Friday, December 30, 2011

Dagar's Catering with a Texas Twist on 2012

We garnered this placement for our client Dagar's Catering on KEYE's We Are Austin live program.  Kathryn Dagar-Albarado provided viewers with a Texas Breakfast Casserole recipe for an easy, make-ahead brunch.
Here's the link: http://weareaustin.com/austinlive-story/?nxd_id=205647


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

PR Best Practices-Partnering with Complimentary Businesses


Pickie Pie and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar at the Domain have teamed up with local personal trainer Shawn Martinez of FunctionalFitness and Lululemon Athletica for an ongoing monthly fitness, fashion and food event on the first Thursday of every month.  It’s called Detox Retox.

The “detox” portion of the event consists of an hour-long urban workout using the natural and man-made attributes of the Domain, an upscale outdoor shopping center in North Austin, starting at 6:00 p.m.
Following detox, guests make their way over to Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar where they “retox” and enjoy a special happy hour menu created especially for them by Chef Boyer Derise.  
 The menu, using existing menu items, includes skinny cocktails, light beers, wines and low-carb appetizer selections offered at happy hour pricing until 8:00 p.m. for guests of Detox Retox.  This special menu is printed with the Fleming’s, Functional Fitness and Lululemon logos.  When the weather is nice enough, this event is hosted on the outdoor patio.

Since starting this event, it has been consistently well-attended and has provided some great public relations opportunities and placement with local media, especially at the start of the New Year when fitness becomes the focus.

A Note about Lululemon: Lululemon Athletica works hard to make each of their locations unique and feel like part of the community.  They are excellent at making what is a chain feel local by featuring local instructors who are the company’s ambassadors and regularly holding events and classes for their customers.  The store has been called “the best retail growth story in retail today” by a senior analyst with Credit Suisse.  Teaming up with this retailer ,if there is one near your location, is an excellent way to target and gain exposure with female consumers who have disposable income, are loyal to brands they feel are loyal to them and are active participants in their local community.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Gas Pedal Greatness

#262: Why negative feedback handled well is always a win
As we often say, every brand experiences negative feedback. But it's how you handle it that separates you from everyone else. If you're willing to engage genuinely and honestly, you can expect one of these three positive results:

1. Love
2. Respect
3. Truth


1. Love

The response you should always aim for is to turn a former critic into a loyal, adoring fan. By acting quickly and making things right, you'll get customers posting things like, "I love these guys. They saw my problem, approached me, and fixed it." An upset customer might talk to five people, but a formerly upset customer you win over will talk to 10 times as many.

2. Respect

If you can't earn their love, you should at least work to win their respect. You won't always be able to fix every problem, but a genuine effort can still turn the conversation around. In this scenario, you're looking for a response like, "They couldn't fix my problem, but they came to me and tried to help. I respect them for it."

3. Truth

Finally, sometimes you'll find yourself dealing with someone who just can't be reasoned with. When this happens, it's not the attacker you're trying to speak to, it's everyone else following along. If you make an honest attempt to fix the problem, everyone else will see the critic being unfair and know you tried to do the right thing.

Who Runs This Mutha? Girls!

I recently finished reading a book called Why She Buys and compiled this list of interesting facts.

THE FEMALE ECONOMY
Gender is the most powerful determinant in how a person views the world and everything in it.  It’s more powerful than age, income, race or geography.  Women are females first and consumers second.

In General Terms:
·         Men are the sex that makes products.
·         Women are the sex that purchases them.

If the economy had a gender it would be female as women make the purchase or are the key influencers in about 80 percent of all consumer product sales in the U.S. alone.  For instance, a man isn’t motivated to buy a house his wife doesn’t like.  If a married man needs a new pair of socks, there’s a decent chance his wife will be the one buying them.

Money and Education:
American women have more of their own money and are better educated than anytime in world history.  Their spending power is only expected to increase in the next several decades.

Women Today Earn:
·         57% of Bachelor’s Degrees
·         59% of Master’s Degrees
Women account for 51 % of students currently enrolled in medical school and almost half of those enrolled in law school.  After earning their degrees, women typically spend the next several years single and this is the time where they spend a lot of money on themselves.  Just because she’s young and wearing a pony tail, it doesn’t mean she isn’t earning a big, fat check.  If you’re not marketing to women, you’re leaving money on the table.

Interesting Facts:
·         Women buy more cell phones than men
·         Men buy more navigational devices than women

Gender & Achievement:
·         Men strive to be independent (like a magnum).
·         Women strive to be indispensable (like a diamond).

This is why competitive messaging doesn’t work with women.  When women compete, they compete against themselves.  This is why it’s important to avoid masculine, competitive messages when marketing to women.  Words and images that can be exciting for men can sometimes have a negative reaction in women (for instance, “Magnum”).

Source:  Why She Buys: The New Source for Reaching the World’s Most-Powerful Consumers
by Bridget Brennan

Monday, December 5, 2011

Operation Feeding Freedom

Pickie Pie represents the Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar location in San Antonio along with five others in Texas.  Recently, we secured this feature on Chef Jonathan Demeterio's trip overseas with Operation Feeding Freedom in the San Antonio Express News.

 
Fleming's chef plays a role in overseas mission.
Published 05:30 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 2011
This just may be the ultimate in off-site catering: A team of 30 or so cooking meals for thousands of soldiers in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
On the menu: 14-ounce New York strip steaks, lots of pasta and plenty of Bloomin' Onions.
Clearly, this isn't typical military cuisine. Operation Feeding Freedom, which this fall included Jonathan Demeterio, the chef at Fleming's in the Quarry, is an effort of OSI Restaurant Partners, the group that owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Bonefish Grill and Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine.
“We're all volunteers and we have the opportunity or the privilege to go overseas and feed our troops and give the hospitality that they've earned,” Demeterio said. “In our own little way, it's a way to give back to our country. We just want to do what's right for our troops.”
He was one of two partners from Fleming's chosen to go to the Middle East.
The program began in 2002, when a group from Outback traveled to Afghanistan to feed troops stationed there. Since then, the program has served military members from all branches of service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and aboard the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf.
The trip lasted three weeks, and that included travel time to Washington, to Istanbul and then to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Long before the culinary people traveled, representatives of the restaurant group were able to work with their longtime purveyors to get the products transported for the special meals.
The team cooked three main meals, serving about 5,000 troops at a time, including a meal at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.
“We actually cooked on (the anniversary of) 9/11. That was a big deal for everyone involved,” he said. “It was kind of surreal, remembering that day.”
Demeterio was in charge of steaks.
“On 9/11, I had 11 big grills, all in a square and two guys helping me out for all those grills,” he said. “You have to train them on the fly. Some of them speak English, some of them don't. It's just one of those challenges you have to get through.”
When he wasn't cooking or prepping, Demeterio had a chance to visit with troops. Like many conversations back home, they focused on family and football, people talking about their hometowns and their favorite teams.
“I don't know if you have eaten in dining facilities in installations. The food can be challenging. But give them a good quality steak, a taste of back home, it means a lot.”
Next year, he's going to put his name in the pool of candidates and try to do this again.
“It would be kind of like winning the lottery twice.”

Friday, December 2, 2011

Pickie Pie and FedEx

Pickie Pie was asked to be a participant in the FedEx+Me Program after being nominated by fashion designer Rachelle Briton and Ellie Scarborough of Pink Kisses.  Our first luncheon for the program was today at Green Pastures. 

About My Story: Austin

The FedEx + Me program launched in Austin as My Story: Austin. Why did we choose Austin as our launching ground? Because Austin is one of the small-business capitals of the world. It's where people with talent, drive and innovative spirit are doing what they love to do. And we love that.
We know that starting a business is demanding - we know because we've been there. We're here to connect you with the people and resources you need to help your big dream grow bigger.
Some of our program benefits include:
  • Networking events where Participants can meet each other while meeting Austin business leaders
  • Small, hands-on workshops and seminars that provide mentorship in the specific areas where our Participants feel they have the most room to grow
  • A "small-business owner of the month" program that showcases one Participant each month in FedEx Office locations around Austin
  • A dedicated community liaison who can connect you with the FedEx resources and staff that can help your business grow
  • A chance to win a professionally produced video highlighting your business or be awarded with one of three small-business grants totaling $30,000. Both video and grant winners are selected based on written submissions.

Social Media Mentions

What a nice 10 Year Anniversary for Fleming's Steakhouse last night. Thank you for such a lovely evening, Rachel Elsberry of Pickie Pie Productions, LLC. (Great shot of the beautiful Olga Campos Benz by Sloan Foster)
Barbara Kelso: Rachel, Great party fantastic food - best of all good people.
Thank you for the invitation


Downtown Austin Fleming's Turns 10

The Downtown Austin location of Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar opened its doors in 2001.  It was the 10th restaurant in the company at the time.  Today, there are more than 60 restaurants.  Fleming's is a success story in the restaurant industry.  Almost a dozen employees who launched the restaurant in 2001 still work there today.

Team Members of Fleming's Austin
Pickie Pie worked in conjunction with the Fleming's team to throw a 10-year anniversary party.  Media, movers and shakers and Magnum Club members were invited for a champagne and wine reception as a thank you for their part in the restaurant's success.

Pickie Pie's Rachel Elsberry and David Jabour of Twin Liquors

Rachel Elsberry, Austin Woman's Katie Lesnick, Zachary Alexander and Jette' Momant of Jette' Moman PR

Fleming's JVP Dwayne Carpenter, Monica Jenkins Cooke and Operating Partner James Cooke

YNN's Rich Segal and Rachel Elsberry
David and Margaret Jabour

The Morrisons