• 

• Network With Randall

  

  

  

Does smoking make a difference?

October 25, 2007 | Filed Under PR 

Sometimes the simple answer is the best answer.

The other day I went to lunch with a friend of mine. I like diners. It’s no secret how much I like diners. From way back in the day when there just wasn’t anywhere else to go and hang out with your friends at two in the morning, the diner gave us a place to have coffee and continue the conversation. Some of my best memories of friends will always contain a backdrop of awful vinyl booths and those disgusting cakes and pies in the rotating glass case.

One of the things that made these establishments so popular with the young’uns is that they could smoke there. No one checked for ID, and I had a great number of friends who smoke (and some still do) - smoking was always an integral part of the ritual. They’d have coffee, soup, and smoke while we all talked until sunrise.

There were two very large competing diners (and a third which remains open…but doesn’t get special mention) along a strip of well travelled highway. What made one better than the other? I have no idea…but some people swore by Around the Clock, and some swore by The Purple Steer. We, of course, had our own nicknames for the places…but this is a family blog…

Our favorite was always Around the Clock, because they had the “famous” lemon rice soup. Really, if you’ve never had lemon rice soup you might want to give it a try. It’s a cream soup…with lemon. Other than being a chemistry experiment (why doesn’t the lemon curdle the milk?) it also tastes really good. It’s what kept us going to Around the Clock when The Purple Steer was just down the street.

Recently Around the Clock went through a renovation - into something that looks vaguely like a Cracker Barrel or something out of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. I have no idea what they were thinking, but it really looks quite awful. Dark, lots of wood and metal objects-de-art on the walls. It’s supposed to be a “down home on the farm” kind of remodel, I think, but what it accomplishes is being claustrophobic.

Oh yeah, and they changed to non-smoking.

So what are the young, angsty smokers going to do? Forego their cherished lemon rice soup to go down the street to the renamed “The Steer” restaurant (seems the Purple was no longer necessary…) in order to smoke?

Which is more important? A favorite food….or the ability to smoke?

And then on a trip to The Steer with my smokin’ friend I saw this picture…

Looks like there isn’t a difficult choice to make after all.

The Steer looked at what it’s customers wanted, lemon rice soup and a smoking section…and gave it to them. Also, there is now a new place to go if you DON’T want to deal with any smokers at all…I think both businesses will find they have increased their niche market share based on these decisions. The non-smokers will put up (gladly!) with the darker interior of the refurbished Around the Clock in order to eat and relax in a smoke-free environment. The smokers will flock to The Steer for the soup, coffee, and socialization that has always been the hallmark of the young, angsty “diner crowd” - and everyone has someplace to go when they’re hungry that they feel caters specifically to them.

Good job, diner owners….good job!

(I’d love to see how the receipts play out after a year of no smoking at Around the Clock and lemon rice soup at The Steer, my guess is both diners will see an increase in profits…but there is no way to know for sure.)

Trackback URL for this post: http://marketingcurve.com/2007/10/25/does-smoking-make-a-difference/trackback/

Comments

• Recommend Resources