Gran Caffe Rises like a Phoenix
Our first meeting with Gran Caffe L’Aquila came after they’d already been open for a year. Most businesses build their marketing plan months before they open, Gran Caffe however had a serious problem that prevented them from hitting the ground running from day one—scaffolding covering their entire building, top to bottom. Though located in Philadelphia’s busiest center city neighborhood, they were almost entirely invisible in that crucial first year. No Grand Opening. No press events with food writers and bloggers and the wonderful stories and reviews and likes and shares that follow and begin to build your brand—and your reputation.
Gran Caffe owner Riccardo Longo couldn’t have the ability to take advantage of all the perks of being a new restaurant, he was tossed into a burning building and forced to fight his way out. Battered and bruised Gran Caffe made it through their first year of business and eventually the scaffolding came down.
With a restored vigor Riccardo started bringing in marketers, public relations agencies, magazines, radio stations, trend setters and anyone one else that he thought could finally start to build his brand. Through this process we were introduced to Riccardo and began working on a proposal to finally launch the Gran Caffe L’Aquila brand. After a few meetings it was down to us vs a pr agency. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense because we don’t do traditional pr, however in the mind of some restaurant owners digital marketing and public relations are one in the same. Through our network we were able to add a local publicist to our proposal, not as flashy but someone who’s been around the block that could get the job done and at a much better price for Gran Caffe. This sealed the deal and the contract was signed!
We started our contract with social media marketing, email marketing and light graphic design which eventually springboarded into the question that we get all the time, “what else can you guys do?” When answering that question for client’s I like to focus on one thing, giving them ideas that will make them money. New food photos, videos, a new website and eventually the addition of our first ever E-commerce website selling their Italian goods.
What makes this client so unique is that Riccardo is constantly pressuring us to come up with new ways to build his brand using online initiatives. Their e-commerce website, hosted by shopify, has some amazing features including monthly coffee and olive oil subscriptions. Building this wasn’t an easy task, it took months to figure out shipping, pricing and creating a system that worked right for them. Now in it’s final rendition this small website has turned into one of the country’s best online Italian specialty stores. See their feature in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
