Suspicious against Brand Journalims

Around Elon University in NC, there are some Asian Restaurants avairable for the students.
Most of the restaurants have delivery systems, so that students can easily access to their foods.
However, one of the supprising thing for me is Simply Thai, which is in 20 minutes walk from the campus.

Differences from other competitors: 4P

Product

Firstly, I would like to talk about the differentiation of the Simply Thai. I often go to that restaurant with my friends, and I notice many people not only students but also residents around there are coming to the restaurant. Why do I go to that place instead of other Asian restaurants? The reason is, I feel the taste is better than others. Also, I like the design of its restaurant.

Price
Usually, delivery food costs about $10~20 including its fees. Simply Thai, I usually spend $15~25.
From this comparison, I can say $5 is for the cost of experiencing great atmosphere and taste of foods. This depends one's value, that I do not mind paying $5 for those values, but other's might be not.

Place
Considering the actual distance from the campus, Simply Thai is closest Asian restaurant from Elon University. That is one of its advantage. Hoever, delivering systems others take are also advantage in terms of accessibility. This depends on customer's context. If I want to eat inside of my room, I would choose delivery. If I want to go out with my friends, I would choose Simply Thai.



Promotion
Most of the restaurants which have delivery can distribute their advertising around campus.
For the Simply Thai, I have never seen ones on campus, but I often heard from other friends that the Simply Thai is the best. This may one of the way of promotion, with more realistic story telling.


Conclusion
Basically, I still believe the positioning theory.
What the Brand Journalism saying is that the brand should be applicable for many kind of interests.
Should Simply Thai take the delivery systems? No. If it takes them, Simply Thai will be suffered from their costs(gas, human resourse, etc)
Also, if I regard Simply Thai as one of the delivering restaurants, there are no differences from others in my head.

What I really want to claim is that the brand journalism theory has potentials to ruin one's strengths.
McDonald's provides many kind of snacks or light meals. That actually take the sufficient spaces or labor forces for those products. I am fine with just nomal cheeseburger, but since they are taking more and more time to prepare it, I avoid to go to McDonal's when I care about time.
It is no longer fast-food restaurant for me, but it just "cheap" meal for me.


I will try to approach the brand journalism theory, but it will take much time for me to understand or agree to it.