For years, public relations wasn't on the business menu at The Green Mill Restaurant chain, which specializes in Deep Dish pizza. For nearly 25 years, the $75 million company -
- with 34 restaurants throughout the Midwest -- generally relied on advertising to get the message out about its family-friendly fare.
"We thought our advertising agency can do PR, but it wasn't happening and decided that a half-hearted effort wasn't adding value," says Todd King, president of Green Mill
Restaurant Inc.
Up until 2000, PR and community relations functions were done on an ad hoc basis - especially when it came to the company's crucial restaurant openings. There was no set PR
strategy and new franchises were generally left to their own devices to help get their restaurants off the ground. "We needed to create a formula for success when opening," King
says.
Enter Kohnstamm Communications, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based PR agency that quickly changed the PR recipe for Green Mill. Operating with a small budget of $10,000 (plus $14,700
for research to mount a pilot program), Kohnstamm created a strategy of pre-opening/grand opening and community relations that are now the chain's protocol for their new
restaurants.
The new PR strategy was initially served up last October for the opening of a Green Mill Restaurant in Bismark, the first established in North Dakota. "Todd wanted a good
response in the media but really wanted the openings to translate into higher sales," says Josh Kohnstamm, founder of Kohnstamm Communications. "As PR campaigns go, it was a
fairly modest budget and we needed to leverage a lot for doing everything we sought out to do."
Kohnstamm primarily did a substantial amount of research on other "rising star" restaurants. The research focused on the charitable organization partnerships they chose and how
they leveraged those affiliations to benefit their own brand. Seattle-based restaurant chain Red Robin mirrored the community-based approach that Green Mill embraced. Kohnstamm
also gathered results from a pilot program, using the opening of a new Green Mill restaurant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in August 2001 as a test case. It was here that the free
"Pizza-for-Breakfast" concept was favorably tested, which was also an essential ingredient for the Bismark opening.
Kohnstamm's PR strategy for the Bismark opening included:
Using Green Mill Pizza Cruiser plus coupons to drive traffic to stores and to get as many slices of pizza into the hands of Bismarck residents as possible. The agency
accomplished this by setting the goal of arranging 10 free corporate pizza lunches through residents' place of employment; arranging three community-based events (some as
fundraisers for the charitable organization); coordinating pre-opening "mock meals;" and a VIP dinner for community members (with proceeds going to the charitable partner). The
aggressive goal was set to reach 500 people at each of the 15 anticipated events.
Kohnstamm also sought to secure at least two placements in every major media outlet in the Bismarck market - totaling 12 key media outlets and, most important, exceed the
previous Green Mill restaurant opening week revenues of $77,000.
The month leading up to the opening featured a free dinner for community members -- alcohol sales were donated to charity -- to give the staff the opportunity to rehearse for
the grand opening.
The Grand Opening in Bismark on October 2 had a costumed live action pizza slice hawking cars in traffic that drew live coverage from local radio stations as well as an item in
the business section of the Bismark Tribune two weeks after the opening. The first Saturday after the Grand Opening, the restaurant opened at 11 a.m. and became so busy that
customers were on a waiting line continuously until 9 p.m.
During the opening week, the Bismark restaurant smashed the previous sales record by 17%, with more than $90,000 in revenue. In essence, says Kohnstamm, the client paid for the
PR program in the first week of business. The first and second month's sales figures were also a record for the restaurant chain at $345,000 and $300,000, respectively. Local
media took a big bite out of the opening: 35 placements secured - 50% above the goal - including cover treatment and cover business section features in the Bismark Tribune and
five TV in-studio or news segment interviews.
"PR creates the difference between a decent opening and an outstanding one," King says. But he has put his money where his mouth is. The media package that Kohnstamm developed
now serves as a template for all upcoming Grand Mill openings. Kohnstamm also created a company guidebook to help all 34 restaurants in the chain to become more media savvy.
The Secret Sauce
Kohnstamm Communications leveraged Green Mill's willingness to get pizza into the hands of as many residents as possible by developing a five-pronged approach that resulted in
heavy media coverage associated with the opening of a Green Mill restaurant in Bismark, North Dakota.
1) Creating a "Pizza for Breakfast" promotion offering hundreds of slices of free pizza during the morning rush-hour got play on local radio stations and made the cover of the
statewide Bismarck Tribune.
2) Booking the world's five-time Pizza Tossing Champion for corporate, charitable non-profit and public events drew crowds and created compelling visuals for local TV.
3) Arranging large-employer free pizza lunches to spread the word and goodwill quickly, including one event that gave away nearly 3,800 slices at a State Capitol lunch to North
Dakota state employees.
4) Establishing a relationship with a reputable but underserved non-profit organization in the recreation field, in this case raising money for Bismarck Park and Rec through
community events, including a VIP pre-opening dinner event.
5) Introduction of "Pheasant Pizza," a media creation timed to coincide with the Dakotas' signature sporting activity, was perfect morning show fodder, demonstrated by the
Pizza Tossing champ and Green Mill's corporate chef.
'Opening' Facts
Agency: Kohnstamm Communications
Budget: $10,000
Returns: Most Successful opening in restaurant's 25-year history, with sales 17% higher than previous record.
Contacts: John Kohnstamm, 651.228.9141, [email protected]; Todd King, 651.203.3100, [email protected]