Pizza Today - December 2020 - 16

BUILDING BLOCKS

NICK BOGACZ

Your Brand and Messaging

he doors are open and you're
spending on marketing in as
many ways as possible, but there
might be a missing piece: your message.
We're not talking about coupons and
menu mailers, but your calling card -
the core message.
What do you want people to say
about your business when you're not
around? The best way to make sure
they're saying what you want them to is
by staying consistent.
Slogans. Have a clear, simple
message that customers won't forget.
At Caliente Pizza & Draft House,
our brand is built around our awardwinning history. Each employee wears
a " 3X World Champs " shirt, and the
slogan " Pizza of Champions " is everywhere, from uniforms to our website,
billboards and printed materials. It's
even on the beer glasses.

Employees. Don't underestimate
the way your employees represent
your brand. Being customer-facing,
their attitudes and even uniforms are
a good start. For example, if you're a
'70s throwback pizzeria, selling pies
alongside free good vibes, tie-dye shirts
would be the perfect uniform.
Pizzerias. Your restaurant should
match your message. This is where the
message comes alive. Can you guess
what's on the walls in our pizzerias? If
you guessed trophies and awards, you're
right. You'll find framed articles from
the publications talking about our victories, as well. We even have a World
Pizza Champions jacket hanging on
display, and we go the extra mile with
custom wooden pizza peels that have
our accolades engraved on them. When
you walk into our locations, you feel

like you're walking into a world-class,
championship-winning pizzeria.
Social Media. You can't forget
social media - ever. There are too
many potential customers to be
found over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the platforms yet to come.
We build our messaging into our respective pages, incorporating pictures
of trophies alongside our pizzas. If
we produce a video for YouTube, we
film in front of walls that display our
accolades and slogan. The point is the
audience is always seeing our slogan,
logo or awards.
Competitions. When we take
part in competitions, we make sure
our videos include the messaging
and encourage our customers to root
for us. When we win, we celebrate
with a great special around the
championship pizza. We have even
hosted events inviting customers to
celebrate our championships with us
at a cake-cutting - who doesn't love
cake? Ultimately, we try to include
our customers in our success, and
therefore, our messaging.
The interesting part of our story
is, at the start, our brand was built
around the great craft beer we serve.
But, as our company evolved, so did
our brand. After a few years, if your
brand doesn't quite fit your company's true nature anymore, don't be
afraid to change it - just do it fulltilt and consistently.
Speaking of going full tilt, if you've
kept up with this series, you're off to
a great, rapid start. However, as we'll
discuss in the next installment, you
might begin to run into bottlenecks.
Don't worry, though, nothing is
insurmountable. â

NICK BOGACZ is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh. Instagram: @caliente_pizza
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Pizza Today - December 2020

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