Can Technology Become an Enabler of Branding? A Restaurateur & Branding Guru Weighs In

Can Technology Become an Enabler of Branding? A Restaurateur & Branding Guru Weighs In

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Anjan Chatterjee explains why restaurants must safeguard their brand identity on digital menus. And Amlan Ghose of Prologic First unveils the technology that enables restaurants to customise their digital menus. Customisation is the next frontier of direct ordering.

FOR A celebrated advertising professional and creator of concept restaurants, Anjan Chatterjee, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Speciality Restaurants, understands the salience of branding more than most others. Branding, he knows, is what sets one restaurant from another in a hospitality landscape teeming with options.

“At Speciality Restaurants, we have always believed in building brands and it is reflected in each and every aspect of our work, starting from the concept and the design to the end product,” said the self-made entrepreneur driving the success stories of Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta. “In a crowded marketplace with cut-throat competition, it is extremely important to create a differentiator, which only a brand can do,” Chatterjee said in a statement.

Anjan Chatterjee explains why restaurants must safeguard their brand identity on digital menus. And Amlan Ghose of Prologic First unveils the technology that enables restaurants to customise their digital menus. Customisation is the next frontier of direct ordering.

FOR A celebrated advertising professional and creator of concept restaurants, Anjan Chatterjee, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Speciality Restaurants, understands the salience of branding more than most others. Branding, he knows, is what sets one restaurant from another in a hospitality landscape teeming with options.

“At Speciality Restaurants, we have always believed in building brands and it is reflected in each and every aspect of our work, starting from the concept and the design to the end product,” said the self-made entrepreneur driving the success stories of Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta. “In a crowded marketplace with cut-throat competition, it is extremely important to create a differentiator, which only a brand can do,” Chatterjee said in a statement.

SEE ALSO: AD Singh Explains How Dine-In Restaurants Can Get Into the Delivery Mode Without Any Heartache

RUNNING THE RISK OF BRAND DILUTION

Can technology platforms therefore be allowed to dilute the branding of individual restaurants on digital menus? Is there a way the menu of one restaurant that lands on a customer’s smartphone can stand apart from the others?

These are not rhetorical questions. With restaurants recognising the value of the food delivery business, and in the process becoming dependent on the two big aggregators and the new technology platform providers, which are facilitating the nascent but growing movement towards direct ordering, they run the risk of brand dilution.

The problem with technology is that it is a great equaliser, which does not bode well for restaurants that have invested in branding and stand out in the crowd because of their brand values. “Unlike a commodity,” Chatterjee pointed out, “a brand is a promise that we deliver across all our formats, and we strive as a team to fulfil and uphold it each and every day.”

Can technology platforms therefore be allowed to dilute the branding of individual restaurants on digital menus? Is there a way the menu of one restaurant that lands on a customer’s smartphone can stand apart from the others?

These are not rhetorical questions. With restaurants recognising the value of the food delivery business, and in the process becoming dependent on the two big aggregators and the new technology platform providers, which are facilitating the nascent but growing movement towards direct ordering, they run the risk of brand dilution.

The problem with technology is that it is a great equaliser, which does not bode well for restaurants that have invested in branding and stand out in the crowd because of their brand values. “Unlike a commodity,” Chatterjee pointed out, “a brand is a promise that we deliver across all our formats, and we strive as a team to fulfil and uphold it each and every day.”

MAKING TECH WORK FOR CUSTOMISATION

Amlan Ghose and his Prologic First team are working hard to address this issue. “We are in the business of helping our customers digitise their operations and enhance their online presence by allowing them to customise and preserve their brand identities online,” said the Managing Director of Prologic First, which has emerged over the past 20-plus years as a technology leader in the hospitality sector. “Our differentiator is the customisation we offer,” Ghose added.

Prologic First has got technology to work for its associate restaurants. As a result of its innovative approach, each digital menu reflects the unique branding of the restaurant it represents. “By customising each menu, we are giving individual clients a technology that adapts to their specific branding needs,” Ghose said.

Delving deeper in, he added: “A PDF menu, invoked by scanning a QR Code, can retain branding, but it does not enable direct ordering. Direct ordering systems tend to provide a cookie-cutter look and feel, which devalues the brand. Customisable technology is the cornerstone of our product. Features that improve dine-in service and streamline food production are others.”

Amlan Ghose and his Prologic First team are working hard to address this issue. “We are in the business of helping our customers digitise their operations and enhance their online presence by allowing them to customise and preserve their brand identities online,” said the Managing Director of Prologic First, which has emerged over the past 20-plus years as a technology leader in the hospitality sector. “Our differentiator is the customisation we offer,” Ghose added.

Prologic First has got technology to work for its associate restaurants. As a result of its innovative approach, each digital menu reflects the unique branding of the restaurant it represents. “By customising each menu, we are giving individual clients a technology that adapts to their specific branding needs,” Ghose said.

Delving deeper in, he added: “A PDF menu, invoked by scanning a QR Code, can retain branding, but it does not enable direct ordering. Direct ordering systems tend to provide a cookie-cutter look and feel, which devalues the brand. Customisable technology is the cornerstone of our product. Features that improve dine-in service and streamline food production are others.”

SEE ALSO: Unburdening Life: How a Direct Ordering Platform with Integrated Back-End Solutions Makes Business Less Complicated.

WHY BRAND IDENTITY MATTERS THIS MUCH

Sharing a customer’s point of view, Chatterjee said: “Prologic First’s digital menu was customised and developed painstakingly by their team to meet our requirements of incorporating the unique brand identity of each of our restaurant formats. As a practising advertising professional, I understand the salience of brand identity and Prologic First helps me protect and preserve it for each of my restaurant brands, even in our cloud kitchen formats, because we share the same belief system and that helps in the long run.”

For restaurants which have invested big money and valuable time in developing their brand story, the democratisation of the marketplace by technology platforms doesn’t work to their advantage. “We are taking customisation into the customer’s hands by developing technology that adapts to the customer’s brand,” Ghose said. The way forward for technology solution providers, clearly, is to walk the last mile and make technology serve the multiple needs of a restaurant, starting with the need to preserve and protect its brand identity.

Sharing a customer’s point of view, Chatterjee said: “Prologic First’s digital menu was customised and developed painstakingly by their team to meet our requirements of incorporating the unique brand identity of each of our restaurant formats. As a practising advertising professional, I understand the salience of brand identity and Prologic First helps me protect and preserve it for each of my restaurant brands, even in our cloud kitchen formats, because we share the same belief system and that helps in the long run.”

For restaurants which have invested big money and valuable time in developing their brand story, the democratisation of the marketplace by technology platforms doesn’t work to their advantage. “We are taking customisation into the customer’s hands by developing technology that adapts to the customer’s brand,” Ghose said. The way forward for technology solution providers, clearly, is to walk the last mile and make technology serve the multiple needs of a restaurant, starting with the need to preserve and protect its brand identity.

By Sourish Bhattacharya

Published On: 10/08/2021

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