Blog Post #4

Darden Restaurants uses various different forms of traditional media. The most recent I noticed was the use of commercials. Back when Longhorn Steakhouse was owned by Rare Hospitality, they had no television commercials and honestly I felt like that hurt the business. Especially since Longhorn Steakhouse is national, I felt as though it was relevant to reach a larger audience. Ever since Darden took over, there have been lots of television commercials. I think Darden used this as a traditional media strategy. Television commercials are best for proper marketing.

Darden uses new media too. The website for Darden has all kinds of information. The website’s new media strategy is to inform consumers about Darden Restaurants. But, a new media strategy that Darden uses that doesn’t just inform, is social networking. Social networking is used for marketing as well and using statuses for updates that may be of interest of those following/friends with Darden Restaurants.

The branding details are incorporated into their media strategies because they use the branding is part of Darden Restaurants. For example, during the Longhorn Steakhouse commercial, the end part of the commercial is the slogan ‘Bring out a little West in you.’ This slogan is strategically placed there to remind the consumers that Longhorn Steakhouse is a Western theme restaurant.

I think does and doesn’t the media strategies go hand and hand with the organization. Darden Restaurants has been around for awhile now and should be constantly working to keep up with the changing technology world. So in this way, I find that Darden’s new media strategies don’t keep up with the personality of the company. Darden is seen as new, unique, and worldy. Being more current on media strategies would help the organization a lot and really bring Darden up to speed with they are really about, connecting with different and eclectic appetites in a new, current and exciting way. Then again, Darden is sometimes seen as ‘classic’ in a sense that it is casual dining in an old school way. Old school meaning professional service and great tasting food are the classic staples of a successful restaurant.

There are many media strategies that need improvement. Like I said in my previous blog, Darden Restaurants doesn’t utilize social networking when it really should be utilized because social networking is the key to new marketing strategies. Twitter seems like it was designed just for this purpose, yet Darden hardly ever tweets. They need to bring a social media expert on board to help them. Even with placing ads on the internet, I never see any from Darden about products and promotions. Darden does, however, use old media to do it promotions. You can sign up for newsletters and special promotions. For example, they have a promotion where when you sign up for their newsletter you can receive a free appetizer card. This is a way of using old media (email) as a media strategy. Now, they do have a website, and that is still considered new media strategies, but they should utilize the way they advertise on the internet a little better.