Restaurants and Institutions

Stu Stein

Year in Review-The PR Question
December 13, 2007

Cole (as in Cole Danehower, my wine and beverage guy, r.) and I were having dinner the other night, and we were discussing what has and hasn’t been accomplished on the public-relations front since we opened. The message we’d hoped to get across was, “Terroir is the quintessential Pacific-Northwest restaurant. A place that feels like a real restaurant. It’s a copacetic blend of good design and focused intent. Terroir is that rare restaurant that seems so right for its location, yet with an appeal far beyond its neighborhood. A place that will convince you that small plates, civilized dining and reasonably priced food can coexist.”

The problem is that the new customer base doesn’t get that message. Based on our conversations with customers, they’re coming because they heard or were told they should come in, or because Terroir was recommended by a friend of a friend (not that this is a bad thing). But we keep hearing, “What kind of food do you serve?” or “Terroir, is that some kind of French restaurant?” That tells me that we—that is, us internally and my PR people in general—are not getting our message across.

That being said, my contract with my PR firm is up at the end of the year. So here is where the rubber meets the road. Did we meet the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of this adventure? Yes … sort of.

• The Launch: Did we successfully execute our opening? Yep.
• Media Coverage: Did we get the correct number of articles, features and media hits about Terroir published? Check. We had some national media attention—Food & Wine magazine’s 100 Things to Taste 2008, John Mariani’s article featuring Terroir to come out in Diversions magazine in January, one of Gayot.com’s Top Ten Wine Bars in Portland—check again.
• Create Top-of-Mind Awareness: The last goal was to work with Terroir to articulate its personality, distinguish its location in the up-and-coming North Fremont area and consistently communicate the restaurant’s food and image to build momentum and attract destination diners. Did we accomplish this goal? Not so much.

The real question for our PR efforts going into 2008 is, now that we are on the downward side of the new-restaurant bell curve, “What four things can you do for me in the next two months to get our philosophy in front of the public and butts in the seats?” Sounds rather blunt, I know, but it’s crunch time. 2008 is not about justifying media hits with dollars spent or even counting the number of outlets picking up press releases. It is about satisfied guests, first and foremost, but it’s also about increasing customer counts through customer awareness.

And the journey continues.

Cheers!

Stu

Posted by Stu Stein on December 13, 2007 | Comments (0)