Chain Leader

David Farkas

Creating Connections
September 18, 2006

The other evening in Midtown Manhattan, in the busy three-story Applebee’s restaurant on the corner of Broadway and W. 50th Street, I attended a book signing for the authors of Applebee’sAmerica (Simon & Schuster). About 60 people—vendors, bankers, Wall Street analysts—showed up to sip drinks, ignore the food and say goodbye to the company’s soon-to-retire Chairman Lloyd Hill, who was chatting amiably with anyone who approached him. Oh yes, and to buy the book.

It’s compelling reading—or at least the part I’ve read so far. That section focused on Applebee’s International and to a lesser degree Starbucks. The authors explain how these two industry giants—which don’t appear to have much in common—used a values-related, community-building strategy to astonishing success.

The authors admit this isn’t a new idea; people have grouped together on their own forever, particularly in cities. But it became more difficult to do so in Middle America with the rise and subsequent sprawl of suburbs. Other factors entered into this equation, but by the 1980s, plenty of Americans were feeling displaced and looking for connections beyond their trips to the mall.

Enter Starbucks and Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar. And, incidentally, mega-churches, which serve precisely the same need, the authors argue. They also analyze how presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush applied what they dub “gut values connections” to win their respective elections. Two of the authors—Matthew J. Dowd and Douglas B. Sosnik—separately worked in those presidential campaigns. The third, Ron Fournier, is a former political writer for the Associated Press who conducted man-on-the-street interviews in Applebee’s restaurants.

At the reception Dowd praised Hill and his company: “Applebee’s is about giving people a sense of community and belonging. They are serving a higher purpose. So is Starbucks, and so are mega-churches.”

Posted by David Farkas on September 18, 2006 | Comments (0)