I’m fortunate enough to live near Austin, Texas. And I have a deep appreciation for fine dining. Yummy food lovers, rejoice. Mashable has named your new favorite American city. You may be surprised to learn that. I’ve chosen Panera as the chain restaurant to feature in today’s brand spotlight.
There Are Numerous High-Quality Restaurants Here
You can find anything from French-style bistros to organic burger joints to açai bowl yogurt stands in Austin. Some of the best restaurants in the city are farm-to-table. Organic brunch spots that use dairy from sustainably produced, pasture-raised organic egg farms. (There’s one called Panera delivery. Check it out; their brunch is delicious). Sorry, not sorry if even a little bit of that made your mouth water as you read it.
So why do I pick a national chain?
This post will serve as an explanation. Panera $5 off $20 code delivery service is remarkable for many reasons, not the least of which is the quality of the food they provide, which is both delicious and nutritious because of their focus on using only natural ingredients. Everything they say or do, from blog posts to email newsletters to store displays to social media posts, is geared toward achieving their mission.
Benefits of Joining MyPanera’s Loyalty Program
If you don’t believe me, just ask one of the 28 million people who are part of their loyalty program, MyPanera, or one of the 13 million people who receive their email newsletter. Plus, think about the fact that Panera is ranked 11th overall among restaurants in Technomic’s 2017 Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.
Panera outperformed its rivals, including Chipotle and Jimmy John’s.
When it came to fast food restaurants that offer delivery services. Panera topped the list, ahead of even Chipotle and Jimmy John’s. In all certainty, they are destroying the competition. Obviously, there is a wealth of ideas to be gleaned here.
Panera Bread’s Brand Content Marketing and Its Tasty Results
There is always a solid content marketing strategy behind the scenes. Following are some of Panera’s brand-building strategies for their delivery service. Let’s take a closer look at what makes Panera’s brand content marketing so effective. We’ll be taking a look at how it goes with their food, ethics, and commitment to their customers.
They highlight their own values to the exclusion of all others
Panera famously decided in 2014 to stop using any artificial ingredients in their food by the end of 2016. There were also sweeteners and preservatives included. This was an enormous promise, but they kept it and were transparent about the whole thing. Since making this statement, Panera has continued to reaffirm its brand principles and use them to set itself apart.
Specifically, they regularly updated their “clean food” 2016 goal status. Having accomplished that objective, it is now prominently displayed on their website, immediately following “Menu Items.”
Panera’s Criteria for Quality Food
Panera’s standards for what constitutes good food via their delivery service are now integral to the company’s image. The restaurant’s decor and signage emphasize their commitment to and assurance of providing healthy fare. The fresh, healthy ingredients used by Panera in their seasonal and year-round menu items are also highlighted in the store banners.
Rarely do you see this from other major brands
In addition to setting Panera delivery apart from the competition, this strategy paves the way for open, real-time content promotion. The most important lesson is to stop trying to copy other businesses and start focusing on what makes you unique. Do your best to adhere to, embrace, and defend it.
Panera Maintains a Friendly, Welcoming Atmosphere
Panera’s delivery service maintains the restaurant’s friendly, approachable vibe and uniform brand voice. Panera’s success can also be attributed to the fact that the company uses the same voice and brand language throughout all of its marketing materials. Some examples of this warm and casual tone on Twitter and Instagram
Panera’s Community Outreach: A Retrospective
Each Panera location’s “Community Giving” page emphasizes the company’s brand voice by showcasing the specific ways in which it helps the communities in which it is located. The same tone used throughout the restaurant, even on the menus. See what seasonal products they offer and how they define them in the “What We’re Celebrating” section.
Panera Bread’s Founder Writes a Note to Their Customers
At last, a statement from Panera’s CEO and founder brings their brand identity full circle. The title, “A Conversation with Ron,” and the location of the film’s shooting—across a dining room table—give the impression that you and Ron are having a casual conversation over dinner. It’s in keeping with the company’s warm, approachable, and yet health-conscious voice found throughout its advertising
The takeaway is that EVERYTHING from your website to your social media profiles to your blog posts must share the same voice as your brand. (This is a compelling argument in favor of establishing brand style rules that can communicate to all of your content creators, authors, and marketers.)
Images and recipes from Panera are both beautiful and delicious
Panera also has a “Panera at Home” website where you can find information about the bread, dressings, and packaged goods that they sell in supermarkets, in addition to their social media pages. It comes as no surprise that the food service industry uses it as a medium for disseminating information related to cooking and eating (with the help of said Panera at Home products, of course).
Tempting photos of the finished dishes accompany each recipe on the site. Most can prepare in less than 15 minutes and include healthy ingredients (like the tomatoes in Tomato, Bacon Mac & Cheese). In keeping with their healthful branding, you can also sort the meal suggestions based on your dietary preferences and preferences in terms of flavor.
Panera Is Concerned With Food Safety
Food photos and close-ups that fill the full screen serve as a constant reminder that Panera values food quality, which includes using ingredients that are appropriate for the season, as well as ingredients that ethically sourced, fresh, and, of course, clean. Make sure your content is consistent with who you are as a company and what you stand for, just like Panera does.
Their email marketing campaigns tailored to the individual customer
More than just blogs, recipes, social media and tonnes of food photos make up Panera’s brand content marketing strategy. Also, if you sign up for MyPanera, you’ll start receiving newsletters tailored specifically to your interests and needs.
