Front of House Marketing Kitchen

10/19/2021

A reminder… you’ll find me in The Marketing Kitchen now!

The Right Marketing Ingredients | Energetic Ideas. Innovation. Success.

01/15/2021

Finally had a chance to take a breath from Tuesday!
We started off with a big splash for Dr. Dawg - Wauwatosa!

6:00am: Arrive at Dr. Dawg
6:30am: Brian Kramp and Suzanne of FOX6 News Milwaukee arrive
10:15am: Line starts forming
10:30am: Ribbon cuttings with Wauwatosa West Allis Chamber of Commerce, Welcome to Glendale, Brilliant DPI, Greco and Sons Inc, Bartlett Illinois and Vienna Beef
11:00am: Doors open
12:30pm: 100 customers had their chance at The Golden Ticket
12:30pm-8:00pm: Talk with customers, handle social media, answer customer questions via email, help stock beverage cooler
8:00pm: Doors close
8:30pm: Home
Thank you Milwaukee for showing up big for a hometown restaurant.
I love what I do. I love working with Dr. Dawg and being part of their success!

01/04/2021

Very proud to share that Dr. Dawg of Glendale has slated its grand opening in Wauwatosa. Brooke Thomson is the managing partner - she and her team have been working on the new location for quite some time.

It's always tough to open a business - and I've experienced quite a few restaurant openings in my time. It's exciting, stressful, and when the doors open? It's fun and rewarding. People come together over food. Restaurants become the place where memories are made and we find our favorites. That's exactly what Brooke and her team have been doing for 10 years in Glendale and you'll see it in Wauwatosa too.

In these crazy times, Milwaukee has shown up big for independent and locally owned restaurants. It shows how much we appreciate great food and passionate restaurant owners, managers, front and back of the house employees and delivery drivers. Please keep showing up.
-Ann
https://www.drdawg.net/post/grand-opening-wauwatosa

Customers will see traditional favorites like Italian Beef, Chicago Dogs and Char-Grilled Burgers on the menu

12/29/2020

Restaurant Owners: Congratulations on making it through 2020. I really want you to hear this...

12/15/2020

The 90s saw a rush of beverage innovation: Crystal Pepsi, Zima, Boku, Snapple's Elements line. One that I personally enjoyed was Cappio Cold Brew Coffee. I remember getting a sample bottle in one of those college care package they'd give to dorm residents. So why did Cappio (then a Maxwell House Product) stir itself in my latent brain?

This week I drove by a national coffee chain and saw no fewer than 10 cars waiting in the drive thru lane.

When I look back, Cappio got a lot right.
They got the product into the hands of customers to try
They used cool imaging
And c'mon "Mint Julep" as the music bed in the commercials? VERY COOL

I think the answer is that consumers weren't ready for it. Coffee was still a morning and simple beverage in most of the country. And we were still engaged in the Cola Wars - even though people were starting to get restless (TAB Clear, Crystal Pepsi).

BUT! Cappio was certainly ahead of its time.

If you're like me and wondered what happened to Cappio, I'll share this:

"The de Aldecoa family is always looking for innovation and new market trends. For more than five years, the family dedicated itself to developing the extraction process and the engineering and industrial system operations which allowed them to create the Cappio concentrate.

In 2019, the extraction process used to create Cappio was granted a patent and trademarked. Later on that year, a new product was developed—Cappio Cold Brew—which allows customers to make the extraction process from the comfort of their own homes."
-Ann







https://youtu.be/QhkGhAe0rNg?

12/15/2020

It’s more important than ever.
cc: VISIT Milwaukee

VISIT Milwaukee's holiday campaign encourages spending at Milwaukee shops, hotels and restaurants -- small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

12/11/2020

Your Google My Business listing. How does that look? Is it current? Do you have great looking photos uploaded? Have you claimed your listing? Here's why it's important: Prospective customers will look for reviews and products from you and your competitors. And then there's "Yelp!" Yes, I said it. There are a number of free-standing review platforms out there. Don't be afraid of them or get mad at them. Take control of them.



https://rebrand.ly/digital-marketing-for-restaurants

12/11/2020

Direct Digital Marketing
Here's what I mean when I say "direct digital marketing:"

➡️Text Message and Email Marketing
➡️Google My Business Listing
➡️Social Media





https://rebrand.ly/digital-marketing-for-restaurants

12/09/2020

The biggest lesson that I have learned since March of 2020 is that it is important to have a strong relationship with customers. A strong relationship means that they trust you and value what you do.

There's 3 things I observed:

1) Business owners that had either intentionally or naturally cultivated strong relationships with their customers were miles ahead of their colleagues and competitors. When they put out the call for help, their customers responded.

2) Business owners that were transparent in their communication actually reinforced their relationships and increased trust with their customers - even if the news wasn't always good.

3) Business owners that actively invited their customers into their locations or participate in virtual events have been successful. Give your customers a reason to show up and they will. Early on during the pandemic it was because customers wanted to support small and locally owned businesses, now it's because owners have gotten creative about what every day business looks like.

12/09/2020

These ties belonged to my Dad. I've held on to them since he passed away, that was 20 years ago. My Dad was a great business man. He launched his own business because he was tired of driving 2 or more hours a day to and from work, he was tired of working so hard for someone else, he was tired of not doing what was important to him.

When I was making the decision to strike out on my own, I thought long and hard about what he would tell me were he here.

My Dad had been in sales. He sold bottling, canning and packaging machinery. On his own, he helped small brewers get started. A rum producer get bigger. A vegetable grower increase distribution. I ran into a customer of my Dad’s many years after his death. It was completely a chance meeting. This gentleman went on to tell me about how important his relationship with my Dad was. Sure, my Dad got the equipment they needed. Got everything going, set up. But what he told me next stuck with me. He said, “Your father helped me. He didn't just sell me things. He was a man who genuinely cared about people.”

That’s been my guiding principle. Help people get to where they want to go. I hope to live up to my Dad’s legacy.
-Ann