Frankie & Benny’s…Who?
A brand storytelling analysis by Cherry Crane for Hatana El-Jarn — MFC4362
Frankie and Benny’s (F&B) is a well-known UK family restaurant, which specialises in New York-Italian cuisine. It offers cocktails, desserts and a number of dishes at a mid-range price point. This well-established eatery is located in most, if not all major UK towns and everyone recognises their fancy handwritten red and green logo. The restaurant chain emphasises its supposed authentic, home-style food and warm, welcoming service; however, is this the case? I will be analysing Frankie and Benny’s brand storytelling techniques, alongside who actually is Frankie and Benny, and is their food as authentic as they claim.
Someone once told me that ‘Frankie’ and ‘Benny’ were not actually real people — and let me tell you…I was shocked. However, it’s no surprise that I and many others found this fact shocking; as F&B has maintained an important fictional story around their brand since their founding, in 1995.
F&B’s brand story predominantly aspires to highlight that their restaurant is built upon a small family business. It is said how in 1924, ‘Frankie Giuliani’ left Sicily at age 10 with his family and moved to New York City; specifically ‘Little Italy’. They opened up a small restaurant that every family member worked in to help. ‘Frankie’ became best friends with ‘Benny’, a third-generation American. In 1953, the two best friends took over the small family business and combined each others’ own cultures of American and Italian to create combined cuisine in Frankie & Benny’s.
This story seems to portray the idea that this now large, successful business started off as a humble, ‘built from the ground up’ food place; embellishing to the consumers the idea of authentic food made from authentic, real people. The use of two young characters further emphasises this and makes customers believe that the young boys dedicated their whole working lives to F&B — triggering a sense of admiration. Consumers are always appreciative and positively responsive to best friend companionships regarding brands; for example, take a look at Smart Energy UK’s ‘Gaz’ and ‘Leccy’, or Compare The Market’s ‘Sergei’ and ‘Oleg’ — (HUGE success for their brand, the use of these funny meerkat best friends made sales figures double in 2008).
Consumers feel more obliged and excited to eat at a brand with an origin and background focus (such as Wagamama for Asian food, KFC for American food, Yo-Sushi for Japanese food etc). Ask yourself, would you rather eat at the burger place with a detailed story explaining its love for proper authentic German bratwurst, or the burger shack outside of your workplace with basic, little-to-no brand personality? Think about it; there’s a lot of psychology in where we choose to eat. As consumers, we no longer want just the product; but an experience as well, which brand storytelling helps within F&B’s case.
In order to stay true to their brand story, F&B incorporates many examples of classic American-Italian iconography; a few key examples are the interior design of their restaurant(s).
The red leather booth seating and dim lighting give a 1950s twist — which is their attempt at re-creating a ‘retro’ restaurant; people love the zeitgeist feel when attending restaurants; I know I do. The kitchens are open-plan so that consumers can watch chefs cook in classic Italian chef uniform — an uncommon, yet interesting feature — adding to the authenticity of the people making the food at F&B. Vintage neon signs, checkered flooring and smartly tie and waistcoat dressed waiters add to the experience of dining in a retro, American-Italian restaurant which you may find hard to experience anywhere else; being F&B’s point of differentiation.
Another way that F&B attempts to time-warp their consumers into their fictional brand story is the sepia images of ‘Frankie’ and ‘Benny’ on the walls. This tricks people into further believing that these men really did exist as there is photo documentation — when they didn’t! F&B also plays Italian swing/jazz music in the restaurant — adding to the artisan feel they strive to maintain as a brand. I have only been to F&B a few times, but have enjoyed the standard of service, setting, and food received on all occasions. Not forgetting the free slice of birthday cake and sing-song they wail when you want to embarrass a friend on their birthday! I like this touch about F&B — it adds to the idea of F&B and its customers being a big happy family with a close bond; a key link to the Italian family culture.
Despite all of the storytelling that this brand greatly emphasises to its consumers, the genuine back story is rather dull. F&B was founded in the UK during 1995 by The Restaurant Group — a multi-million-pound owner of several chain restaurants. The first F&B was launched in Leicester, however over the years, the owners saw a dramatic fall in sales and profits, leading to store closures. This may suggest that F&B as a brand is not doing enough to keep up with ever-changing consumer trends and desires, which once again shows how important staying relevant and known as a brand really is. It could be argued that as a brand they are sticking with its traditional feel and values; however, it may no longer have the desired impact with the target market it aspires to appeal to. The Restaurant Group did attempt to reinvent F&B with a new menu — however clearly this wasn’t enough to save the many stores that closed down.
In conclusion…
I hear many people commenting negatively on F&B, saying how “They’re too expensive”, “it’s overrated” or “It’s an Italian Wetherspoons but 5x the price”. However, despite these comments, I find it admirable how F&B has continued to maintain a strong brand personality throughout the use of their story. They tell this story throughout many aspects; from the food, the aesthetics, to the staff. Whilst it may be out of date for some, I like the fictional yet fun idea of eating somewhere that was once run by a small Italian family trying to succeed in life — it’s humbling.
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