In 2020, the Bar-B-Cutie brand had been in the barbecue-filled San Antonio environment without much recognition or awareness for three years. With a tricky location and limited publicity efforts or a plan, the leadership team at Bar-B-Cutie Smokehouse connected with our Sammis|Ochoa team for guidance in how to make the brand known, with a desire to increase traffic at the restaurant, especially hyperlocally, and a goal to enhance its brand awareness and market share in the city.

Results

With the immediate need to increase awareness and visits, our first point of business was to complete surveying, research, and understanding to learn what the demographic knew about Bar-B-Cutie and what their overall feeling toward fast casual and the barbecue market was. With that information, we developed a plan to determine how to better engage the community and increase traffic in the restaurant and loyalty to the brand. With a focus on publicity to highlight specialty menu items like the Orlie, the Baker, and other items that have recently come to the menu, like the Nashville Hot Sandwich, we aligned media pitches with specialty foodie days, came up with creative promotion ideas, like the Throwback Sandwich Day (with relevant pricing) and have created community partnerships with new organizations through the Bar-B-Cutie Spirit Days program.