TOCK: Making Restaurants Tick

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: TOCK Restaurant Reservation System

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we discussed branding and marketing of a new innovative restaurant reservation system.

Joining us on-air was Nick Kokonas, restaurateur and creator of the restaurant booking platform Tock. Tock was born out of a need to improve the reservation process at one of Nick’s own restaurants, Alinea in Chicago. He noticed potential guests were at times turned away because all dining slots were reserved when in fact, considering last minute cancellations and no-shows, Alinea could have accommodated additional bookings.

Nick and his team designed Tock to allow patrons to obtain desired bookings for their dining experience in advance, while at the same time enabling restaurants using Tock to plan better for food and staffing requirements. Tock also allows dynamic pricing; restaurants have the flexibility to offer lower price points at off-peak days/hours if they choose.

Differentiators of Tock include allowing pre-payment for various dining experiences, ordinary reservations and elimination of tipping. It is a web-based system that does not force customers to rely on an app. As a result of using Tock, restaurants are providing enhanced customer service; the dining experience is improved by ensuring guests’ tables are ready on time. Tock has also dramatically reduced no-show rates.

The food-establishment audience for Tock is broad and includes restaurants with average tickets over $20 and less than 300 seats. Nick likes social media marketing such as Facebook targeted ads and Google ad words and plans to continue giving industry talks to share the mindset behind Tock.

To date, Tock has processed $110 million in bookings in nine countries and 36 cities all through organic growth. Additional venture capital has been obtained and Nick is ready to move Tock out of the Beta phase and start formal marketing.

Enjoy the show.

Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

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Filed in: 7Ps of Marketing • Inspiration • Knowledge • Process • Strategy • Tactics
Tagged with: 7Ps of Marketing • Alinea • James Glover • Nick Kokonas • once a day marketing • that branding guy • Tock