Hiroaki (rocky) Aoki

In 1964, Hiroaki (Rocky) Aoki opened the first Benihana's on the West Side of New York City. This would prove to be a beautifully planned opportunity for the young restaurateur in that the idea and marketing approach was unique. This concept has outlived other competitors as well as proved to be worthy of expansion. The concept has not changed in the forty years of the business. However there are certain opportunities that have displayed themselves to Rocky. This has proved to be difficult for the management to adapt to. There are questions of expansion, franchisizing, which has already been attempted, expansions into other realms of business and as well as selling products under the brand name. This of course will raise many different questions that must be addressed:

1. What exactly is being expanded?

2. Is diversification possible with the current brand name?

3. Can modifications be made to the current Benihana model?

The first question is easy to answer with the following graphs:

It should be obvious from these graphs that Benihana is currently selling an experience rather than a certain product. This three pointed model, food, service and atmosphere, is what has allowed Benihana to become so successful. This will help to understand the problems with some of these ideas that have been brought before the management. Expansion appears to be a possibility here. The idea of providing good food combined with an authentic environment and impeccable service, has proved to be a successful combination for Rocky. However, this expansion should be kept within the restaurant business. The idea of opening more Benihana"s should considered seriously. The keep points to look at here will be maintaining the exact replicas of the current restaurant. The possibility of doing this at a lower cost than the quoted $300,000 should be looked at. This may require more workers from Japan or possibly non-Japanese construction workers. This could potentially increase the number of Benihana's that can be built in one year from five to more. This would create a faster way of expanding and allow for the potential top expand into suburbia as well.

To address the second question, it appears that the brand name works for only the restaurant industry due to the service and atmosphere that surrounds the customer while enjoying the great food quality. Benihana has proved that this combination works. This is further justified by the opening of Haru's in 1995, a sushi restaurant using the same model as Benihana's( ) Therefore, this would pose a problem when trying to enter a product line. The preceding graphs would change in the fact that there would not be an atmosphere to rate as well as service. Benihana does not possess the ability to promote itself strictly based upon food quality at this time.

To address the third and final question, modifications to Benihana are dangerous for two reasons. One, the current model has proved to be successful for forty years. Two, as Rocky stated himself, people are very picky about their food. Changes could cause a turn for the worse. As the saying goes, why try to fix something if it is not broken? It appears that the Benihana concept would not be suited to be modified into another industry, however, it the methodology could be changed. Rocky asked himself the question of the changing generation that is currently at hand. Marketing research should be conducted into the possibility of opening a fast food time chain for this younger generation. However, a new name should be applied so as to not confuse the service,