Define yourself
Mitchell says the foundation for any brand must be built upon a company’s core values and philosophies.
“I think any business venture has to ask themselves, ‘What do they want to be?’” he says. “We want to be an extraordinary restaurant company.
“Any organization also needs to define itself and say, ‘Who are we?’ You need to be able to answer that basic question. We answer that by saying we’re great people delivering genuine hospitality.
“Our third plank of our philosophy is, even though we have 2,500 associates and we all have different job descriptions, we all have the same role in the company. And that is to make raving fans of the five groups of people we do business with: our fellow associates, our guests, our purveyors, our partners and our community. If we make raving fans out of those five groups of people, we will succeed in making raving fans of anyone we come into contact with.”
Those three core philosophies go a long way in driving the brands that Mitchell creates.
And although he acknowledges that each restaurant concept he’s created has become a brand of sorts, the underlying, unifying brand behind all of them remains Cameron Mitchell Restaurants itself. Every restaurant concept has to adhere to that brand.
“What is our brand? Our brand is quality food, quality ambiance and, hopefully, great service to go with it,” he says. “We want our guests to be able to count on that.”
So no matter if that guest is dining at the Columbus Fish Market or the swanky M, customer expectations should be exceeded on all fronts.
“We try to be consistent with that throughout,” Mitchell says.
He makes it sound so easy, but the introspection required to start building a brand can’t be taken lightly. It’s the identity of your business. It’s your calling card. Your signature.
“What do you want your brand to be known for?” Mitchell says. “You have to develop that brand promise. The brand promise is what you want to deliver to people.”