The PR Factor You can Taste
It’s a hazard of the job, and a delicious one too. When you work at a PR and marketing agency that has a history of working with restaurants, you are about to become a serious foodie. Take it from people who know. At BizCom Associates, some of the best news is served on a plate.
And the marketing program that cooks up the right results is the key to making it resonate far beyond one bite. That’s where our team has some seasoned experience.
Whether it’s grand opening events, new product launches, chain milestones, LTOs or – Heaven, helps us – the mere chance to win free food for a year, there’s a BizCom story of how we pulled it off. It’s the kind of brand marketing that makes for mouthwatering publicity at its best.
PR for Wingstop: Eating as a Spectator Sport
It’s also not for amateurs…literally! Like the time BizCom helped produce the Wingstop World-Wide Wing Eating Championship for Wingstop. We teamed up with Major League Eating – yes, there is such an organization – and had the pros flown in to do battle in public. We originally scheduled it to coincide with the Super Bowl when it was played in Dallas, but an ice storm ruined those plans.
No problem.
Wingstop World-wide Wing Eating Championship
We moved it to coincide with the start of the NBA Playoffs and it was a slam dunk! You’ve never seen so many sauced and tossed wings disappear in front of cameras and crowd alike. The highlight reel says it all. It was a major win not just for the eaters but also for a reputable and growing chain.
This is the stuff that puts the hot in hot wings…
PR for Taco Cabana: Historic Anniversary
Chains that get big also don’t want to lose that special something that makes their brand so special. We’re talking about much more than grandma’s secret recipe. Take our work for Taco Cabana as an example. When we signed on to help the company get publicity for its 35th anniversary, the campaign culminated with the remodeling of the very first location in San Antonio, Texas, to it’s historic look and feel from the day it originally opened in 1978. How’s that for nostalgia? It was a party system-wide with throwback prices for .35-cent bean and cheese tacos. And the picture perfect grand re-opening of store #1 was the stuff of media milestones too.
The grand-reopening of Taco Cabana’s 1st store in its 35th anniversary.
PR for Red Mango: Taking a Bite out of the Big Apple
What happens when the #1 Zagat-rated frozen yogurt chain does something equally chill – like launch a line of probiotic smoothies? That smooth move belonged to Red Mango and was perfect for a Big Apple event at a Red Mango location, a private audience for food bloggers with Founder Dan Kim, and a line out the door with the general public that stopped traffic in a city where traffic is non-stop.
Not to be outdone by free smoothies for the crowd, Dan swung by Bloomberg’s TV studio for the national chat on the froyo chain’s menu expansion. It was a tasty product launch that left everyone feeling refreshed!
Dan Kim, Founder of Red Mango, on Bloomberg TV.
PR for Pei Wei: 200….and Counting
BizCom wouldn’t do justice talking about our restaurant work without addressing grand openings. While we concentrate only on those newsmakers (psst – don’t waste your good marketing dollars getting agencies to bill you for announcing the 27 location in a local market) it’s “wei rewarding” to help restaurants make a splash.
And BizCom’s most recent hoorah was for 200th grand opening for Pei Wei Asian Diner. No luck was needed for this great fortune of an event. Guests received free t-shirts, noshed on free sushi samples, and entered for a chance to win concert tickets, a free mini iPad, Pei Wei gift certificates and (what else?) free Pei Wei for a Year.
Of course that demanded a fly-in from the CEO, media interviews, and plenty of selfies in front of the step-and-repeat at this benchmark location. Let’s just say it was Wei fun for the BizCom crew too!
CEO Ralph Bower (second from the right) and the Pei Wei team.
New Year’s Resolution, Anyone?
As you can guess, the BizCom team has gotten its fill of some delicious work over the years. And while the customary “get-back-in-shape” resolution season beckons, so do many restaurants and tasty chains looking for a seasoned agency! If you’re looking for a healthy agency partnership in 2016, let’s do lunch!
Komen