Category: Trends

6 Marketing Trends for BBQ Restaurants in 2024

Post author By admin
Post date June 1, 2024
No Comments on 6 Marketing Trends for BBQ Restaurants in 2024

Sustainability. Personalization. Authenticity. These are just a few market drivers for restaurants in 2024. As experiences and expectations continue to evolve, BBQ joints need to stay ahead of the curve and explore trends redefining the restaurant space.

1. Fire up new tech

Technology has infiltrated our daily lives. By now, almost everyone, from guests to restaurants, is plugged in. And tech-savvy guests are driving the expectation of automation. Whether it’s tap-to-pay service, online reservations, table-side tech, or custom promotions that get guests engaged with the brand, it’s important to add convenience to the menu. And reach audiences where they’re at.

2. Get personal(ization)

Guests want to make their dining experience, theirs. From customizable menus to memorable interactions, guests want their individual preferences and needs to be seen. This can manifest in a few different ways:

• Mix-and-match menus: Let guests choose their journey. Include permanent or LTO items that allow guests to mix and match sides, proteins, and ingredients in dishes like bowls.

• Save preferences: From birthdays to anniversaries, seating preferences, dietary restrictions and order history, BBQ restaurants can remember and recognize these to make guests feel more comfortable, valued and appreciated.

• Recommendations: Based on previous orders, restaurants can make educated recommendations on online platforms for guests, suggesting new plates to try and add-ons that would level up their choices.

3. Clean up your practices

Today, consumers are largely considering a restaurant’s sustainability practices when deciding where to spend their dollars. Restaurants will need to embrace new processes to minimize their impact and align with consumers’ demand for more green practices. For example, prioritizing locally sourced foods, practicing portion control to reduce waste, establishing effective recycling programs, and switching to energy-efficient appliances and biodegradable or even reusable packaging.

4. Innovate the smooth sippin’ experience

It’s no secret cocktail menus can plus up the dining experience. But guests’ tastes are constantly changing. With new preferences on the rise, restaurants might need to freshen up their drink menus. Here are a few noteworthy trends and innovations that go beyond that traditional beverage:

• CBD-infused cocktails

• Eco-friendly liquors

• Mocktails

• Experiential enhancements like smoke, edible garnishes, and aromas.

5. Support the community

Guests want to know that their favorite restaurants are giving back. It’s an important aspect of building a strong loyalty with them. Engage the community by hosting charity events for local causes, hosting workshops, cooking classes, or food-related events that provide educational opportunities, and partnering with local businesses through promos, events, and initiatives.

6. Keep it real

Stay true to your brand. Make sure your messaging aligns with your menu, values, mission, and actions taken. This will help your BBQ restaurant build trust and loyalty with guests. All it takes is consistent messaging, transparency and honesty about practices and shortcomings, and compelling brand storytelling.

Whatever marketing trend you decide to jump on, be sure it aligns with your BBQ restaurant brand’s mission, vision, and values. You can see how we took a locally loved BBQ restaurant to the next level with a re-brand and new marketing strategies here. And if you need help deciding what makes sense for your brand or don’t know where to start, you can always reach out.

Retail Insights Marketing Communications Digital Media Advice Trends

Examining Gen Alpha: The Spending Habits of “Little Adults”

Post author By admin
Post date May 30, 2024

Gen Alpha, the successors to Millennials and Gen Z, are reshaping how we think about marketing with their unique traits and tech-savvy nature. Let’s uncover what makes these globally aware kids tick and how businesses can keep up.

The Death of the “Tween”

Remember the early 2000s when tweens flocked to malls, heading straight to Limited Too? It was the younger version of The Limited and a go-to spot for logo tees and glittery accessories. As a 12-year-old girl, it was your favorite store. Or maybe you preferred Wet Seal, Delia’s, The Body Shop, Lush, or Charlotte Russe, places where young people explored who they wanted to be. By the late 2000s, Limited Too was gone and so was the tween shopping experience.

Gen Alpha, kids 14 and under, are known as the ‘landmark generation’ but surprisingly have few dedicated retail spaces. This is odd because they’re expected to be the largest generation in history, with over 2 billion born between 2010 and 2024. With nowhere to go, older Gen Alphas are jumping straight into adult brands like Starbucks, Lululemon, Sephora, Walmart and Target, influenced by their millennial parents.

Younger Gen Alphas are even more influenced by their millennial parents, who are still shopping for them. These parents do a ton of research before buying anything and exhibit higher brand loyalty, preferring nostalgic choices for their kids such as Disney, Lego, Nintendo and Fisher-Price.

To add further nuance, it should be noted that attempts by adult brands to target Gen Alpha separately, like Project Gap, don’t top their favorites list. That honor goes to brands like Amazon, Apple, Nintendo and Target—places adults love too. Gen Alpha and Gen Z share almost the same top 10 favorite brands. This generation is very brand-savvy, so businesses need to stay authentic. Speaking to them like they’re children can come off as patronizing.

At the end of the day, while Gen Alpha may have distinct brand preferences, they don’t yet have independent purchasing power. The reality of what brands kids are repping is down to what their parents are willing and able to buy them. So brands continue to market to adults, even if their consumers are getting younger by the day. If you’re wondering why 10-year-olds’ Sephora shopping carts are filled with retinols and heavy exfoliants, look no further than who’s paying for it.

Who’s influencing who?

These shopping habits were built online over the past decade, first on Instagram and then on TikTok. Gen Alpha has grown up digitally connected, learning to “get ready with me” by listening to their favorite YouTubers list off the brands they consume during their daily morning routine, or things like WaterTok and IceTok, where recommendations about ice cube trays and water additive packets are free-flowing and monetized.

Certain products have reached cult status thanks to their constant appearances in Instagram Stories, YouTube haul videos and TikTok For You Pages. These brands do more than just serve a purpose though, they help tweens feel accepted in a community of multigenerational tastemakers. Buying these brands is like a rite of passage into adulthood and a way for Gen Alpha to join online culture.

Around 25% of Gen Alphas say influencers are their main shopping source and nearly 60% of their parents note that their kids watch shopping content, influencing their purchases based on favorite YouTube or Instagram personalities. This trend means companies should look into influencer partnerships for effective brand promotion.

However, to give credit where credit is due, Gen Alpha is changing how they use media, shifting towards more entertaining and funny content that sparks engagement. They value digital and human connectivity, pushing companies to create shareable and conversation-starting content.

Sustainability or Bust

While parents and influencers shape their choices, Gen Alpha has strong opinions. About 66% prefer buying from companies that make a positive impact and 67% want careers that help save the planet.

It makes sense that Gen Alpha is so eco-conscious—they’re growing up in a time of big environmental awareness. They’re more informed about issues like climate change, plastic pollution and biodiversity loss than previous generations were at their age. Sustainability is part of school curriculums, all over social media and a priority for many of their parents.

As a result, Gen Alpha prefers eco-friendly products like those made from recycled materials, biodegradable items and minimal packaging. They support brands with ethical practices, including fair trade and corporate social responsibility. They also favor locally sourced and organic products to reduce carbon footprints. Brands need to keep innovating to meet Gen Alpha’s high sustainability standards.

Marketing to Gen Alpha

Now that you understand what influences Gen Alpha’s buying preferences, let’s talk tactics for effectively marketing to them:

1. Leverage Influencers: With many Gen Alphas looking to influencers, collaborating with popular YouTubers or Instagram stars can significantly sway their purchasing decisions.

2. Nostalgic Branding: Since their parents are loyal to familiar brands, tapping into nostalgia in your campaigns can resonate well.

3. Entertaining Content: Create humorous, shareable media to match Gen Alpha’s love for engaging content.

4. Balancing the Experience: Blend online and offline interactions to play on Gen Alpha’s value for connectivity.

Adopting these marketing tactics can allow businesses to navigate the unique characteristics and preferences of Gen Alpha, ensuring a meaningful and impactful presence in their world.

Tags slider

Insights Marketing Communications Digital Media Advice Trends

Top AI Tools for Businesses: Identifying Popular Solutions and Expert Detection Methods

Post author By admin
Post date May 23, 2024

Now that we know AI comes in peace, companies across all kinds of industries are starting to embrace the new tech with open arms. But it’s important to understand the dangers, the benefits and impact of AI to use it effectively. Let’s take a look at the top AI programs being used by businesses today and the best ways to evaluate their performance. So you can take your business to new heights.

What are AI tools?

Let’s back up a little bit. What is artificial intelligence? It’s super high tech that can complete tasks that normally us humans would have to do. For example reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, etc. A lot of businesses use these AI software apps to save time and money, understand their audiences, predict patterns, spot fraud and even provide customer support.

Today, 35% of businesses have already dove into the world of AI. And 42% of companies that haven’t plan on integrating it within the next two years. Companies clearly don’t want to get left behind in this new tech revolution. Especially since new softwares seem to become available almost every day.

Key AI Technologies to Consider

From streamlining operations to customer satisfaction and content creation, AI harnesses the power and potential to drive success in many different areas of business. But they aren’t meant to replace your work. Only reinvent the way your business operates so that you can focus on the bigger picture.

You might be asking yourself, “But how do I know which ones are right for my business?” Here’s a list of questions you can ask yourself to find out which tools make sense for your business:

• What are the specific goals I want to achieve through AI?

• Which of my businesses needs could be met using AI?

• Can this AI tool grow with my business?

• Is this AI tool cost effective for my business?

• Is this AI tool compatible with other stakeholders?

ChatGPT and Grammarly have earned their fair share of hype. But check out some more AI tools that could plus up your operations, marketing or customer satisfaction:

• FreePik AI Image Generator: A visual content creator that can help you streamline visual content editing and you bring your ideas to life through its flagship AI image generator.
Reply.io: A sales engagement platform that can help you expand your opportunities and handle the sales process more efficiently.

• Byword: A content creator that can produce high-quality content at scale. It uses keywords and titles to create SEO-optimized articles that will help boost your SEO traffic.

• Legal Robot: AI software program that makes it easier to decipher legalese, or overcomplicated legal terminology that is not easy for businesses to decipher, and identify potential legal risks.

• Outmatch: A recruitment AI program that can help you streamline the recruiting process while reducing costs and creating a positive experience for everyone involved.

Expert Methods for Evaluating AI Content

We understand that it’s hard enough to produce content at the speed of lightning. AI can help alleviate some of those mundane tasks and jobs that take up our team members’ valuable time. But while AI is a great tool, you can’t rely on it alone. Remember, AI doesn’t have a human stream of consciousness. It may require more information and learning to understand different concepts, ideas and questions to generate content that is original and accurate.

This is why you should always research and revise the content spit out by AI before implementing it in your business, posting online and creating any marketing assets. Here are a few ways you can evaluate your content:

1. Check for patterns in text.
2. Run your content through AI tools like Grammarly and Writer.com for plagiarism.
3. Fact check. AI isn’t always up to date.
4. Read your content to make sure it connects all the dots.
5. Send your revised words through an AI detection tool.

Whether you’re in the restaurant, retail, higher education or tourism industry, tapping into AI tools can help improve your business in many facets. But if you want real, original, authentic content for marketing, it may take a little more brain power than artificial intelligence. If you’re interested in leveling up your advertising, feel free to reach out. For now, check out our past work.

Tags slider

Announcements Restaurant Branding News Trends

Push and Pantone® Unveil Smorange™: A Custom Hue for Smalls

Post author By admin
Post date April 30, 2024
No Comments on Push and Pantone® Unveil Smorange™: A Custom Hue for Smalls

At Smalls Sliders, innovation isn’t just a concept; it’s woven into every aspect of their business, from their unique modular layout to their vibrant new brand color. The Atlanta-based quick-service restaurant, known for its groundbreaking approach in the burger industry, has teamed up with the Pantone Color Institute and creative agency Push to introduce a dynamic new shade: “Smorange™.”

This new color is more than just a visual delight; it’s a statement. “Smorange is a vibrant tribute to the spirit of our innovative brand that’s shaking up the big burger industry,” says the company. The journey to creating this custom color began with an existing Pantone shade, which was meticulously adjusted for density to achieve a brighter, more distinct variation.

Maria Rivera, CEO of Smalls Sliders, emphasizes the significance of this collaborative effort: “Crafting Smorange in partnership with the Pantone Color Institute and Push was a pivotal moment in our journey as we navigate our trajectory of explosive growth. Smorange isn’t just our color. It’s our energy, attitude, and essence—bright, vibrant, and a little in your face.”

In 2019, Smalls Sliders opened its first Smorange-colored “can,” a term they affectionately use for their modular shipping container model. The concept was launched by Brandon Landry, creator of Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, in Baton Rouge, LA. The focused menu features cheeseburger sliders, waffle fries, shakes, and fountain drinks, all served from a compact space that covers about 800 square feet.

The color’s introduction marks an important chapter in the brand’s story, reflecting its commitment to creativity and its bold, forward-thinking ethos. The Pantone Color Institute, headquartered in Carlstadt, NJ, along with the strategic insight of Push, worked closely with Smalls Sliders to achieve a color that perfectly captures the essence of the brand. Their role in standardizing and consulting for colors helps ensure that “Smorange” will be recognized and remembered as a signature of the Smalls Slider brand.

To read more about how Smalls Sliders is innovating within the fast-food industry and their exciting partnership with Pantone and Push, click here:

NRN Article
LinkedIn Post

Restaurant Branding Lifestyle Trends

5 Coffee Shop Marketing Trends for 2024

Post author By admin
Post date September 23, 2023
No Comments on 5 Coffee Shop Marketing Trends for 2024

A morning cup of coffee was once the norm for the average American. But now, the norm is three, maybe even four cups of coffee to get the day started.

As the coffee industry continues to grow in 2023, consumers demand a higher level of convenience and quality when choosing their preferred drink. Coffee shops are now required to provide options that can be whipped up quickly, taste great, and align with consumers’ health and environmental viewpoints.

This highly competitive market demands new marketing tactics that connect with guests to get them through the door. Let’s dive deeper into the coffee shop trends of 2024 to find innovative solutions that will help your shop stand out from the rest.

1. Target Younger Audiences

In 2023, 74% of Americans now drink coffee. This wide audience wants their cup of coffee to be a statement about themselves, and they’re looking for something that’s made sustainably and is healthy.

One way you can connect with this audience is through the sourcing of your ingredients. Find sustainable ingredients from your local farmers and roasters, Fairtrade certified farms, or vendors who work with the UTZ Certified seal. These resources increase the credibility of your coffee to this generation.

2. Explore Artisan Drinks and Speciality Drinks

According to the National Coffee Association’s 2023 National Coffee Data Trends Specialty Coffee Breakout Report, 52% of US consumers aged 18 or above reported drinking specialty coffee in the previous week. The reason they are so popular with coffee drinkers is the care and attention to detail that goes into them.

Creating artisan and specialty drinks means that you put a high level of importance on quality throughout the entire supply chain. Sourcing ingredients locally will help differentiate your coffee shop in the market and justify consumers paying a premium price for your cups.

3. Use Milk Alternatives

Plant-based alternatives are continuing to grow in popularity. More consumers expect to have these options when they’re ordering. A great way to provide this option to your customers is through non-dairy milk alternatives.

Oat milk is currently the preference of choice for the majority of this audience, but there are other options such as soy, almond, rice, and cashew milk that can serve as great replacements for traditional milk.

Having a variety of milk options can also benefit your specialty drink menu, giving customers a variety of ways to personalize their cups to their liking.

4. Consider a Stretched Coffee Concept

We’ve talked about how you can think outside the box to find ways to set your coffee apart from the crowd, but you can also think outside the cup entirely. Get creative in how you deliver the coffee flavor that so many crave with coffee flavored ice cream, popsicles, or chocolate bars. As of 2023, 48% of Americans enjoy coffee ice cream, 30% drink Irish coffee, 24% enjoy coffee liqueur, 14% like espresso martinis, and 10% enjoy coffee soda. This will give your guests more reasons to visit the store throughout the day, instead of only for their morning cup of joe.

5. Allow Custom Ordering

As of 2023, three out of four Americans use coffee enhancement flavors and sweeteners. The ultimate way of giving your customers a cup that connects with them is through custom ordering. This trend has been on the rise for a while and allows customers to create their own coffee masterpieces.

As a business owner, this strategy can give you great insights into your customers’ preferences. Using POS systems that allow for menu modifications means you can track what toppings and extras are your best sellers. This will help you find what suppliers and roasters your customers prefer and allow you to plan your future strategies accordingly.

Need More Support?

Not sure where to begin? As experts in the restaurant industry and Real Estate industry can help craft creative and personalized marketing strategies to help you maximize your potential. Check out more of our work here.

Tourism Advice Lifestyle Trends

Tourism Marketing Predictions for 2023-2024

Post author By admin
Post date March 6, 2023

It’s 2023 and travel is finally taking off again. Today, digital travel sales have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. They’re even expected to hit $833 billion in 2025. Besides the obvious reasons travel sales have gained their turbo-charged momentum, market shifts, tech advancements and changing attitudes can take some credit for moving the needle far, far ahead. If you’re a tourism marketer looking for an edge over your competitors, here’s what our top tourism industry trends 2023 will bring.

Bleisure travel will continue to rise.

While Millennials have already taken over a large portion the workforce, Gen Z has begun infiltrating and their numbers will only continue to grow. What does this mean for travel? With the shift in demographics, business leisure travel is on the rise. Even before the pandemic, 90% of Millennials tacked on entertainment activities to their business trips. Now, employees are taking advantage of flexible corporate travel policies and utilizing their resources, like self-service apps and programs, to optimize their stay. Consider appealing to young, business professionals and business travel trends post covid when marketing your hospitality or tourism company this year.

Sustainability will influence travel decisions.

With the shift in demographics, advertisers and marketers will have to pay close attention to how tourism trends 2023 will hold and appeal to their target audience’s changing preferences. Recently, green initiatives have become a hot topic. It’s reported that seven in ten consumers have actually avoided certain tourism spots because they were skeptical of their sustainable practices. This includes climate, environment and even culture. Travelers in 2024 are expected to closely consider climate warnings when it comes to their travel choices as well as the impact their travel may have on native cultures.

Travelers will prefer unique, authentic experiences.

Experiential tourism is hot right now. Travelers want once-in-a-lifetime adventures. They want to get on the same level as the locals. That’s why many travelers prefer non-traditional accommodations, so they can explore their destination with a different lens. In fact, 74% of millennial business travelers opted for vacation rentals versus hotels. If hospitality and tourism brands want to show their consumers all the unique and authentic experiences they offer, they will need to up their digital ad game. Leveraging video assets will give digital ads a stronger search presence to win over their audience’s attention and ignite their wanderlust. Other useful initiatives to do this include: influencer campaigns, loyalty programs, digital promos, social media strategies and more you can read about here.

Personalization & automation will make travel more convenient.

Bye, bye travel agents. The modern travelers are utilizing self-service apps and programs to meet their accommodations and preferences. Tech advancements make their travels almost completely contactless. From mobile boarding to facial recognition, faster in-flight travel updates and more, tech innovations will make the process smoother and more convenient, giving travelers that much more reason to jet off at a moment’s notice. The future of tourism in 2023 is moving toward a fully automated world.

For more ideas or questions about how you can apply this information to your brand, feel free to reach out. Push can help take your brand to the next level.

Tags slider

Tourism Social Branding Advice Trends

How to Attract Skiers and Snowboarders to Visit Your Resort

Post author By admin
Post date November 2, 2022

With ski season just around the corner, resorts are ramping up advertising to lure in the next season of skiers and snowboarders ready to hit the slopes. The good news is that travel demand and snow sports are growing rapidly. The trickier part is how to differentiate yourself from the competition. We’ve compiled a few digital marketing tips to help elevate your tourism marketing efforts.

Create a personal connection with guests

People love to build traditions around travel, so incentivizing your guests to make your resort the place that they visit year after year only makes sense. You can offer a loyalty program that rewards frequent guests by providing discounts on amenities, resort services, dining and more. Or consider extending annual seasonal offers that guests can look forward to and plan ahead for.

Offer event packages

In a similar vein, you could consider creating special event packages that include accommodations, food and beverage specials, and event space that make

your resort stand out from the pack for those looking to make plans for a large group. Keep in mind that per person pricing can often be an important selling point to those looking to book conference space, meetings, group events or weddings.

Have a sound social media strategy

It’s no secret that you need to be taking advantage of social media, especially given how picturesque content is for the ski and snowboard industry, but it’s important to be consistent and strategic. Put plans in place to create your own content—beauty shots, behind-the-scenes footage and educational videos are a great place to start. Then execute on social media best practices for organic content—post on a schedule, use hashtags to help you gain visibility, jump on trends or memes if they are appropriate for your brand and repost or share content captured at your resort.

Reach out with email marketing

Use your email list to send out monthly newsletters with promotional offers, discounts on equipment, snow conditions, exciting events at your resort, local attractions and more. You can also use email to break down more complicated procedures like booking a reservation, which can increase sales by an average of 20%, according to a DemandGen Report. And personalizing your emails with a special offer could increase those numbers ever more.

For more marketing ideas, check out our work here and get in touch to learn more about how Push can help take your brand to the next level.

Real Estate Social Branding Advice Trends

Marketing Your Real Estate Brand In A Seller’s Market

Post author By admin
Post date October 18, 2022

It’s no secret. A seller’s market can hold quite the advantage over home buyers. Although home prices have been steadily increasing in the United States, the rising costs aren’t stifling buyers. In fact, most houses were purchased through a real estate agent or broker in 2020 and 73% only interviewed one real estate agent to help them with their home search. While some realtors may question the importance of marketing a home or even their own brand considering the current market, there are several benefits to building awareness and getting in front of home buyers. Learn how you can upgrade your brand with these unique real estate marketing ideas to win over clients and prospects with the following tips.

TIP #1: CREATE A NEWSLETTER

Keep in touch with your clients and prospects with a neighborhood newsletter, perfect for sharing valuable, local information through print or digital resources. You can include news, helpful tips, events, recipes—you name it—anything your community will find useful should be considered for your newsletter. You can also showcase client success stories and listings to keep your real estate brand relevant with your audience. And it doesn’t have to be anything fancy—just enough to keep your brand in the front of their mind and set your brand up as a credible source for the community.

TIP #2: UPGRADE YOUR DESIGN & CREATE MERCHANDISE

Appeal to more prospects by considering a design rebrand. Show them and your current clients you’re in touch with modern times. While a complete overhaul may not be necessary, you can elevate your real estate marketing materials like your business cards, sell sheets, brochures and letterheads with a few new details to show you can adapt to the ever-changing environment around us. And get creative with your new and improved designs. Slap it on some merch and free swag to give and get your brand name on the street.

TIP #3: HAVE STRONG ONLINE & SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

We already know most home buyers only interviewed one real estate agent to help them with their home search, which is why it’s immensely important to get your brand in front of prospects as quickly, and efficiently, as possible. One of the best ways to do this is by creating or updating your real estate business’ website. Keep it clean, up-to-date and easy to navigate to make the home buying experience simple and effortless for your clients and prospects.

One key component you should include on your site are your listings—and consistently update them. This will increase traffic to your page by prospects regularly searching for new properties. You can also add a helpful or interesting element, like a mortgage calculator or client testimonial video, to delight your website visitors and keep them there long enough to learn more about your services and offerings.

Besides updating and creating content for your brand’s website, you can also create a Zillow profile and run paid social media campaigns to get your name in front of a larger crowd and lead them back to your website. However, if you decide to run ads on social media, you must ensure your website is optimized for mobile because your target will most likely see these ads on their phones.

For more luxury real estate marketing ideas and how you can elevate your brand’s online presence with digital marketing tactics, check out these tips. You can also find the work we’ve done for our brands here. If you’re not sure where to start or need help updating your brand, don’t hesitate to reach out and connect with us for more information.

Restaurant Social Branding Trends

Four Hot Ideas to Promote Your Pizza Restaurant During 101 Days of Summer

Post author By admin
Post date July 27, 2022

Pizza is no doubt a tried and true favorite of restaurant goers, and that’s been especially true over the past few years. Pizza restaurant sales and the number of pizza restaurants have been on the rise for the past decade. And with dine in, takeout and delivery combined, sales reached over $46 billion in the U.S in 2020.

But with that success also comes a challenge to stand out from the pack. Whether you’re selling New York-style pizza by the slice or fine-dining artisan pizza, you may need to adjust your marketing strategy from time to time to keep attracting new customers, engage existing customers and convert interested visitors into loyal customers.

Here are a few pizza restaurant marketing strategies to help you create some buzz and promote your business this summer.

Go Behind the Scenes

One easy way to increase engagement and attract new customers is to pivot your social media strategy. One successful approach to that is to post behind-the-scenes content that gives your customers insight into your business that they usually wouldn’t see. It’s great way to show off the care you put into your food and brand and a fun way for guests to get to better know your staff. Consider videos of your food prep or cooking process to show off what makes your menu really unique or feature staff members to help make people feel more attached to the people behind the brand.

Create a Summer Limited-Time Offer

New news is always good news in the restaurant world. Generate buzz, urgency and sales with a special menu item available only for summer. Explore seasonal ingredients, add a new menu item or find a way to enhance a favorite that guests currently love. An exclusive and innovate LTO can go a long way to reengage people with your restaurant or to earn some love and attention from bloggers or the media.

Offer Pizza By the Slice

You could also drum up some excitement by looking at how you offer or bundle current favorites. If it works with your operation model, offering pizza by the slice is a way to entice new customers to try your pizza or attract customers during different times of the day. Draw in the lunchtime crowd with a combo meal that includes a slice of pizza, drink and side. Or if you’re in a place with foot traffic, you could attract a younger crowd looking for a late night bite by offering pizza by the slice.

Design Summer Deals for Groups

Pizza marketing ideas or campaigns don’t have to be complicated. It could be as simple as offering deals for groups over the summer. You could draw in summer interns looking for a place to grab lunch together or a summer sports team that wants to grab a bite after a weeknight game. And with pizza, group deals are always going to be a hit. Consider creating new combo packages that feature pizza, wings, breadsticks and dessert, for example, that make large orders easy for groups or offer discounts to large groups on your regular menu.

How Can We Help?

If you know you need to make a splash with marketing this summer, but aren’t sure where to start, Push has over two decades of doing just that—check out our work with restaurants for yourself. We’d love to hear from you and see how we can help.

Marketing Communications Trends Education

3 Ways Small Universities Can Grow in 2022

Post author By admin
Post date May 30, 2022

Small universities provide students with a great environment to foster lifelong relationships, broaden their worldview, hone their craft and prepare them for the next step in their lives. But over the past few years, it’s been harder for these institutions to provide this experience for their students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like everyone else, they were constantly pivoting to find the best ways to keep their students safe while still providing them with a valuable education.

Some of those changes implemented during the height of the pandemic were out of necessity, but some were beneficial to students, especially those at small universities. As we move further away from this time, it’s important that universities use the information they learned from the pandemic to continue to improve their operations. Using our expertise in the higher education space, we’ve compiled a few ways universities can continue to innovate on their current experiences.

Embrace Your Size

A huge benefit to being small is the ability to make changes quickly and pivot back if necessary. This means it may be easier to rethink course structure or your academic calendar based on students’ needs. With a smaller student body, you may also be able to tap into their feedback more and actually apply those changes as you see fit.

Stop Chasing Rankings

An important skill that a young person can learn is that comparing yourself to others is an unfulfilling plight. This is something that many universities could benefit from as well. Rather than focusing on the competition, it’s important that institutions look inward and align their values with their students and faculty. Spend the resources that are put towards boosting your rankings on your faculty and students and celebrate their hard work and success. Yes, knowing your peer institutions and following their efforts and success can be very helpful, as well as having a finger on the pulse of the broader national higher education landscape, but focusing on your own academic program quality and student successes will reap your university the biggest rewards.

Celebrate Your Value

Higher education provides students with a great opportunity to receive an education that will prepare them for the first step into the career of their choosing. While this value is apparent to those that are in the industry, it isn’t as obvious to the public. It’s especially important that smaller universities are effectively communicating their commitment to affordability, convenience and career-readiness learning to prospective students. One way of showcasing this is through case studies, providing a look at how past students have found success post-graduation and how the university prepared them for that initial step.

Explore Immersive Technology

Due to the pandemic, nearly every student has now become familiar with an online class and how they differ from the traditional in-person class. For some students, their class structure didn’t stray too far from what they were used to in their in-person classes. But for others, it was a difficult transition. Many students who participated in labs missed out on valuable hands-on experience that you can’t get through a computer screen. The introduction of virtual reality (VR), the Metaverse and augmented reality (AR) combat this issue, providing technology that can immerse students within a scenario that an on-person classroom may not even provide. Students now have the ability to communicate and collaborate in their own virtual office, rather than a Zoom call. And with this technology still in its infancy, who’s to say that students won’t be able to put on their VR headset and walk the streets of Ancient Rome for their history class?

How Push Can Help

At Push we are always looking for new, innovative ways to market and support higher education institutions. Check out our work and get in touch to let us know how we can help you meet your goals.