Introduction
The Cheesecake Factory is a large restaurant company with more than two hundred locations worldwide under its wing. The organization is predominantly famous for its traditional American cheesecake recipes. In addition to the leading brand, the Cheesecake Factory also includes Grand Lux Café and RockSugar Asian Kitchen, including a more diversified menu that goes beyond desserts (“About us,” n.d.). This paper presents the history of the company, its current position, brand positioning, as well as mission, and vision.
The History of the Company
The company started when Evelyn Overton upgraded the cheesecake recipe found in the newspaper. For a long time, the mother of co-founder David Overton baked desserts in her basement (Sunderland, 2016). The created cake conquered all her acquaintances, and rumors about it spread to the whole city in 1940. Due to the increased popularity of the recipe, the woman decided to open a pastry shop so that more people could try her cheesecakes. However, Evelyn Overton decided to withdraw from doing business over time as she wanted to pay more attention to her family (“About Us.”, n.d.). The mother’s recipe was not changed; only different flavors were added to it, and the products were diversified into other baked goods, including the famous brown bread, and the business became a success.
The New Life
A long time after, in the 1970s, Evelyn Overton and her husband, Oscar Overton, decided to try themselves in the confectionery business again. Husband and wife opened The Cheesecake Factory Bakery in Los Angeles, which provided supplies for restaurants in the city (“About Us.”, n.d.). The initiative was very popular with residents and attracted more and more attention every day. In 1978, the son of a married couple decided to expand his parents’ business and opened a store in Beverly Hills, which provided a menu of various kinds of confectionery (“About Us.”, n.d.). In 1991, the first store, The Cheesecake Factory, was opened in Washington, D.C., which marked the spread of the organization throughout the country (“About Us.”, n.d.). Moreover, the company expanded into the international market by opening the first cheesecake factory in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in 2012 (“About Us.”, n.d.). Restaurants are deeply embedded in culture, becoming a favorite place for many stars and even found in the works of contemporary musicians (Sunderland, 2016). The Cheesecake Factory has become a recognizable brand associated with quality and highly delicious food.
Mission and Vision
The mission and vision of the company are consistent with each other, preserving the original traditions and adapting to new conditions. The mission is to create an environment where absolute guest satisfaction is our highest priority (“About Us.”, n.d.). The focus on the consumer’s core values has helped the company achieve success and maintain a leading position in its niche market until now. Through a shared commitment to excellence, the Cheesecake Factory is dedicated to the uncompromising quality of our food, service, people, and profit while taking exceptional care of restaurants’ guests and staff (“About Us.”, n.d.). The company will continuously strive to surpass its accomplishments and be recognized as a leader in this industry, which is a vision. Due to the broad diversification of the Cheesecake Factory’s products, the company has occupied the niche of affordable but high-quality food with high service rates.
Customer Service
As stated above, the Cheesecake Factory restaurants have a reasonably good level of service for customers. The organization’s clients are the central aspect that motivates the staff to work in the company to achieve a common goal. According to research, the Cheesecake Factory’s greatest strength is its approach to service, which was even initially used as a competitive advantage over other restaurants in the segment (Sheel, 2018). At the same time, the company does not use focus groups; it also focuses on customer opinions more than on expert analytics (Sunderland, 2016). The business was initially built on family traditions, and, mainly due to this, it became a chain of restaurants for both adults and children.
Branding
As a result, the brand is primarily associated with service and food quality. The restaurant does not pursue culinary delights and rarely introduces new positions on the menu, as it is already represented by more than two hundred items (Sunderland, 2016). Brand positioning makes the niche profitable since, compared to other restaurants, the Cheesecake Factory has more affordable prices and better food than fast food. Pricing has a competitive advantage through reduced marketing costs. It is worth noticing that the Cheesecake Factory’s marketing costs were reported to be only 25 percent of their direct competitors’ costs because the company “lets the customers do the marketing for them” (Goodman, 2019, p. 7). An interesting aspect is that the Cheesecake Factory currently does not invest in creating advertising in public places and on social networks.
Conclusion
The Cheesecake Factory has become an integral part of American culture with a responsible, customer-focused approach and long history. Broad product diversification, restaurant differentiation, unique marketing method, and correct brand positioning are the company’s competitive advantages. Together with a correctly set and consistent mission and vision, each company employee knows what to strive for, and each client is the primary value that translates into reputational and financial success.
References
About Us. (n.d.). Cheesecake Factory. Web.
Goodman, J. (2019). Strategic customer service: Managing the customer experience to increase positive word of mouth, build loyalty, and maximize profits. 2nd ed. Amacom.
Sheel, A. (2018). 2017–2018 Restaurant industry performance and the JHFM index. Journal of Hospitality Financial Management, 26(1), 1. Web.
Sunderland, M. (2016). Vice. Web.