Chain Leader

Vaughan Lazar

Buzz on a Budget
July 9, 2008

I strongly believe marketing to be one of the most crucial pieces of any business. No matter how good your product is, no one will buy it if they don't know you exist. Strategically marketing your company so that consumers can connect with your brand will create interest in your business and fuel demand for your restaurants. While budgets may differ and some restaurants might not be able to afford top-tier efforts, there are many cost-effective options that can make a world of difference.

When we started franchising in February of 2007 with one restaurant, we didn't have much of a budget to play with. So we investigated public relations as viable solution. Media placements secured through public relations are free, unlike advertising, and are received better by readers as editorial is objective.

So when we wanted to expand our concept, PR seemed like a good solution given our small budget. We brought on an in-house practitioner that we knew from previous endeavors to oversee a national media campaign. Within months, we'd gotten press coverage around the country and locally that created significant interest in Pizza Fusion. As time went on, the media took more and more interest in our story allowing us to expand our visibility throughout the country. At the end of the year, we only had two stores open, but had developed a reputation for our industry-leading socially conscious practices.

Interest in our franchising soared. In fact, during our first year of franchising we didn't spend a dime on advertising our franchising. The result? We generated over 1,500 franchise leads and sold over 60 franchises in 10 states.

In my opinion, when properly executed, PR offers substantial ROI for companies on small budgets. Invest in your word of mouth.

Posted by Vaughan Lazar on July 9, 2008 | Comments (2)