“It's a very naive idea to think that the chef is cooking everything, and, on top of it, is irreplaceable. That would mean that basically he is the only genius, and there are idiots all around him, which doesn't make sense.”
Eric Ripert
Client: Latin Inspired Restaurant and Bar, Stamford, CT
This stunning bi-level, mainly Mexican, though tagged as “Latin Inspired” restaurant opened with a “celebrity” at the helm. Its initial introduction to the area was met with great fanfare from those in the know (Food Network groupies and such) and its supposed front man immersed himself in local food events initially. The chef’s (out of town) management team spearheaded the restaurants’ operations and marketing efforts and the chef's personal NYC based PR firm was brought on.
Less than 8 months later the restaurant began showing signs of fatigue. The celebrity chef was nowhere to be found and his #2 in charge was less than enthused or motivated by the challenge of carrying on without its name chef. Ultimately, the chef was let go and so was his entire camp. Management was a revolving door of non-leaders.
Enter MaxEx.
Challenge: It was a grand illusion – one that we would soon come to realize. Before we could begin we needed to evaluate where everything was left off, what worked and what didn’t.
Approach:
Outcome: Stay Tuned…(3/29/16)
Eric Ripert
Client: Latin Inspired Restaurant and Bar, Stamford, CT
This stunning bi-level, mainly Mexican, though tagged as “Latin Inspired” restaurant opened with a “celebrity” at the helm. Its initial introduction to the area was met with great fanfare from those in the know (Food Network groupies and such) and its supposed front man immersed himself in local food events initially. The chef’s (out of town) management team spearheaded the restaurants’ operations and marketing efforts and the chef's personal NYC based PR firm was brought on.
Less than 8 months later the restaurant began showing signs of fatigue. The celebrity chef was nowhere to be found and his #2 in charge was less than enthused or motivated by the challenge of carrying on without its name chef. Ultimately, the chef was let go and so was his entire camp. Management was a revolving door of non-leaders.
Enter MaxEx.
Challenge: It was a grand illusion – one that we would soon come to realize. Before we could begin we needed to evaluate where everything was left off, what worked and what didn’t.
- Media – only a few of the area magazines and a few bloggers wrote about the restaurant / chef. The majority of the regional media had never been approached / pitched.
- It was obvious that most consumers had no idea who the chef was and for those that did (media included), nobody really cared. It was simple – the buzz out there was that of mediocre food and bad service – no talk of the chef. No matter how stunning the view, the restaurant was not running on all cylinders.
- Web site was a templated site run by a technical support team from a digital company. No branding, custom design, point person or functionality was in place.
- Social media platforms were lacking proper format, media placements, and networked posts.
- Zero online presence – no restaurant directories, listing sites, claimed review sites or SEO.
- No graphic artist / brand director on board – so no print materials, signage to go off premise or handouts.
- There was no leadership and decision makers were off-premise.
Approach:
- Enter a new chef (one that we have worked with before and felt confident could get the restaurant to where it needed to be). He created a true Latin inspired menu and food quality, costs, and kitchen operations were brought in line. While the new chef was “known” and had a great reputation, the focus was kept on the menu.
- Chef also became the main point person.
- Web site is still a work in progress as the restaurant signed a contract with the digital company. New photos were taken, content updated, event tab added to enhance private event promotion, and a better layout for consumer ease was made a priority.
- Social media manager took over all SM platforms. LIKES continue to grow and all platforms are being fully utilized to promote all aspects of the restaurant. Email marketing database continues to grow and consistent emails are sent to keep consumers engaged.
- Graphic Designer in place and consistent branding throughout all print/promotional materials in place.
- Media outreach in progress. The restaurant is being reintroduced and its former self is being reinvented. Blogging community and all access media is being slowly invited into the restaurant so they can meet the new chef and experience the new menu. This will be on-going now – no big “pop” like the original restaurant – quite the opposite.
- No “celebrities” here. The concentration is on quality food, trained service staff, trained kitchen team, stellar beverage program, private events, target marketing, and a crafted marketing and promotions campaign that continues to evolve.
Outcome: Stay Tuned…(3/29/16)
“The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.” – George Carlin
Client: Italian Restaurant in Westport, CT
Challenge: As one of the larger and more active restaurants in this charming Fairfield County town where approximately 75% of the population is raising a family, their challenge was retaining their existing customer base while targeting families with children. How does a restaurant reach these parents, and even the children? Can a strong outreach program to families be accomplished without turning off the bar revelers, date nighters, the baby boomers and a restaurant’s older clientele?
Approach
Media
While maintaining the restaurant’s presence in all regional mainstream media, a separate campaign was launched in support of targeting families, women and children. Press releases / pitches were developed which focused on:
Target Marketing
Not enough restaurants do this - “Go and get your customers!” Media exposure will never be enough to grow your business. In this case we knew our client had to immerse themselves into the family and female community.
Outcome
This restaurant continues to garner awards and accolades for “Best Happy Hour” in tandem with “Best Place to Bring Your Kids”. Kids Menu sales increased over 16% in the first year after this PR initiative began. All other business segments continued to grow as well. Though we targeted a specific market, the overall exposure resulted in a tremendous image boost as well as financial one.
Client: Italian Restaurant in Westport, CT
Challenge: As one of the larger and more active restaurants in this charming Fairfield County town where approximately 75% of the population is raising a family, their challenge was retaining their existing customer base while targeting families with children. How does a restaurant reach these parents, and even the children? Can a strong outreach program to families be accomplished without turning off the bar revelers, date nighters, the baby boomers and a restaurant’s older clientele?
Approach
Media
While maintaining the restaurant’s presence in all regional mainstream media, a separate campaign was launched in support of targeting families, women and children. Press releases / pitches were developed which focused on:
- REAL food menus for kids. All items were comprised of the same fresh ingredients, from-scratch preparations, and many of the existing dishes from the restaurant’s main menu. Professional food photos were even taken and sent out with pitches. The idea was to treat this menu as an equally impressive offering to consumers.
- Where to bring your family that is kid-friendly while you have a good time too. The pitch was simple; A sophisticated albeit a casual atmosphere where earlier in the evening parents could feel comfortable bringing their brood in for dinner. The multi room space, spacious layout, fun open kitchen atmosphere and diverse menu were appealing to both father and son. Subtle messages such as; kids menu available until 7:30 PM; main dining room only; and waitstaff not available for babysitting were quickly picked by the media.
- A restaurant for all the people. This where we had a little fun with the media and the consumers. Can a restaurant really be everything to everybody? The MaxEx answer to that is absolutely not. However, when worded correctly, the scene was “a day in the life of a restaurant”. It began with ladies who lunch and three-martini business meetings. It morphed into the restaurant’s award-winning happy hour taking place in the restaurant’s large bar and lounge room, all the while families were in for their post-soccer practice supper. Then it was time for the grown-ups, corporate crowds and date night folks to have their fun. Alas, ending the night with the social singles and happy hour hangers on…
- Mommy Bloggers Private Lunch. Fairfield County is the proud recipient of over 100 “Mommy Blogs”. Several luncheons were arranged (15-20 ladies an afternoon) for these parents to come in and enjoy an afternoon at Rizzuto’s. In addition to the “grown-up” lunch served, the restaurant had kids menu items for them to sample – complete with nutritional break down.
Target Marketing
Not enough restaurants do this - “Go and get your customers!” Media exposure will never be enough to grow your business. In this case we knew our client had to immerse themselves into the family and female community.
- Sponsorship of local school team sports and VIP cards for the players
- Field side BBQs and pizza drop-offs
- American Heart Association Kids Cook-Off Partnership
- EWN (Entrepreneurial Women’s Network) Luncheon Host
- Westport Playhouse Children’s Series Restaurant Partner
- And the hits continued. But all had to be properly leveraged and managed throughout. Media exposure was built in, relationships were built, the brand was reinforced and our client became top of mind with families.
Outcome
This restaurant continues to garner awards and accolades for “Best Happy Hour” in tandem with “Best Place to Bring Your Kids”. Kids Menu sales increased over 16% in the first year after this PR initiative began. All other business segments continued to grow as well. Though we targeted a specific market, the overall exposure resulted in a tremendous image boost as well as financial one.
“The disparity between a restaurant’s price and food quality rises in direct proportion to the size of the pepper mill.” – Bryan Miller
Client: High End Steak House in Greenwich, CT
Challenge: This spectacular space in a tony New York suburb was immediately labeled as elite, expensive and unapproachable, though its customers, menu, and owners and staff were anything but. And while our initial press releases were written in a livelier, casual and low-key vein, the mere mention of who was behind it and what was to be served, in addition to the images sent of a stately bar and white tablecloth dining room had it quickly branded – but not how we originally planned.
Approach
Media Event
There was really only one thing to do – invite them in to experience the restaurant firsthand. Seeing, tasting and observing is believing. A common practice in our area, and often a welcome opportunity for writers, fun invitations were sent out with a picture of our Maître d’ alongside a food trivia question for writers to RSVP back to us with the answer.
Outcome
80% of the invited writers attended over the course of 3 nights. The interaction among the owners / staff and these influential tastemakers was priceless – and quite humorous. A free-spirited, honest and open dialogue occurred all while enjoying the fine food and wine and thoughtful service. The media wound up conversing with the other patrons and their impression of an elite clientele was quickly put to rest.
Media Placement
We’re not always very subtle here at MaxEx. Sure, we can fluff things up just as poofy as the next publicist or tell the media and consumers what they want to hear, but sometimes that’s just not an effective approach. When the issue of price started to rear its ugly little head we decided to combat it with facts. But to do so, we’d have to make comparisons to other menus in the area and even talk about portion sizes, quality, etc…
Outcome
Our client’s bar business was the first to grow. The younger foodie generation was quick to pick up on the gorgeous bar area and more polished service. In turn, the restaurant responded with a bar menu which kept their customers at the bar and customers began to spread the word. The restaurant’s clientele has since become more diverse. The bloggers and the media continue to use the “price comparison” angle every so often, opening their readers’ eyes to what’s really going on with area menus. And our Maître d’s mantra continues to be quoted in our mainstream media; “No matter what type of restaurant you are, service should always be a 5-star experience.”
Client: High End Steak House in Greenwich, CT
Challenge: This spectacular space in a tony New York suburb was immediately labeled as elite, expensive and unapproachable, though its customers, menu, and owners and staff were anything but. And while our initial press releases were written in a livelier, casual and low-key vein, the mere mention of who was behind it and what was to be served, in addition to the images sent of a stately bar and white tablecloth dining room had it quickly branded – but not how we originally planned.
Approach
Media Event
There was really only one thing to do – invite them in to experience the restaurant firsthand. Seeing, tasting and observing is believing. A common practice in our area, and often a welcome opportunity for writers, fun invitations were sent out with a picture of our Maître d’ alongside a food trivia question for writers to RSVP back to us with the answer.
Outcome
80% of the invited writers attended over the course of 3 nights. The interaction among the owners / staff and these influential tastemakers was priceless – and quite humorous. A free-spirited, honest and open dialogue occurred all while enjoying the fine food and wine and thoughtful service. The media wound up conversing with the other patrons and their impression of an elite clientele was quickly put to rest.
Media Placement
We’re not always very subtle here at MaxEx. Sure, we can fluff things up just as poofy as the next publicist or tell the media and consumers what they want to hear, but sometimes that’s just not an effective approach. When the issue of price started to rear its ugly little head we decided to combat it with facts. But to do so, we’d have to make comparisons to other menus in the area and even talk about portion sizes, quality, etc…
- A fun and entertaining pitch was made to our area bloggers. They are fearless and love to get their readers thinking. MaxEx took 6 area menus with similar items from pubs to bistros, Italian trattorias to tapas joints, and did an item and by item, price by price comparison. Not surprisingly, many of the pub’s prices rivaled the perceived to be higher end restaurants. And MaxEx’s steak house client came out looking like they were more the middle of road on some items. As for the steaks, when compared ounce for dollar, the patron would come out ahead at the steak house and not the Spanish place!
- The lost art of fine dining. Instead of mocking it, why not celebrate it? Why not get dressed up? Why not splurge on that bottle of wine? And who’s to say that fine dining equals pretense, snobbery, and a high check average? MaxEx’s approach was to embrace “fine dining” without feeling as if you were cheating on your long time hipster food locales.
- Service, service and even better service. A variety of pitches were created around the topic of service. In order to do so we even pulled in some other restaurants and quotes from restaurant owners that we didn’t even represent. It became more of a topic of discussion as opposed to it all being focused on our steak house. This strategy made our client stand out even more, leading the way for future articles and related topics.
Outcome
Our client’s bar business was the first to grow. The younger foodie generation was quick to pick up on the gorgeous bar area and more polished service. In turn, the restaurant responded with a bar menu which kept their customers at the bar and customers began to spread the word. The restaurant’s clientele has since become more diverse. The bloggers and the media continue to use the “price comparison” angle every so often, opening their readers’ eyes to what’s really going on with area menus. And our Maître d’s mantra continues to be quoted in our mainstream media; “No matter what type of restaurant you are, service should always be a 5-star experience.”