By delivering a great experience every time, Melting Pot holds a place in guests’ hearts, often becoming a family-favorite restaurant or prized business opportunity and creating a positive feedback loop to drive the legacy forward.
As a legacy brand, Melting Pot has spent decades building and perfecting its brand identity, guest experience and loyal fan base. Now, we have reached two million active Club Fondue loyalty subscribers, and we’re observing a truly beautiful life cycle of sorts with our guests.
Melting Pot is dedicated to providing the perfect night out for its guests, regardless of the event or occasion. Many people turn to Melting Pot for family outings, prom or homecoming dinners, dates, engagements, anniversaries and other milestone celebrations, and having those fond memories so strongly associated with a trip to Melting Pot allows us to cultivate a deep emotional connection with our guests.
At the corporate level, we consistently work to lead system-wide initiatives that enable us to tap into that special connection.
For example, this year, we had a special event for Leap Day. We asked guests to submit their love stories, and a team selected four couples with especially moving stories to have a special “Leap-posal” dinner at their local Melting Pot. The partner who submitted information for the contest was aware of what was going on, but the other simply thought they were going out to enjoy an Ultimate 5-Course Experience before they were surprised with a proposal.
I just love when we have an opportunity to do something like this for our guests, and they do, too. It really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to get engaged at Melting Pot on Leap Day!
Whether it’s a big event like Leap-posal or something that’s more accessible, like weekly date nights or connecting on a special holiday like Valentine’s Day to celebrate all of the types of love guests have in their lives, Melting Pot’s consistent attention to those special moments helps us to stand out and truly does keep guests coming back.
While putting forth the time and effort to recognize important milestones and help guests celebrate builds our connections with them, it also provides our local owners and team members a great sense of fulfillment.
For the majority of our franchise partners, Melting Pot ownership is something that they worked toward after experiencing the brand as a guest or team member. Our owners have the same vivid memories — either of their own visits or instances where they have successfully created a magical night for a guest — and they bring that deep emotional connection to the work day in and day out. In the ownership role, they are able to provide the same enriching dining experience they know and love to members of their own communities, and they are committed to the delicious food just as much as they are committed to creating and maintaining the ambiance.
It’s the hard work of our teams, on all levels, that creates the space and opportunity for these memories, and as guests continue to have great Melting Pot experiences, brand affinity grows, and the cycle of joy, connection and fulfillment continues.