birddog

What’s in a name?

Readers of a certain age will know George Foreman for what he was: a world-class boxer and winner of 76 fights. Others –students, say – will more likely be familiar with the name for its association with the food grill Foreman launched in 1994. His famous tagline – “It’s so good, I put my name on it!” – has permeated into popular catchphrase culture. Business Week reckons ‘Big George’ has earned in excess of $200m as a direct result of the deal, while the grill itself has shifted more than 100m units. It’s a success story of personal product endorsement the like of which is now very rare. Or at least medium-rare.

To be fair, the 21st century power of celebrity is such that figures like the Beckhams or Cheryl Tweedy have no need (financial or otherwise) to lend their actual names to other products, and, likewise, brands only really require a glimpse of a famous face or a few words from their mouths for a celeb endorsement to work its magic. It’s one thing to flick a head of styled hair and quip “You’re worth it!” in a 20 second ad, though, and quite another to take the step of signing over your given name to the fate of a single product.

It is probably fair to say then that ‘putting your name on it’, as George Foreman confidently stated, and building it up as a brand is no easy matter. The potential risks struck me as (continuing the food theme) I sat down with my better half to eat in Tom Aikens’s restaurant in South Kensington. It was the first restaurant the semi-celebrity chef opened, in 2003, and is simply called Tom Aikens. In large lettering outside the building. It’s a permanent tying of name to brand and assumes responsibility for pretty much anything that happens to diners here on in. Now, I’m no restaurant critic, but as it turned out the experience was so good, it’s worth giving it a go.

The first thing was the décor: comfortable furniture, soft low lighting, a warm unelaborate interior design. It had an inviting air, encouraging the relaxed chatter murmuring in the background. Not one element hinted at pretension, which, for a well-known chef-owned restaurant in South Ken on a Saturday evening, could have been forgiven.

The front of house staff, meanwhile, were immaculate, appearing from nowhere to fill up empty wine glasses, bringing out each course with exquisite timing (we were eating from the eight-course Tasting Menu, so this was doubly appreciated), tactfully replacing cutlery and napkins, explaining information about certain dishes, and never short of a ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’. But despite all this, they couldn’t have been more unobtrusive, and any prior notions that this high level of service might seem overbearing, or worse still, aloof, were long gone.

And so to the food. Whether or not the man himself was behind the scenes was irrelevant: the chefs and kitchen staff at Tom Aikens succeeded in delivering a stunning, tell-all-your-friends-about-it tour de force in contemporary cuisine. From the cured Foie Gras to the passion fruit jelly, via John Dorey fillet and loin of ewe’s cheese-marinated lamb, the sumptuous tastes and rich textures instilled in each course made for an unforgettable and supreme dining experience.

Because the experience at Tom Aikens’s restaurant was, from start to finish, of the highest order. A not-insignificant investment in the personnel and countless hours training, sourcing the best ingredients and ensuring the finest preparation and presentation, pitching the aesthetics of the restaurant just right – it all had to combine exactly to positively affect the end experience and achieve a continual rise in stock for the Tom Aikens brand. If there had been even one weak link in the chain, the negative perception would have been firmly associated with the name – and in the eyes of the customer, followed it around wherever else it appeared.

Instead, it was an illustration of how hard work, preparation and care for the entirety of a brand will deliver a rich and full experience of it. It was also an illustration of just how necessary that effort is, to ensure your brand is being enhanced by everything that’s connected to it. It’s not what’s in a name, after all, but what’s behind it. Tom Aikens has certainly got it right.

Tim Miller
Content Editor

UPDATE: 4 October 2010

Things got a little bit exciting at the Birddog office last week. Even more exciting than that time a beach football got delivered by an anonymous sender.

Following the above blog post spotlighting George Foreman’s mid-nineties rebirth as the lean, mean grilling machine, then waxing lyrically about the experience at the Tom Aikens restaurant in South Kensington, both aforementioned foodsters were soon contacting us in response.

It was Mr Foreman’s Twitter people dropping by for a chat first of all, but Tom Aikens took the next step of engagement by seeking out Birddog’s contact details from our website, and leaving a personally addressed note of thanks in our eagerly-accepting inbox.

The blog itself had, by this point, been live on the site for three days. On the first day, having tweeted through the Birddog feed about the latest blog update, @GeorgeGrillsUK were on our tail. Two days later, Tom Aikens was in touch via email, taking a moment to offer thanks for our positively charged blog.

James Ainsworth, social media marketing specialist at Alterian, was suitably impressed by the speed in which George Foreman’s team got in touch to blog about it.

Having already sung the praises about brand experience originally, it also appears that these brands have a commendable approach to social media monitoring too.

Tim