned brand position?

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

(On the other hand, perhaps we are just now seeing the real cost of cruising)

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Another lesson from Downton Abbey

Like millions of others, I didn’t get to visit Downton Abbey this week.   I was a bit lost Sunday evening.  Sure, the Motion Picture Academy offered some alternate programming, but it just didn’t fill the void.   So I channel surfed and ultimately dozed off unfulfilled.

While I certainly missed the comings and goings of the wonderful characters, I also missed the opportunity to visit that place in that time.   In fact, I think one of the reasons the show is so successful is that it is less something to watch and more a place to visit.  I credit that to the level of detail the producers take to ensure the Downton Abbey environment remains true to the times.

Of course, this isn’t the first time I’ve tuned into a place.  Mayberry (Andy Griffith Show) comes to mind…at least when it was in black and white.  Uijeongbu South Korea (M.A.S.H.) is another.  Faber College (Animal House) too.

All of those places featured interesting characters and storylines…but the whole environment created for each made them places that I cared about, felt an attraction to and were integral to the overall experience.  They made me want to return over and over again.

In our business, we call these experiential places – branded environments.  All the places were we live, work and play are branded whether planned or not.  Branded environments don’t need to be expensive or fancy…just authentic and relevant to what the place needs to convey about the brand – whether a person, service or other offering.

The ones that work the best, invite us to return over and over again. The others – not so much.

I would be interested to hear which branded environments you think work well and why.

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Messing with a legend

It took 60 years for Maker’s Mark to create and burnish its image as a premium bourbon brand, and all of one day to put that reputation on the rocks.

By now I’m sure you have heard the controversy: One of Kentucky’s most beloved bourbons was facing a shortage. There simply was not enough product to go around. To many brands, this is the holy grail of business models. After all, as demand outstrips supply, your cachet rises, along with your cash.

But to Rob Samuels and father Bill Samuels Jr., who run the company, it was seen as an opportunity to remake its bread and butter. They announced a little over a week ago that they were lowering the alcohol content of Maker’s Mark from 90 proof to 84, while tinkering with the elixir to help it retain its signature flavor profile. The response was harsher than a shot of bad moonshine. Reaction from the media, connoisseurs and the general public alike was almost universally negative.

Yesterday the Samuels family announced it was reversing course and would go back to the original proof. Now, I’m not a fortune-teller by any means, but I can honestly say I saw this coming the instant the dilution announcement was made. You can argue about whether lower-alcohol whiskey tastes better or worse. In general terms, stronger bourbon tastes hotter and therefore, one could argue, less pleasant. But that’s not really the point. The point is, people don’t like it when you water down the products they’ve grown to love.

On the other hand, Maker’s Mark deserves accolades for listening to its public, swallowing its pride and changing its mind. My non-fortune-teller brain says its reputation will not suffer serious long-term damage.

Cheers!

Side note: My friend Randy Neely, co-founder of New West’s predecessor company, helped Maker’s Mark first achieve national prominence in the 1980s by landing articles in the Wall Street Journal, Delta Sky magazine and other publications.

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Capitol Education Center Ribbon Cutting

When you visit the new Capitol Education Center in Frankfort, you’ll see some of New West’s most recent- and most visible – work. This new education and visitor center next door to the Governor’s Mansion, is now officially open and will host more than 60,000 people each year.

New West, along with partner AD-EX International, designed and implemented the design and look of the interactive displays in the center. The colorful, yet educational interactive displays, use bold designs, tinged with a bit of history to showcase Kentucky’s past, as well as the Commonwealth’s use of modern, energy efficient techniques for the future.

First Lady Jane Beshear was an active decision-maker in the layout and design of the displays, and New West’s Maria Ladd and Philip Booth worked long hours to get the size, color and designs implemented into a cohesive package. In addition, our partner AD-EX International turned the concepts into a workable package that will serve the center for a long time.

Special thanks go to the Kentucky Environmental Education Council, Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, the Kentucky Executive Mansions Foundation and many generous donors for making this privately-funded project possible.

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