Spring has arrived, everything has revived and started to enter a new round of growth. I believe many people and companies have a new plan and vision.

Menu has also reached the starting point of many catering enterprises' reform in one year. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, the four seasons are different, just as we dress and dress according to the seasons. Some catering products are also obviously different in four seasons, so it is a point that we should adjust at any time to meet the needs of consumers in four seasons.

For example:

Worried about customers' slow ordering?

are you annoyed that customers always say that there is nothing to order in our house?

are you worried about how to cut down hundreds of dishes at home?

and so on .......

As a carrier which is closest to our consumers and directly produces consumption, apart from the most important structural planning, the design of

is actually inseparable from the overall structure of our planning. It is an important carrier for realizing our planning objectives, presenting ways to consumers and clicking on paths and experiences.

Zege summed up "five principles that bosses must see how to upgrade the menu." (For more planning articles, see Zege's previous article)

Principle 1: Who is it for?

as long as your menu is in your favorite style.

is your menu well arranged by the designer?

have we ever wondered who our menu is for?

I often say that the menu is a silent salesman, so every product is different, and customers will have certain differences. Moreover, if any business doesn't understand "thinking from the standpoint of consumers", it is easy to fall into self-high and take chances.

Gourmet, which has been passed down for thousands of years, is not only a product with profound knowledge and innovation, but also a product with geographical difference and humanistic characteristics. It is not only a product just needed by civilians, but also a product with multi-dimensional spiritual needs such as banquets and dinners. It looks normal in life, but it has undergone numerous changes.

but it's very important to remember who I serve, their life radius, their preferences, and their food needs.

For example, some clients I used to serve haven't changed their menus for ten years. This is because the previous times changed slowly, and you made money at will. I saw that the menu really seemed to be back in the 198s and 199s, and the menu was broken in many places. Think about how neglected and loved it was before.

another customer's menu looks like "mechanical adjustment-heavy metal wind", but the boss said, "I like motorcycles very much, so the menu designed by the original advertising company seems to cater to my preference, and I feel this is wrong." Perhaps the boss asked me to redesign the menu for him because of this change of thinking.

Let's take a look at a comparison between the old menu and the new menu:

Who is it for? This is something that we know about our consumers and that our business can never forget.

principle 2: how to present the menu?

Before, several catering people asked me, "Our house is on display, and there is no menu. Is it useful for me to learn menu profit structure planning?" Is the menu just a menu?

is the menu just a piece of paper and an electronic version?

no.

Menu is a brand expression, silent sales promotion and profit model of a restaurant.

The form of the menu is only a carrier of multi-dimensional structured layout. The real meaning of the menu lies not in the carrier itself, but in how to plan the categories carried on this carrier, such as product structure, pricing and brand expression. The menu can take many forms. As long as you sell goods, there are actually menus.

The container array in the supermarket, the classified index of e-commerce, the on-site array of your restaurant products, etc. are all manifestations of the menu. For example, we see the array form of dishes in Hefu noodles. We just go to the counter and click on it ourselves. The long showcase with dishes is its menu form.

however, how to choose the presentation form of the menu depends on the category, format, crowd and guest list we operate.

If we are a fast food and light leisure meal, then we don't need to make a thick and big brochure. If we are a big dinner, it is not suitable to use a single page with a cheap feeling. At the same time, we should also consider our service choice and payment path.

principle 3: who is the protagonist of the product?

a book, a play, a movie, who is the protagonist and what is the central idea we want to express are the main ideas we should think about first.

The communication of the central idea often comes from the interaction and connection between the leading role and the supporting role, and it is impossible for us to remember so many roles.

so who is the main character on a menu? It is particularly important who can represent the protagonist of our catering category.

In the past, we used to divide them into cuisines. For example, the famous dishes in Sichuan cuisine include Kung Pao Chicken, shredded pork with fish flavor, husband and wife's lung slices, Dongpo elbow, etc., and the Chinese hamburger and cold rice noodles in the famous snacks in Xi 'an, etc. These dishes are inherited and representative, and what is important is that they have a broad cognitive basis among the masses. Of course, there are many single items classified by products now, such as dumplings, steamed buns and fish with Chinese sauerkraut. How to choose our protagonist, first of all, we must be clear about what kind of business we are engaged in. What is the trend? This trend is inseparable from the progress of the times and the changes of consumers.

The main characters are generally what we call signature dishes and explosive products, but with the passage of time, the essence of our main characters can remain unchanged, but they also need to be upgraded.

when I often talk to my friends about certain brands, they often say that their family used to go there many years ago, but they haven't been there these years. I feel that their family always has those products ......

Principle 4: What is the product personality and connotation?

the product is available, but how to attract consumers, or how to resonate with consumers' psychology, is a problem.

We certainly don't like people who are superficial, so how to mold our products into unique personality and connotation is a skill that we must master as R&D personnel and brand department.

another point here is that even if it is a very good product, the ability to shape value should not be underestimated.

Another example is a beautiful woman. She is very beautiful. Who may be attracted by beauty alone?

if I told you that this beautiful woman is not only beautiful, but also writes well, and she has very independent thinking ability, loves environmental protection, and has done a lot of public welfare, etc., would she like such a person very much without meeting the real person? In fact, her attraction to you is not only beautiful, but also an inner love.

therefore, products should have individuality and connotation.

besides product research and development, how can the dishes be displayed on the menu?

three important points:

1) photos

2) copywriting

3) background

photos should capture the product's spirit, appetite, and personality style conveyed by thought;

Copywriting can tell consumers who I am, where I come from, what's good about me, what's different, and what's good for consumers; For example, when I first came to Beijing, my friend took us to eat a dish, and the other products were also very good, but I only remember this dish now, because he matched a very beautiful poem, "Three hundred lychees a day, and I didn't hesitate to grow up to be a Lingnan person"

The background is my cultural background and my honor background, which gives consumers trust and reliability.

this is an interconnected world, a beautiful world that needs to be voiced and conveyed.

principle 5: how to guide the design?

how to do a good job in guiding design, I think this is a very critical way of thinking in design.

Do you often see rows or columns of names of dishes, just like soldiers standing on the playground? Except for the different names, we can't tell who is who at all. However, soldiers can take a closer look at their looks. Some dishes on the menu don't even have pictures, so they just have to look carefully and guess, so often 1 customers may have 99 different voices about the dishes, and the dishes are still those dishes.

guided design, which is an important design idea I put forward when making menu planning, has three main points on the design surface:

1) primary and secondary

2) size

3) moving line

It seems that there are only three simple points, but we need to rely on the planned structure and objectives to guide the design when designing, so we put forward "unplanned"