Would Nusr-et’s global operations be sustainable, given that its major investors in and outside of Turkey were running into financial conflict?
No, I don’t think this is a sustainable situation. As it has been said, Nusret’s situation has turned into a one-man show, and this situation will put him in more and more difficulties with the disadvantages of growing up. Not being able to show in venues means fewer people coming and less satisfaction for them. In addition, since the newly opened cities are always big and expensive places, there will be financial distress as Nusret grow up.
Nusret is also aware of this, and his international investors have already begun to complaint about the situation. As it continues to grow even more, there will be more local conflicts and its former charm will fade, reducing sustainability.
In addition, while the fan base is increasing, the ones who do not like it are also increasing rapidly. Negative comments about prices and articles denouncing food quality from media outlets such as the New York Times and New York Post, especially in the USA, justify concerns about Nusret’s global sustainability.
How sustainable would a one-man show be, solely relying on the talent and charisma of Nusret Gökçe?
As I said before, a one-man show, as great and fascinating as it is, is not sustainable, even if people go crazy and even pay thousands of dollars to see it.
The main reason behind this is the limited resources. Nusret Gökçe is a charismatic and talented figure, but that alone is not enough. Although it has established an emotional bond with its customers and created a very strong social media image, attainability is the main criterion here. According to the news of Milliyet.com.tr, there are even news about him buying a plane. The reason is that it spread all over the world and that it could not keep up with the jobs. In the beginning, celebrities from Hollywood and even politicians showed a lot of interest in him, so he quickly spread and become viral and raised awareness and advertised itself without spending any money, so he had no trouble growing up. He had attained a certain salience and made the base of the brand resonance pyramid strong. But when it comes to the point where it cannot add a different value to the customer after a point, his unique signature moves of salting the meat will not be enough to save it. And when he has restaurants all over the world, it will start to shrink as he loses the fan base that sacrifices hundreds of dollars just to see the show of him. For this reason, we cannot talk about the long-term sustainability of a model based on the talent and charisma of only one person.
Symbolic or Functional?
Nusret is a symbolic brand. First of all, let me tell you why it’s not a functional brand, because people don’t go to Nusret to fill their stomachs or that’s not their main motivation. In addition, the satisfaction here has no replicability, because most of the meaning it expresses is behind the Nusret brand and even directly in Nusret Gökçe, not in the meats it offers.
The fact that we can call it a symbolic brand is primarily because it is an experience brand. Here, you buy not only the meat, but also the show, the theatrical setting, the possibility of the meat being selected and chopped by Nusret and presented to you.
In addition, we can say that the brand has a romantic side, which supports it to be a symbolic brand. For example, the TimeOut reporter associate the presentation of meat to sex, albeit with a sarcastic language, and added an eroticism to the gushing juice of the meat. Everyone who likes or dislikes the brand knows about Nusret one way or another, follows what he is doing and goes to that restaurant being aware of them, so we can clearly say that it is a symbolic brand.
Brand Resonance Building Process in the Turkish Market
First of all, we can say that Nusret is quite successful in brand resonance in the Turkish market. Before founding the company, he built the brand salience, which consists of broad awareness and various customer bases for himself and was in contact with them. He had made a name for himself when he was still a butcher and gradually gained a customer network. Also, the wealthy people for his location in Istanbul started to become his customers, and Nusret differentiated and dealt with each customer individually, knowing their preferences and how cooked they liked it.
Nusret, who has already fulfilled the points of parity, that is, the standard conditions in the market with his quality cooking and presentation of meat, has added customization on top of this, making people feel special and taking care of them has become a differentiation in Turkish market.
Nusret, who has already fulfilled the points of parity, that is, the standard conditions in the market with his quality cooking and presentation of meat, has added customization on top of this, making people feel special and taking care of them has become a differentiation. The reactions that followed proved that it was already accepted as a symbolic brand and showed that it reached resonance building. Turkish gourmet Vedat Milör’s saying that he is the best steakhouse in Istanbul created positive feelings and customers began to accumulate at his door.
After this point, loyalty was formed, and customers started to wait 2–3 hours at the door just to watch Nusret. From the full house days, you can understand how the hype is and the emotional bond is established. It has had loyal customers even outside of Turkey — such as the prince of Abu Dhabi — and a successful brand resonance has been developed in Turkey.
Brand Resonance Building Process in the U.S Market
I cannot say the same for the US market. First of all, when he started to develop the brand for the U.S. market, the first level of brand salience had already been achieved, because by the time he entered the market, Nusret was already branded and even had millions of followers on Instagram and YouTube. For this reason, there was no need for a similar effort for the American market. In addition, the main reason for gaining awareness was the rapid rise of the salt sprinkler video, which is the signature movement. One of the things that supported salience here was that he was invited to the Laureus World Sports award ceremony and then famous names such as Beckham, Justin Bieber, DJ Khaled and even Drake came to his restaurant. Celebrities like Rihanna were also wearing his shirt, and popular TV series were shooting commercials with him.
After that point, he was one of the first names that come to mind when meat is mentioned in people’s minds in the sense of image, and everybody thought he is cutting meat like a poem and giving it a sacred treatment. In this way, he provided the conditions as performance and imagery and showed people what it was.
In the response part, WNBA player Angel McCoughtry named an ice cream in the ice cream parlor Salty Bae, and even one of the Arsenal team members was delighted with Nusret’s classic salt move in goal celebration. These are valid for the responses for American market, but I will mention big failures about New York opening in the upcoming parts.
In terms of brand resonance, it failed a bit in America. Although many people lined up to post an Instagram story at first, the commemoration photos of Nusret with a cigar about Fidel Castro’s death received a great reaction in America. Similarly, the meals he ate with politicians prevented a sense of community and increased the opposite involvement. In terms of resonance, we cannot say that it has done a very good job in America.
Failed Strategic Brand Development Attempts and Stages in U.S and Turkish Market
If we come to the points where it messed up, first of all, we can say the grand bazaar issue for the Turkish market. Although it had a nice community, it failed in the third stage of brand development. In particular, advertising in the grand bazaar and being perceived as an insult to history lowered social esteem and was seen as insolence. In addition to being punished by the municipality, the fact that it touched a historical value has reduced social integration and caused people to feel a little disconnected.
From the American side, there is a bigger failure. First of all, the Fidel Castro incident that I mentioned before affected emotional bonds, as well as the fact that he had dinner with Maduro and the shared images with him were later deleted. The photos of Trump’s son with a cook serving a socialist dictator caused divisions in the society. All these I mentioned are the failures related to the third stage of brand development because it prevented social integration and no brand community was formed. In addition, people’s view of the brand has changed, the bond between the brand and people has weakened, and trust has decreased.
More critically, big troubles arose with stage one, which preceded all this. The headlines that were the subject of the newspapers at the New York opening were overwhelmingly negative, disparaging and even boycotting.
Quality problems such as the ordinary meat quality but the extremely high price, the low quality of the cocktails and the fact that water was added to it, and the overcooking of hamburgers show that the brand was failed at the first stage of brand development.
Although he differs from others with his visual feast and personal reputation, “Is it worth paying more?” question created a question mark in minds and showed us that there is a problem in the second stage as well.
Branding Strategies in U.S and Turkish Market
Although we call it a symbolic brand, pre-conscious processes also appear as one of the brand strategies. With the efforts of Nusret, the act of throwing salt over the elbow has become paired with the brand, and whenever we see it, Nusret brand comes to mind. A behavioral movement identified with the brand and created a very strong image. This is valid for both the American and Turkish markets.
Opening a grand bazaar branch for the Turkish market can actually be called a nostalgia related theme. By opening here, it can be said that an attempt was made to create the impression of a more rooted brand that has been going on for years. But on the contrary, an impression was formed that did not respect history and it backfired.
In addition, Nusret’s service to familiar surroundings in the early days of the Turkish market, special preparations for those who come, and one-to-one care with customers proves that the brand as a friend strategy is followed, which offers a degree of comfort to the similar people that he had relationship.
On the other hand, when we look at America, we see more of a brand as a person strategy. People have attributed a personality to the brand because it has a popular and hard-to-reach title where the leading videos of social media are shot.
The most felt strategy in U.S that Nusret is seen as a romance brand with his approach to meat. Here it is said that chopping meat is like poetry, and people say that he is approaching from a sacred angle. In addition, his sexual attachment to a non-human thing (meat) and the eroticism in his treatment of meat have always been on the agenda for American market.
Strategic Considerations to Sustain in U.S and Turkish Market
In order to sustain the brand, first of all, it seems essential to increase the quality for the American market. As all journalists complain, increasing the standard of meat and reaching a certain quality in beverage is very important in the first step, because without these points of parity cannot be achieved, problems in the market will grow in a very short time. In addition, if it is desired to remain strong in the American market, increasing the focus may be a way. If Nusret stays with a limited number of restaurants instead of going global, people will be satisfied and will continue to come, as enough time can be allocated to each. Of course, on the other hand, since the salt movement may become obsolete after a while, a new differentiation needs to be caught. Finally, in U.S market it may be strategic to reduce the price of certain products (such as water, cheap meal options) as these are mentioned with high prices. Thus, such price complaints do not come to the fore anymore.
For Turkey, on the other hand, since it has already completed the resonance building, it can go to the strategy of renewing its image by focusing more on the social sense. If it completes the social integration and can establish healthier communities, it will reach trust in the Turkish market and move on to become permanent. For this, it can give more weight to social issues and come up with community campaigns.
Effect of New York experience for future launches and how investors consider this situation?
The opening in New York received overwhelmingly negative feedback. Steaks were though and bland, hamburgers were overcooked, tartar was heavily chopped, cocktails were dreadful, and even water was overpriced. Paying over $500 for an ordinary quality meal was considered absurd by some journalists and the media and justified by humans are idiot. The New York Eater writer, who sarcastically talked about the extremely expensive and hearty meal, emphasizes that this money paid by the customers, agrees with his colleague, can only be justified by the theatrical show. While hundreds of people still fill his restaurants to record a few-second story, they also state that these table visits will decrease day by day.
The media coverage of these news poses a big problem for Nusret, and it is clear that it will negatively affect his future openings. Journalists, who are aware of the fact that as new places open, less effort and time will be allocated to the places in their own cities, voice this at every opportunity and say that Nusret’s price and value policy is problematic. In addition, Nusret, who was closely watched by the media, was described as a health scandal because he presented food with bare hands and a watch on his wrist after the opening in New York, and an investigation was started about him.
As an emotional branded and highly involved brand, it is difficult to attain and sustain differentiation and any crisis occurred may result in such big problems. If a brand meaning abandons its emotional promises, key customers can generate a significant backlash. Just like Nusret’s opening in New York, if he cannot meet the expectations and sustain the value he promised, conflicts will arise here and will damage the next openings.
Here, a Doppelgänger brand image created by the media is formed and has begun to damage the original brand image. Investors will therefore be cautious of Nusret and think twice before opening elsewhere.
To make matters worse, Clayton Guse from TimeOut New York initiated a boycott in the media against Nusret and organized a public relation campaign against it. These are significant risks on the anti-brandism side of risk of meaning co-creation.
At the end of the day, all these will affect the beliefs and behaviors of the customer and will damage the emotional bond that the Nusret brand has created. These are the risks of being an emotional brand, and unfortunately, since Nusret is an experience brand, his shows add intangible value to a tangible product, and it plays a major role in constructing identity through memorable experience. Investors will be aware of raised critical problems and will hesitate to continue work with, in the end, those will affect the success of future launches around world.
What happened nowadays and what is new about Nusr-Et?
Recently, when the salt-sprinkling movement, which we knew in the past, started to lose its effect, it has been trying to come up with new movements. For example, he started serving cappuccino last year and interestingly yelling “Cappuccinoo!” when he drunk it. In addition, Nusret started to be embraced and attracted a lot of attention by Middle East culture, with gold plating on the meat products and coffees it offered. In recent days, he has been trying to create another trend with the avocado cutting technique and again with his yelling style. Although it starts to fall into a bit of repetition, these marketing tactics that he does without using any agency are easily going viral.
