Branding is more than just your name and logo. According to Reid Neubert, "The logo is only the visual representation of the brand. What it is, is not as easy to explain. In the end, a brand is the associations people have with the company, product or service that are beyond its real, tangible aspects."

Customers' perceptions, based upon outside forces, often color the interpretation of our message. When you see the term "comfort food," you rarely think of a fine-dining experience. When you see the phrase "value-family oriented," a five-star, Michelin-rated resort does not pop into your mind.

This is the same for menu branding. This should include strategic terminology on your menus. These well-placed descriptors position your brand as healthy, value-driven or edgy. Here are a few that position your restaurant or hotel snack shop to ring additional sales.

Healthy to power

Restaurants marketing healthy menu items have long fought the perception that they are lacking in flavor. Customers say they want "healthy," but when sitting at the restaurant, often choose to treat themselves with fried food or dessert.

The menu term "power" denotes great energy and flavor. It is not equated with low-fat or low-calorie items. But power can be higher in calories because of the customer perception that it will lead to added vitality.

Think of a menu describing the "Seared Salmon with Toasted French Bread Points" or "Four Egg White, Spinach and Mushroom Omelet" as a power meal.

Processed to natural

Customers want to know enough about the origin to be assured that the product is made from natural ingredients, not to read a term they can't even pronounce. One example of this is Chinese restaurants that proudly claim "no monosodium glutamate (MSG)" in their dishes.

Rather, menus should state that ingredients are seasoned "naturally." What exactly does this mean? It is open to the interpretation of the customer based upon what Neubert calls the "unique promise of quality." Nonetheless, the customer feels good about the quality of the Chinese restaurant.

Fresh to sustainable/locally grown

"Fresh" was the rage for menus 5-10 years ago. The evolution in environmental/economic consciousness has led to newer descriptors being used, such as "sustainable" or "locally grown." This leads the customer to feel good about helping the local farmer, as well as getting foods that usually have better nutritional value.

Adding a descriptor of "made from sustainable locally grown ingredients," or "locally harvested seafood" to the menu only enhances your restaurant as being a quality operation.

Most importantly, what you don't want is to drive sales down by claiming to have these types of items on your menu — without actually having them. On a recent visit to a famous BBQ restaurant in Memphis, American-grown Delta catfish was marketed on the menu. The next table inquired was that true?

The waiter got the owner, who confessed to the patron that the restaurant's fish was "an Asian version, but still within the catfish species." In reality, the Asian version was much cheaper. What the owner did not realize until that moment was that the patron was an attorney whose customer was the brand for the catfish touted on the restaurant's menu.

Refreshing your brand in the mind of the marketplace is essential for driving sales. Don't let your profitability suffer through tired menu descriptors.