Above Average Marketing at Not Your Average Joe's

As someone who's passionate about social branding, PR and marketing, I pay a lot of attention to tactics and campaigns of the brands I interact with in my daily life. Sometimes, I just like a brand for the good old fashioned reasons - good quality, good service and brings value to my life. So when a brand goes above and beyond all that, I'm very impressed. Here, I'd like to talk about a company I interact with that I feel deserves some attention - outside of the usual people I talk about, like Starbucks and Apple. Don't be alarmed by the brief and sudden change, but I'm stepping outside the world of technology here. - gasp!

Not Your Average Joe's.

Anyone who's spent a brief amount of time with me knows that I'm a foodie. I'm not picky about it, I love all kinds - seafood, bar food, Mexican, Indian, Thai, Japanese - I'll try any dish once, and I usually go back for more. Though I like to cook, I'm a sucker for a killer appetizer and glass of wine with a clean, friendly atmosphere out at a restaurant or bar. NYAJ's does this insanely well. Most of the time, I try to support my friendly locals over chain restaurants, but NYAJ's stole my heart - and my paycheck a lot of the time. See, the Beverly NYAJ's and I are neighbors, directly across the street from one another. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from in the area, but I keep going back here for more. Why? Outstanding service. Incredible appetizers. Reasonably-priced drinks. Perfect atmosphere - not too loud, and not too quiet - essential for date night, catching up with a few friends or bringing a crowd for a celebration. Since this isn't a food blog, however, I'll focus in on the service aspects and treating customers right. Though I do encourage you to give the Ahi Tuna appetizer a whirl.

I've never once had poor service here. That's not to say mistakes haven't been made. Sure, one time I ordered a goat-cheese stuffed chicken which didn't have goat cheese. The waitress handled a disappointed customer exactly how she should, with an apology, a smile and offered to remedy the situation however I, the customer, thought was best. Within minutes after she brought me the goat cheese I asked for, a manager came by to apologize and make sure the situation was handled. That's the thing though, a manager coming by isn't out of the ordinary at NYAJ's. One always comes by to check in when I dine there. And when they ask how everything is, I my reply is always, "Excellent."

NYAJ's isn't just asking to ask, they actually cares about customer satisfaction. While ordering mimosas for brunch this past weekend, the waitress looked a bit surprised. Turns out that they don't get a lot of mimosa requests there. After we had a chance to enjoy a few sips, she came back to check in.

"Are they alright? We don't get a log of requests, so if she (the bartender) can make them differently for you, let me know," the waitress told us. We let her know they were great, but it was good to know she cared that they actually made the drink to the customer's liking.

But NYAJ's doesn't stop there - "Joe" wants to know all about your visit. So at the end of the meal, your waitress brings an iPod Touch to your table, loaded with a customer feedback survey. Quick and easy, I'm always happy to fill it out and let "Joe" know that my food and service were excellent. Oh, did I also mention that they always ask if you've been there before, and newcomers receive a nice little discount? So if you haven't been there, that's your reason to go.

Let's not forget to mention Joe's email marketing. Not spam, but a nice weekly reminder about menu changes, specials, tastings and events. And Joe is supportive of the local community as well, offering a 15 percent discount for anyone who brings a ticket stub from the local performance theatre. So after date night at A Christmas Carol at North Shore Music Theatre, it only made sense to enjoy a meal and drinks at NYAJ's. But that's not all, each NYAJ's locations serves a different local nonprofit. Every Tuesday evening, those nonprofit organizations get 15 percent of all purchases made by its supporters at that location. Nice cause-related marketing, Joe.

What They Could Do Better.

Taking it all in, I'm hands down a fan of this place and I'll keep going back. Here's a few things I do think they could do a bit better, from a marketing perspective, because I won't attempt to criticize their delicious menu.

• Rewards Program: I live across the street, and I'm already signed up for marketing emails. I'm sure I'm not the only local who's signed up for emails. Why not show us how much you value our continued patronage, and offer us a discount. Maybe a Joe's BFFs card for those of us who keep coming back, and want to know we're valued.
• Foursquare: I may not be the mayor of NYAJ's right now, but you can bet I would be if they offered a free appetizer to the mayor. Or how about a 10 percent discount for checking in? Maybe swapping those two ideas? There are a lot of ways to do this, and I think that Joe's has the social know-how and clientele to pull it off. Sel de la Terre in Boston, Mass. offers free Pomme Frites for checking in. As a result, when I'm in between a few different places for lunch, I always choose there. It's an incentive, a nice reward for the social-savvy customer who shares their dining habits with friends.

Wrapping up, I've got to recommend the place. For the picky eaters, for kids, or for those who enjoy good old-fashioned burgers, go ahead and give it a shot. Maybe it's not for everyone, but I think they're doing things right, and they value their clientele. Other restaurants, especially chains, could learn a lot from NYAJ's, in my humble opinion. That's my food-based PR thought for the day.

I Survived: My Day Without a Smartphone

My friends and family often poke fun at me that I couldn’t survive without my iPhone. Well, a few weeks ago I spent 24 hours that proved them wrong. No, I don’t have enough will power to attempt this on my own, but when upgrading to the iOS 5 platform crashed the software on my iPhone 4, I was in for a rude awakening. I would have written this post sooner, but I was still coming to terms with this traumatic experience - okay that's an exaggeration, though I did once cry when I left it in a cab.

My iPhone crashed with impeccable timing too, one minute into a conference call with a client, while I was working from home – without a landline. Panicked, I knew I had to think like a 2011 PR pro and use the resources around me. Within minutes, I had purchased Skype credit and was dialed back in through my laptop. Okay so that was disaster number one, and it was only within the first hour of not having my iPhone. When 5:30 hit, I was ready to be out the door on my way to the Apple store, but I wanted to check the weather first. Instinctively, I reached for my iPhone to open the Weather app. Oops, can’t do that. Immediately, I thought, wait – how do people check the weather without the weather app. Yes, I sat there pondering this for about 10 seconds, sitting in front of not one, but two laptops – my Macbook and my work laptop. Eventually, I figured out it out, grabbed a jacket and was out the door to the Apple store.

The Genius Bar had bad news for me – the server crashed and there was nothing they could do. Not only was I being deprived of my early-adopter status of downloading iOS 5 immediately after it was available, but they couldn’t even restore my old software. On top of all that, I couldn’t check in to the Apple store in Peabody through FourSquare – and any social media fiend knows that checking in at Apple is critical.

Like any good mobile-obsessed tech geek, of course I have a back-up phone ready to go for emergencies. Off I went to AT&T, where I met the most helpful sales representative – thanks Brian. So I was ready to go with my PanTech dumb phone. This is when disaster continued to occur. When you’re used to doing things a certain way, it’s hard to adapt. I called my aunt who lives nearby – yes I do recall how to use phones to call people. We decided to meet for dinner and I was headed to pick her up. Instinctively, I picked up my phone to Google Map the best way to get to her place from the mall. Oh wait, dumb phone, I don't have Google maps. I took the wrong exit, and went minutes out of my way. At the restaurant, I wanted to show my aunt photos on Facebook multiple times, but had to settle for actually describing things myself. I managed to make it through the meal and some wine with my aunt. When I got home that night, I had a small panic attack, setting four different alarms, not counting on any of them to wake me up on time. Nervous, I even Tweeted for someone to call me at 6:30 a.m. to make sure I woke up on time – no one called by the way, thanks guys.

The next day was nearly disastrous. As I sat on the train to work, I came up with the idea to write this post and reached for my iPhone to make some notes...another failed attempt. I decided to text my brother, trying multiple times to touch the non-touch screen to navigate my way. I tried again to check in on FourSquare, and to check my email. I wanted to Tweet about the "hardship" of not having an iPhone, but I had to wait till I made it into the office.

We get used to things a certain way, and we take things for granted. It threw me off to be so disconnected, and I'd like to say I had some profound realization that I don't need this technology in my life and I rid myself of the smartphone, but I didn't. The truth is, and this will shock a lot of people, I never thought I needed an iPhone. I saw the value in it and I wanted it. After having one for so long, it's hard to adjust, but not impossible and I'll say it - not necessary. But I like always knowing where I'm going nd being able to do the things I like on-the-go. I've said this many times, I love technology because it's constantly working to make our lives better, more efficient. That's what the iPhone does for me. So yes, my life was less efficient for that 24 hours, but it wasn't unmanageable. I'm here to say, I'm a survivor. I'm not better for it, I'm not worse for it - I was simply annoyed. That's my PR thought for thought for the day.

Steve Jobs: Thank you.

I've blogged about Apple countless times, just this morning, in fact. I've based several school projects on the company that I admire so much. Heck, I even made my personal logo an onion with the rationale that Steve Jobs proved produce can be a powerful branding strategy - no seriously, check out this post from 2010. I've blogged about Steve Jobs himself a handful of times. But what I've never done is explained why this company and its inspirational CEO have meant so much to me on a personal level. That may sound silly, but it's also very true. Now, on the evening that one of my heroes has passed away, seems like the perfect time to explain why I'm so obsessed with Apple. And I am obsessed, you can ask any one of the dozen or so people in my life who texted me to make sure I was okay when they heard the horrific news that Steve Jobs had passed away.

Simply put, Apple is one of the greatest reasons I'm passionate about what I do. I was passionate about Apple before I even had my first Apple product. So when I got my first iPod, I thought I could do anything. When I got my Macbook Pro, I knew I could do anything. That came with my iPod Touch, and I downloaded way too many apps, far more than I could use. But what came next is what launched me into passion, into feeling like an unstoppable force. That's right, what came next was my iPhone.

Before I knew it, I was obsessed with mobile. I was reading anything I could get my hands on to find out more about the industry, about the capabilities of smartphones and what they would come up with next! Anyone who tried to tell me the iPhone wasn't the greatest phone on the market was quickly squashed like a bug as I babbled about how it's the most user-friendly interface and I stammered off stat after stat about how it's the number one mobile operating system and although Droid is impressive, it's simply not an iPhone.

The way Steve Jobs and Apple have continuously broken the mold and pushed innovative new products onto the market is inspirational. Previous technologies have been forgotten in the wake of Apple products. Steve Jobs' vision has revolutionized consumer technology, and that vision, the drive to continuously improve, innovate and create products that make our lives better and more efficient - that's why I love my job. I work with technology visionaries who, much like Steve Jobs, are working to push technology forward to create a more efficient supply chain, a better customer experience or a faster online experience - all with technology.

Where would technology be today if it weren't for Jobs? We don't know. Because it isn't as simple as there wouldn't be iPhones, Macbooks and iPads on the market. Other MP3 players and tablets wouldn't have had the competition to beat. Jobs raised the bar and inspired others to be better. And he did it in style. Each one of Apple's products isn't just a handy piece of equipment; it's a work of art. Sleek design was almost as important as the features and how well it functioned -- almost.

People who meet me know that I'm tech-obsessed. The reason is inspired by Apple, led by Steve Jobs. I am passionate about tech, and it all started with my first iPod. Jobs has inspired me, and when I get on the phone to pitch a client and technology I'm really excited about, I think of how excited Jobs must have been when he was sharing his ideas. You could see it in his eyes at press conferences. He believed in advancing technology. He was a visionary and an inspiration. We're all sad to see him go. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for inspiring all of us and gracing the tech world with your vision. You will be missed, and my thoughts are with your friends and family.