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ZAGAT
SURVEY
Zagat's
Diners' Bill of Rights
Background
In 1979, Nina and Tim Zagat introduced their first Zagat New York
City Restaurant Survey — that is, a review of restaurants based
not on the Zagats' personal opinion, but on the restaurant patrons'
responses. Started as a hobby, the survey became so popular that
it soon developed into a full-time publishing enterprise. In 1988,
the Zagats extended their surveys to U.S. hotels, resorts and spas,
and in 1990, they first reviewed the airline and car rental industries.
Today, the pocket-sized Zagat Surveys, recognizable by their burgundy
covers, have become best-sellers, reviewing restaurants in more
than 40 major U.S. and foreign cities with the help of over 100,000
participants. By 1999, the surveys had become available on-line.
PR
Needs
Zagat needed to reinforce its unmatched longevity in the restaurant/hotel
guide category, to increase sales of the Zagat publications, and
to differentiate its web site from other online restaurant listings
and ratings and drive traffic to the web site.
Spector
Solution
Spector
& Associates helped the Zagats create a Diners' Bill of Rights on
the new Zagat web site. Web site visitors were given the opportunity
to help develop the criteria to rate service within the restaurant
industry by providing input on suggested standards and making recommendations
of their own. The Zagats invited world-renowned restaurateurs to
a summit held at the French Culinary Institute to discuss the findings
of the survey and to share with diners their ideas about some of
the basic principles of service and dining out. The web site and
survey results were covered by both national press and hi-tech press,
including The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times,
Variety and AlleyCat News.
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