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COVER STORY: Hard Rock Cafe. Implants Footprint in Tianjin
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Hard Rock Cafe
Implants Footprint in Tianjin
By Natasha J.

Cover 09      喜欢美国文化或摇滚音乐的你一定听说过大名鼎鼎的硬石餐厅。1971年,两位美国青年泰格利特和莫顿在伦敦开了第一家硬石餐厅; 1977年,卡罗尔•金以一首Hard Rock Cafe成名。到1982年,硬石餐厅开始向全球扩张,美国首家硬石餐厅在洛杉矶开业。硬石餐厅不仅是全球知名品牌,其产业也遍布世界各地,硬石国际在伦敦,纽约,旧金山,悉尼和迪拜等全球标志性城市拥有、经营和特许经营着多家硬石餐厅。这里卓越的音乐品位和令人难忘的用餐体验,早已闻名遐迩。作为全球第182家、华北首家硬石餐厅,天津硬石餐厅将成为备受天津消费者热捧的潮流餐厅。

      硬石集团亚太区副总裁杨大泓(Steve D. Yang)先生表示,硬石餐厅一直在寻找机会入住中国北方城市。虽然天津位列中国二线城市,但是它的规模以及发展程度已经堪比一线城市。天津是北方最大的港口城市,也是四个中国直辖市之一。近年,天津的经济发展一点都不逊色于北京、上海等一线大都市,这也为硬石餐厅的发展提供了巨大的机会。杨先生说,天津的硬石餐厅绝对是同品牌中最好的,无论是店内的装潢还是设计,都非常有格调。这家店带给人们的视觉享受也是一流的。

       在美食方面,硬石餐厅会为大家提供传统美式餐饮。大部分的硬石餐厅菜单都是比较相似的。但这么成功的品牌怎么会不考虑地域因素和当地人的口味呢?天津硬石餐厅就完美地将在新加坡及香港地区的硬石餐饮经验借鉴过来,给菜单加入了亚洲风味特色。对餐饮业而言,通常一个店开业的头两个月,都将面临巨大的挑战,“我们会收集客户的反馈和信息,结合大数据去调整餐饮。”当然了,硬石餐厅的细致入微不仅局限于食物,还包括音乐、娱乐,甚至是零售部门。作为“Rock”餐厅,摇滚乐自然是必不可少的,近年来广受乐迷欢迎的Maroon 5的音乐就会在店中播放。不过,硬石餐厅的音乐除了摇滚乐,你还可以在店内听到Pop甚至DJ音乐。喜爱DJ的朋友也有耳福了,硬石餐厅将请著名DJ来津为大家奉上精彩的DJ派对之夜。在周日和午餐时光,店内还会适当播放爵士乐,给大家一个轻松惬意的用餐环境。

     硬石餐厅的又一大特色是其同时售卖周边产品。你可以在天津硬石餐厅买到T恤衫、胸针、杯子等精彩周边,这些产品的销量一直很好。如果这些还无法满足你的收藏爱好,部分更大的硬石餐厅还有Zippo打火机及其他服 饰。

      除了面向散客开放,硬石餐厅也会接待团体客户,举办大型活动,例如商务活动、家庭聚会、生日宴会、演出和音乐会等等。本店的规模也比较大,864平米的店内与户外用餐区可以同时容纳222人。一层除了传统的堂食区域,还为照顾本地人的特别需求专门设置了vip包房。音乐角、舞台、酒吧区域也给这个空间带去了独特的氛围。厨房则位于二楼。

      谈及客户群体,杨先生说,我们的店铺希望吸引从8岁到80岁的全年龄段的各类人群,通常周日是家庭日,而周五周六则是适合派对达人聚集于此。

      硬石餐厅的合作伙伴鲁能集团在天津地区的商圈发展中影响巨大。硬石餐厅是鲁能集团开展与国际品牌合作的又一代表之作,同时也是鲁能商旅板块拓展自营餐饮品牌的首发成果。这家拥有别致艺术设计感的餐厅,坐落于天津市南开区天塔道56号鲁能城购物中心。鲁能集团北京商旅公司商业管理中心常务副总经理黄子健(Clarence Wong)先生表示,虽然鲁能集团专注于房地产领域,但集团也有与文化相结合的产业,包括娱乐及餐饮业。硬石餐厅无论在文化还是品牌方面都符合鲁能的发展方向,而且我们已经在全国十多个城市推广硬石餐厅。天津在华北地区是一个特殊的市场,这里的消费者知道什么才是优质餐饮。未来,鲁能将和硬石餐厅一起走进大连、济南、北京、文昌等城市。我们也相信硬石餐厅和鲁能将共同携手为各地食客带去更好的用餐体验。

Cover 01Hard Rock Cafe, one of the world’s most recognizable food, drink and entertainment brands, is proud to be adding its rock-and-roll style as they recently opened doors to the people of Tianjin. It brings the brand’s one-of-a-kind blend of music, entertainment, iconic merchandise and authentic American fare. Hard Rock Cafe Tianjin is sitting pretty at the super excellent Luneng CC Plaza across from Tianta Subway station, opposite to the most famous Tianjin attraction – Tianjin Water Park.
 

To provide our readers with an insight into how the brand landed in Tianjin and everything that can be expected of it, we had an interaction with Steve D. Yang, Vice-President for Asia-Pacific region, Franchise Development and Operations, Hard Rock International. Following are the excerpts of the interview:
 

Interview with Steve D. Yang
Vice President for Asia Pacific Area, Hard Rock International
Franchise Development & Operations
Cover 03Why did you choose Tianjin to open Hard Rock Cafe?
Hard Rock Cafe is working in tandem with the Luneng Group, part of China’s largest electric utility company, to expand our dynamic brand to the lively dining and nightlife scene in Northern China. Tianjin is just one of the key cities that we signed with Luneng.
 

Although Tianjin is a second-tier city in a sense, I think it’s as big as the first-tier cities in many ways. Known as the Ford of Heaven, Tianjin is a metropolis in northern coastal Mainland China and one of the four national central cities of the country. Ranked No. 5 on the 2017 China integrated City Index and competing with major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Tianjin is most definitely an excellent location.
 

What kind of offers will Hard Rock Cafe bring to Tianjin?
At present we are offering authentic Hard Rock Cafe experience to Tianjiners. I’ve been to many Hard Rock Cafes, but Tianjin Hard Rock is one of the finest I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s beautifully designed and tastefully decorated. I’m amazed with the visual offering.
 

In terms of food, currently we have catered to a very traditional American palate. As in any business the first 2 months are the most crucial. It is the data gathering phase that entails familiarising with the Tianjiner’s palette, analysing customer feedback and basically carrying out local profiling. Once that phase is complete we will change the offerings accordingly. This is not limited to F&B but also the music, entertainment and even the retail department. We will monitor sales of t-shirts, pins and other souvenirs. Western concept is fairly new in Tianjin. We held our soft opening on the 20th of April and once we have better understood the locale we are hoping to host our grand opening party very soon.
 

Are there any exclusive features about the Hard Rock Cafe Tianjin?
Diversity is what we aim for at Hard Rock Cafe. In Tianjin’s outlet we have an entry hallway, what we call the legendary singers atrium like a hall of fame. We even have a few Chinese legends on display, with one singer being a Tianjiner. The design is modern, chic and goes with the Chinese flavour, as opposed to having a cafe designed to the 80’s retro style.

Cover 02How many guests will the cafe seat and what are the different ambiences being offered by Hard Rock Cafe Tianjin?
The cafe can seat approximately 222 guests and generally that’s a pretty sizeable Hard Rock. Planned on almost 864-square-meters of commercial area, I would say this cafe is a mid-sized Hard Rock. On the first floor we have the traditional open format dining area and a VIP room to cater for local needs, an outside patio, bar, a live music stage that will give unique, local music scene a new arena for performances, and the cafes Rock Shop, while the kitchen spans out on the second floor.
 

Our concept is 8-80 wherein we want to be appealing to 8-year olds through to 80 year olds. We have set different tones and ambiances to accommodate family time on Sundays and have left Fridays and Saturdays for party goers.
 

What are you going to recommend from the menu in Hard Rock Cafe Tianjin?
Most Hard Rock Cafes around the world are more or less the same. Our most popular menu items include our Legendary Burger, Smokehouse range and the Jumbo Combo. Our burgers set us apart as they are made with our proprietary blend of premium grade beef including brisket and prime rib. Our Smokehouse specialities, including our signature Hickory-Smoked Ribs and Pulled Pork Sandwich, are fork-tender, marinated and slow-cooked in our own in-house smokers.
 

In many countries, particularly in Asia, we’ve become a kind of a steakhouse. So that would probably be the key. Our menu is classic but evolving. We plan to include some form of Asian themed items on the menu to feature local flavours and flare, which we have in Singapore and Hong Kong. We might adopt some of those products to help with Asian palettes.
 

What sort of music would be played in Hard Rock Cafe Tianjin?
People correlate Hard Rock Cafe with rock music. It’s no longer just about rock. It might have been at a time, but music is constantly evolving. Today the millennials would say rock music is Maroon 5.
 

So, we will have all genres of music, from rock to pop and even DJs, since EDM is very popular in China. We will bring in famous DJ’s to Tianjin and have DJ nights. To us it’s all about music, not so much pure rock music anymore.
 

Since our concept is 8-80 we are aiming for the commercial music line. Obviously, we will not have heavy metal rock blowing everybody’s eardrums. A top 40, kind of broader genre, pop rock music would be more suitable. Maybe we can have some jazz playing during lunch time or on Sundays.
 

Talking about the merchandise, what items are you planning to sell apart from the popular t-shirt?
Many regard us as being one of the biggest souvenir stores in the world. You would be surprised to know that in every cafe we open we have at least one pin collector come in and spend 10,000 USD. Beyond t-shirts we have glassware and cups which are some of the top sellers. The Rock Shop in Tianjin is smaller. The bigger Rock shops sell Zippo lighters, magnets and even clothing.
 

What is the first thing you pay attention to when looking for franchise investors?
When I look for a franchisee I think 3 things. One, the passion for the brand, that’s important. Second is operational expertise. If you get a partner that is very strong in operating restaurants and F&B it saves a lot of effort going ahead. Third is the financial aspect. Do they have the financial capability to sustain something on such a grand scale?

Cover 04Would there be special arrangements for customers to organize special events?
Definitely, there would be. Hard Rock Cafe does a lot of event business - Corporate business events, family gatherings, from birthdays to performances and concerts. On Monday and Tuesday, when generally business is slow, we have the buy-outs or catering services. That’s a great revenue generator. We hope to have a mega live concert at the grand opening party.
 

Maybe in August we will host a Battle of the Bands where we will bring some of the world’s leading bands to various Hard Rocks and Tianjin will be one of them. It won’t be a private event. We never close doors on people, unless it’s a private buyout. We will make this whole space a concert hall, including the atrium outside. It may not be about making money from the public but to give back.
 

Why do you think Hard Rock Cafe attracts so much attention in China?
Over the last 15 years China has been bombarded by foreign brands with pretty much every foreign brand trying to tap into the Chinese market, from the very simple consumer brands to big brands. China is also looking for a lifestyle brand and we offer so many concepts under one roof. As the market gets more saturated by different brands, I think Hard Rock is becoming very interesting to a lot of partners and investors to bring in something unique. We have 182 cafes, 25 hotels, and 11 casinos spanned throughout the globe.
 

What kind of customers or communities is Hard Rock Cafe looking to attract in Tianjin?
Beyond the local Chinese families, Tianjin has many expats, especially from the Korean and Japanese communities. The Hard Rock brand in Japan and Korea is quite strong. This is a terrific opportunity to market to the Japanese and the Koreans living here in Tianjin, because they know the brand. We are operating 6 cafes and an integrated resort currently in the making in Japan.
 

Is there a loyalty program that allows you to get special discounts or benefits?
We do have a global rewards program. As you visit more Hard Rock Cafes you’re entitled to more discounts. In Tianjin we’re in the works of fixing membership cards, prepaid gift cards especially because it’s a fad in China. There’ll be many benefits that come with prepaid gift cards.

We also interacted with Clarence Wong, Executive Director of Luneng and following are some noteworthy snippets from the conversation:

Cover 05Luneng, partner of Hard Rock Cafe, Tianjin
Talking with Clarence Wong
Executive Director, Commercial Management Center
Luneng Commerce and Tourism Management Company

Cover 06What brought about Luneng’s partnership with Hard Rock?
Although Luneng is mainly focused on real estate, we also have ventures related to culture including entertainment and F&B. So, we partnered with Hard Rock Cafe. Hard Rock is a brand that focuses on all three aspects of culture - F&B, retail and entertainment. It suits the direction in which Luneng is heading as well as China’s development direction: tourists, entertainment and sports.
 

Presently Luneng Group holds the franchise rights in Northern China. We have implemented plans to start up Hard Rock Cafe in more than 10 cities in China. We have done a market study to understand the suitability for Hard Rock Cafe in China. Luneng Group has sufficient support, including in the financial aspect, good decision making and designing abilities to bring about Hard Rock Cafe experience.

Cover 07Tianjin is constantly changing. What do you expect from the audience in Tianjin?
Tianjin is a special market. Tianjiners won’t consume anything and everything that is sold to them. They will only take something that is really good. Tianjiners have a very good eye and a refined palate.
 

What is next for Luneng?
The upcoming Luneng projects are new Hard Rock Cafes in Jinan, Dalian and Beijing. The next Hard Rock Cafe will probably be in Jinan. It is where our headquarters used to be, before having shifted to Beijing. Dalian will house an integrated Hard Rock Cafe and Hotel.

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