Have you worked out the connection yet?
The answer is Nestlé... the Swiss-based Global Behemoth.
So then where or what’s the relevance of this Company to the lessons we in hospitality must learn?
Nestlé as a group invests in Innovation, R&D, Premiumisation at an industrial level.. they’re more like Google in owning the good stuff we need to live our lives! Swiss sensibility and deference will never allow for such blatant self-aggrandisement, however why we think this firm is one which holds a key making them the Über of Über... they invest massively in products associated with RITUAL!
Take away Wall Street financials and shareholder info, this Company is totally invested in the most important products tied to ritual, a possible exception, alcohol!
From baby food, children’s beverages, water, coffee, tea, wellness etc. there are multiple rituals attached... quaint customs, social mores and Nestlé is there by our side... and we say that in the most positive way!
We have a lifelong involvement with Nestlé and don’t even know it... and yes, man’s best friend is a happy customer too!
Back to the question then. Why is RITUAL so important to the bigger picture and how can we learn and benefit?Ritual equals connection, emotion, engagement and an experience which combines to create a bond so sticky it lasts. Of course, over many products and categories this effect multiplies! So, what’s the consequence of all of this? A powerful enabling driver of long term profits, sustainability, creating more investment in innovation, employment, community engagement,overall shareholder/stakeholder wealth creation and satisfaction galore!
Whilst “Provenance” or historic romance is oft used in the Liquor industry.. nothing beats the customer’s connection to ritual. I doubt very much that Nestlé reduces it’s customer facing commercial propositions to “Cost Per Shot” conversations rather than a more noble value proposition involving the total return (life time value) that ritual generates!
Ritual provides permission to collect and engage. Name, rank, email address; all given happily, effortlessly, by grateful customers!
Longer term after the dust settles, in the broader disintermediation wars of product and distribution supply lines, guess who’ll be in the position to do it all to your door... and they’ll have a pretty complete understanding of all your wants and most of your desires too!
As either front or back of house facing hospitality businesses, whether we’re enablers or providers there is a value to investing beyond the brief moment... and this is possible when the centre of our universe is our respective customers/guests, by working backwards from that point one can engineer a business loop, that creates fun, occasion, destination and ritual and the end game, you’ll be in business a long time!
