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CLIENT PROFILE:
RESTAURANT CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

DEFINING THE PROBLEM
In the summer of 1997, one of our restaurant development clients came to us with an idea for a new restaurant in the works . . . a New York Style Deli centered around a peppers theme. The client wanted to present an upbeat, fun atmosphere in a location filled with corrugated metal, exposed structure, neon, traditional deli cases and chalkboards. Our job was to give a face to this concept.

THE DEFINING PIECE
Once the logo was established, the next step was to design the menu. For a dine-in and carryout restaurant, the menu is the single most important marketing piece. It tends to define people's impression of the restaurant. We wanted to create a fun, upbeat look with lots of "hot" colors. We felt that the first menu should be in full color in order to give the opening lots of punch. We designed three or four rough concepts showing general organization, placement of illustrations and treatment of the menu headings and items. Once the client had chosen the concept they liked best, we started on the nuts and bolts. We designed a clean, colorful menu with large pepper illustrations taken from the logo. Menu item descriptions were pared down to the basics and other copy was written in an upbeat "in your face" voice.

FOLLOWING THROUGH
Part of the marketing challenge of opening a new restaurant is determining what collateral pieces will be needed to establish an image. We advised that Sweet Peppers use a full color menu for the opening and a scaled down 2-color version as a take-out menu with a perforated reply mail comment card. We also designed letterhead, envelopes, and business cards. All the pieces had the same "look".

SETTING THE SCENE
The atmosphere of a restaurant is extremely important, and our clients wanted to bring the same "look" of the printed pieces to the interior of Sweet Peppers. We accomplished this by incorporating the logo and pepper illustrations throughout the interior, including neon peppers on the walls, colorful menu chalkboards, brown paper bags and cups printed with the logo, and logo t-shirts for use as staff "uniforms". Our clients also wanted to offer retail t-shirts and wearables for customers to buy as "souvenirs". We created several designs and set up an in-store display.

GETTING THE WORD OUT
Advertising for the restaurant opening began several weeks before the actual opening date. Dux D'Lux designed several "Coming Soon" newspaper teaser ads as well as ads to be run the day of opening. We also wrote several radio ads with fun background music and funny copy that would run on local stations. We designed a bell pepper shaped invitation to the opening party. The new restaurant was also included in the corporate website.

EVOLVING
Any good marketing program must grow and change as the company does. With Sweet Peppers, we pared down the menu colors and size after the restaurant had been established. When our clients wanted to market their catering services more aggressively, Dux D'Lux designed art for Sweet Peppers' catering vans and a box lunch/catering menu. We also created several billboard designs to offer an added promotional punch. We seasonally rotate colors for uniforms and retail wearables to create variety.

MAKING IT EASY
As successful as a marketing program is, it must also be changeable and easy to implement. At Dux D'Lux, we consider it our job to evaluate how a program works and make it easier on our clients. For Sweet Peppers, the hassle of ordering wearables, choosing t-shirt colors, and remembering which design goes on various shirts had become cumbersome for the staff. In response, we sat down to brainstorm ways to make the process easier. We decided to create a binder notebook for each location including all the designs used by each restaurant. We have developed an inventory program to warehouse shirts so that they can be printed in larger quantities and ordered to fill in as demand arises. By providing monthly and/or quarterly reports, we will be able to predict the usage of wearables, menus, collateral pieces, etc., more accurately and hopefully provide better service.
Sweet Peppers has become a huge success and has since opened a second location. When we hear our clients say how busy the restaurants are, we know we have done our job. Their success is the best gauge of our own.