Tag: food pr

5 Food Photo Tips for Smart Phones

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , , , 2 Comments on 5 Food Photo Tips for Smart Phones

It’s a good bet that if you’re sitting down to dinner, you’re snapping a photo of your food. Compelling images have the potential to create cravings that boost a restaurant’s appeal and garner engagement on social media. But not all of us carry a Nikon in our evening clutch. So we combined forces with Stacey Sprenz, founder of Stacey Sprenz Photography, to share some of her most shutter-worthy food photography tips–all tailored to your smart phone.

  1. Screen Shot 2015-11-04 at 10.41.36 PMTurn off the flash. In food photography, a flash casts a shadow, washing out the subject and warping its appetizing hues. Natural daylight is best, so find a window whenever possible. And don’t be afraid to move the subject around to several places in the room to capture optimum lighting.
  2. Try three different angles.
    1. 45 degrees or less: Use this angle to demonstrate the height of a dish, perfect for showcasing an appetizer with microgreens or a salad with garnish mounded on top.
    2. 90 degrees: The overhead angle typically works well for soups, skillets or table settings.
    3. Zero degrees for drama: Hold your smart phone level with the table to capture a particularly artistic plating or display.
  3. Frame the shot. Use the rule of thirds. Divide the frame into three segments (horizontal, vertical and diagonal), and position the subject to fill either one-third or two-thirds of the frame. Allow “negative space” to fill the rest of the shot to focus emphasis on the dish.
  4. photo with utensils by Stacey SprenzStyle on site. Utensils, textiles, table décor, background – experiment with available props to create a scene or elicit an emotion. Prop spoons at an angle, nestle the dish on a casually folded napkin or position a bottle of wine as a backdrop.
  5. Use an app(lication) for your app(etizer). The custom technology of photo apps help to correct exposure and white balance, increase clarity and saturate weak color palettes. Experiment to find a phone app that works best for the type of photo you’re taking. For food photography, Stacey loves Afterlight.

Want to know more food marketing tips? Check out our blog on festival and event marketing–a great place to use your new photography skills. Peruse Stacey’s collection of culinary photos or chat with her on Twitter for more artistic inspiration.

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Food Festivals: Worth Your Time?

Cherith AndesBlog, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , , ,

From Melbourne to Maine, nearly every corner of the globe explores and expresses local culture through food. Culinary festivals provide a fertile arena to celebrate specific ingredients, showcase new talent or develop fresh dishes through creative chef competitions. Despite the social importance of these events, ongoing debate continues to question the marketing ROI of live events and food festivals.

Food Event Marketing: Trending or Dying?

Marketing expert Michael Reynolds, for example, argues that the trade show model belongs in a graveyard, a dinosaur in lead generation and customer cultivation. It’s easy to get lost in rows of booths hawking wares and flashing shiny tchotchkes. But festivals offer one component that most other marketing methods don’t: personal interaction. And some research suggests that live events leave a stronger imprint on the consumer psyche than social media and promotional campaigns combined.

If food festivals are such a goldmine, then why do so many brands walk away with little to show for their investments? The key lies in the master plan, the year-long prep to ensure that your restaurant gets the most bang for your buck at a culinary event.

Paint the Bigger Picture

Your annual marketing and PR plan should encompass a clear calendar of messages, themes and content, including everything from in-house events to product launches and partnerships. The food festival isn’t an isolated afterthought; it should serve as a seamless part of the overarching plan, an opportunity to aggregate messages to a specific audience at a given point in time.

You may want to introduce a new seasonal menu or recipe, but to maximize this launch, communicate with audiences prior to the event with social media teasers, e-newsletters and in-restaurant promos. Identify any influencers or media and extend a special invitation (with a creative media kit!) to visit your corner of the festival. Consider offering a special tasty treat to those that actually meet you.

Roll Out the Red Carpet

Millennials constitute a growing segment of food festival attendees, and experiences—especially elite, exclusive ones—are a valuable commodity to this demographic. Ditch the corporate talking points, step out from behind your booth and offer creative, engaging interaction. Fortunately, food is already experiential by nature. But don’t be afraid to go the extra step to debut a new flavor, provide a special interview, create a foodie photo booth, offer keepsake dishware or even solicit input for the recipe itself.

Chef Teddy Diggs, executive chef at Il Palio
Chef Teddy Diggs of Il Palio serving his famous Italian chestnut soup at the 2015 TerraVita Food Festival.

The lure may be as simple as an unexpected food. At the annual 2015 TerraVita Festival, Il Palio–a regional Italian restaurant in Chapel Hill and Clairemont client–served up something that few others did: a simple seasonal soup that stood out among other complex dishes. Simple yet delicious, the dish garnered Il Palio and Chef Teddy Diggs fame as “the chestnut soup” guy and attracted eager tasters from across the event.

Follow Beyond the Festival

A whoppin’ 95 percent of festivalgoers say they are highly likely to visit a brick-and-mortar shop after tasting a favored dish at an event. Don’t be a one-hit wonder and squander this ready-made fan base. If you’ve devised a way to collect information (or even tweets), invite your new foodie friends to attend a special dinner, enjoy a festival-only promotion or provide feedback from the tasting. Retweet, re-share, re-post and respond. You’ve wowed these foodies with your flavors; now engage them to visit you again.

Clairemont Communications is a full-service, strategic public relations and marketing communications firm that focuses on blending traditional communications, content marketing and social media. Send us an email to learn how we can help your restaurant increase visibility and grow a stronger customer base.

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Photo of the Week: Food-Seen

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Photo of the Week, , , , ,

We love to work with talented partners, and this week, we had the opportunity to celebrate the official launch of Food-Seen by Felicia Perry Photography. An L.A. native on a foray to Raleigh, Felicia is an international award-winning artist who has been capturing life through a camera lens for almost a decade and a half. While she’s photographed her fair share of blushing brides (with features in The Knot and Wedding Wire), Felicia’s expertise now concentrates on the food and beverage scene, seeking to convey the intrigue and emotion of the culinary world.

Felicia snapped this image at Durham Distillery with the assistance of art director Kayte Price. The idea for the photo is to depict a perfectly composed drink in the midst of chaos or “a conniption,” which is the name of the gin.

Congratulations to Felicia and her team!

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VIDEO: “Doughn’t” Miss This

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , , ,

Dessert…as an appetizer? That’s how one diner described Il Palio‘s renowned sea salt and rosemary focaccia bread. A hallmark of Il Palio’s menu, the focaccia embodies all the qualities of regional Italian cooking–simplicity, balance and epic flavor.

Step into the kitchen with Chef Teddy Diggs, executive chef at Il Palio, as he unveils the secrets to this mouth-watering dish and answers the question that everyone keeps asking: how does he get two quarts of olive oil in that ball of dough!?

We love watching an artisan ply his craft!

 

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WHAT DOES A PR AGENCY DO? PDQ Blogger Campaign

Tracy LathanBlog, Case Studies, Public Relations, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , 2 Comments on WHAT DOES A PR AGENCY DO? PDQ Blogger Campaign

Client: PDQ (People Dedicated to Quality)

Situational Analysis

PDQ, which stands for People Dedicated to Quality, is a fast-casual restaurant that specializes in hand-battered chicken tenders and offers a full menu of fresh, made-to-order items, including daily cut fries, hand-spun milkshakes and fresh salads. Founded in Tampa, Florida in 2011, PDQ opened its first North Carolina location at the end of 2012 and now has five locations in the Triangle. As PDQ quickly expanded in the area, managers wanted to introduce moms and families to the restaurant and build awareness of the company’s brand.

PDQ turned to Clairemont Communications to introduce influential moms to one of the newest fast-casual dining options and raise awareness about the restaurant’s dedication to freshness and quality. With no microwaves or freezers in the restaurant, Clairemont wanted to educate moms that there are healthier options available when they need to feed their families on the go. Clairemont created an event that directly targeted PDQ’s key audience of moms and in turn created loyal PDQ brand ambassadors.

Planning

Based on our primary and secondary research, Clairemont established the following objectives to achieve brand awareness for PDQ:

  1. Increase awareness of PDQ by securing at least five bloggers to attend the event.
  2. Secure 15 social media mentions.

We offered two seating times – a late lunch and an early dinner – to better increase our chances of coordinating with their schedules. Since PDQ is a family restaurant, we also decided to open the event to the bloggers and their families so they would get the true experience.

Because the Clairemont team knew that the bloggers would be live tweeting and posting pictures on Instagram, we created a document with the attendees’ handles so we could make sure PDQ’s social media team tagged them and responded accordingly. Additionally, we worked to identify which bloggers had allergy concerns and coordinated with PDQ to develop a document that detailed menu items’ ingredients to answer any allergen or dietary concerns.

Execution

To maximize engagement in-person and through social media, Clairemont focused its efforts for the mom blogger event in the following areas:

  • Creating the Dining Experience for Moms: To get the full experience, we directed them to the counter to order directly from the menu. As most of them had never been to PDQ, we encouraged them to ask the staff questions. This allowed employees to demonstrate their knowledge of the brand and its menu, while showcasing their excitement for PDQ. It also allowed the bloggers to experience how easily menu items can be customized as part of a regular PDQ visit and not just at a special event.
  • Engaging the Kids: With two moms on the Clairemont team, we know that the key to happy moms is happy kids! The children of the mom bloggers were treated as VIPs at the event. They were given behind-the-scenes Fresh Tours of the kitchen where they were invited to make their own shakes and to try the “potato punch down” that PDQ uses to make fries.
  • Onsite Support: Two members from the Clairemont team staffed each of the sessions to engage with the bloggers, distribute information and take pictures to be shared on PDQ’s social media channels.

Evaluation

The PDQ executive team attributes this event to helping put the brand on the map in the Triangle region, and Clairemont successfully exceeded our objectives within our budget as follows:

  1. Secured attendance of 14 bloggers, exceeding our goal of five, which ultimately resulted in 10 blog posts. In aggregate, these 10 blog sites receive approximately 212,865 unique site visitors per month.
  2. Secured 21 social media mentions, exceeding our goal of 15 posts, which were visible to more than 42,000 combined followers.

Additionally, the bloggers provided feedback, stating that this was one of the best-planned and executed blogger events they had attended. They were impressed by the food, service, the allergy information and the special way their children were treated. Overall, Clairemont effectively engaged a group of vocal, visible bloggers, many of whom have become regular customers and PDQ brand advocates.

 

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