Inbox Dining

Finding out-of-the-box ways to connect with an increasingly diverse customer base for their share of stomach is an ongoing challenge for all foodservice operators. Compared with traditional forms of direct marketing, such as snail mail, the telephone and typically higher-cost television and radio ads, e-marketing is more cost-effective, immediate and personalized. A common e-marketing model for the restaurant industry is an outsourced solution, such as those provided by companies like Blue Hornet Networks Inc and Fishbowl. At Not Your Average Joe's, the eight-unit, casual-dining chain, which strives to bring the quality of big-city restaurants to the suburbs, owner Steve Silverstein has created a brand that live up to its name in e-mail arena. With the help of Blue Hornet, Mike Friedman, interactive marketing manager for Red Lobster, launched the 670-unit seafood chain's e-mail-based Overboard Club for membership. Members received bonus entries for forwarding items to friends or filling entries out at the restaurant.