It really won’t do you any good to spend the time and money to create a brunch menu, a supporting cocktail program, and wow factor brunch promotions if you don’t have marketing in place. How are people supposed to know about your awesome foods and amazing cocktails if you haven’t made them aware?
Public School, a sophisticated but playful gastropub with locations in California, Nevada and Texas, utilizes several marketing avenues to make their guests aware of their brunch program. The multi-store concept planned on offering brunch from the start so they promoted it in the restaurant. Social media and their website were also integral components of the marketing campaign, and Public School reposts their guests’ brunch photos via their Instagram page. According to Liz Geavaras, VP of Marketing of Grill Concepts for Public School, those posts always get the most likes.
Social media plays an important role in promoting brunch for Pizza Rock as well. The hip pizza place with a rock n’ roll vibe also makes customers aware of their Acoustic Sunday Brunch promotion through posters located outside of the venue. General manager Amanda Smith says Pizza Rock uses check presenter inserts as well.
The stylish, upscale steakhouse STK went all-in with their marketing efforts. To promote their Sunday Brunch Club, STK created a fully realized marketing campaign and media plan prior to the launch. They ran teaser ads based upon The Breakfast Club, putting executive chef Stephen Hopcraft and some managers and servers into the film’s iconic roles.
And then they unleashed their unique VIP and media event:
“To get the buzz going about Sunday Brunch Club, we hosted a VIP and media event that was unlike anybody had seen,” says Jordan Mendez. “In the middle of the brunch service, we had a hip hop group performing a flash mob right in the dining room. To keep the momentum and engage with our guests, we also created a brunch-specific Instagram and hashtag.”
While you don’t have to go quite as far as a media launch event, customer engagement is the key to succeeding in marketing today. Seed your hashtags when utilizing social media and remember to brag about your plans to create a brunch program. If you don’t tell them about it, your guests won’t know about it.