Draw a process flow chart for the Benihana service-deliverysystem. 

2. What role does the bar play in the production process?

3. What is communal dining (see Exhibit 5) and what affect does ithave on Benihana operations? 

  

No icky, sticky, slimy stuff "Part of what makes Benihana successful," Rocky Aoki believes, "is our advertising and promotion. It's different, and it makes us seem different to people." Indeed it is, and does. Much of the credit belongs to Glen Simoes, the hip director of advertising and public relations for Benihana of Tokyo, With a background mostly in financial public relations, Simoes joined the chain a little over two years ago to help open the flagship Benihana Palace. Since then, he's created a somewhat novel, all-embracing public relations program that succeeds on many levels. "My basic job," he explains, "is guardian of the image. The image is that of a dynamic chain of Japanese restaurants with phenomenal growth." Keeping the image bright means exposure. Part of the exposure is a brilliant advertising campaign; part is publicity. Each has its own function. Advertising is handled by Kracauer and Marvin, an outside agency, under Simoes' supervision and guidance. Its function is to bring in new customers. "Our ads," Simoes points out, "are characterized by a bold headline statement and an illustration that make you want to read on. The copy itself is fairly clever and cute. If it works properly, it will keep you reading until you get the message-which is to persuade a stranger to come into Benihana. "The ads are designed to still fears about icky, sticky, slimy stuff," he adds. "We reassure folks that they will get wholesome, familiar food, with unusual, unique and delicious preparation, served in a fun atmosphere. We want to intrigue the people celebrating an anniversary or taking Aunt Sally out to dinner. A Japanese restaurant would normally never cross their minds. We're saying we're a fun place to try, and there's no slithery, fishy stuff. "We have an impact philosophy. We go for full pages in national publications on a now and then basis, rather than a regular schedule of small ads. We want that impact to bring the stranger into Benihana for the first time. After that, the restaurant will bring him back again and again, and he will bring his friends. "We do a good media mix," Simoes concludes. "We advertise in each of the cities in which we operate. Within each market we aim for two people: the resident, of course, but even more, the tourist-visitor. With them you know you're always talking to new people. We appear in city entertainment guides and work with convention and visitor bureaus to go after groups and conventions." The second factor is publicity. Here, the intent is not the quantity of mentions or ex- posure, but the type. As Simoes sees it, "We are Exhibit 5 Summary of Benihana marketing philosophy. building. Each mention is a building block. Some are designed to bring customers into the store. Some are designed to bring us prospective financing, or suppliers, or friends, or whatever. We work many ways against the middle. And the middle is the company, the people, Rocky, the growth and all of it put together that makes the image." Publicity takes many forms, it's media stories, and TV demonstrations. Simoes cites clipping and viewing services to prove that every day of the year, something about Benihana appears either in print or on radio or TV, a record he believes is unique. Publicity is department store demonstrations, catering to celebrities, hosting youth groups, sending matchboxes to conventions and chopsticks to ladies clubs, scheduling Rocky for interviews and paying publicists to provide oneliners to columnists. But no engine runs without fuel. And Rocky believes that advertising and promotion are a good investment. Believes so strongly, in fact, that he puts an almost unprecedented $1 million a year into advertising, and probably half that again into promotion, for a total expenditure of nearly 8% of gross sales in this area. A few months back, Simoes, wholeheart- edly pitching his company to a skeptical maga zine writer, said heatedly there are "at least 25 reasons people come to Benihana." Challenged on the spot, he came back a few days later with a list of 31. They are: 1) the quality of the food; 2) the presenta- tion of the food; 3) the preparation of the food; 4) the showmanship of the chef; 5) the taste of the food; 6) authenticity of construction; 7) authenticity of decor; 8) continuity of Japanese flavor throughout; 9) communal dining: 10) ser vice-constant attention, 11) Youthfulness of staff; 12) frequent presence of celebrities; 13) excitement created by frequent promotions; 14) type of cuisine; 15) moderate price; 16) the uniqueness of appeal to the five senses; 17) the recent growth in popularity of things Japanese; 18) quick service; 19) unusual advertising concept; 201 publicity. 21) No stringent dress requirements; 22) recommendations from friends; 23) the basic meal is low-calorie; 24) banquet and party facilities; 25) the presence of Rocky Aoki, himself; 26) chance to meet people of the opposite sex; 27) the presence of many Japanese customers (about 20%); 28) locations in major cities giving a radiation effect; 29) acceptance of all major credit cards; 301 the informality of the dining experience; and 31) the use of the restaurant as a business tool. York Times, Women's Wear Daily and New York Magazine did not contain the word "res- taurant." We also conduct a considerable amount of market research to be sure we know who our customers really are. Exhibit 4 shows the results of our market research survey. Exhibit 5 is a further discus- sion of Benihana advertising policy. Exhibits 6, 7, and 8 are examples of Benihana advertising copy. 667