Launching a new brand is exciting, but sometimes refreshing an old brand can be an even bigger challenge. This was the case with Gibson’s Steakhouse in Chicago. Our team was tasked with refreshing the Gibson’s brand with a marketing plan we then presented to the restaurant’s management team.
Gibson’s has been a Chicago staple for more than two decades. If you aren’t familiar with the restaurant itself, you might recognize it from the FX show The League. (Fun fact: The interior set they use on the show looks nothing like the interior of the actual restaurant.)(Funner fact: Nobody at Gibson’s knows why they ended up on the show, as they were never contacted about it.)
Gibson’s was primarily concerned about bringing in the new generation of regular customers. Successful businesses generally want to keep doing what they are doing, so I think this shows an impressive amount of foresight on the part of management.
Approaching the problem, we were immediately faced with two constraints. First, the restaurant is already operating at or near capacity. There is a 15-20 minute wait most nights and the restaurant is generally full. So, a marketing plan that would reach out and draw hundreds of new customers to the restaurant immediately would actually do more harm than good.
Second, the main value proposition of the restaurant is it’s classic status, and this is a valuable strategic advantage that cannot be easily copied. Therefore, major changes to the restaurant or the menu were out of the question.
So we went with a light-touch, long-range approach. Our first task was to make slight changes inside the restaurant to reinforce the existing brand image, with the goal of turning existing customers into brand advocates. People like talking about their favorite places, our goal was to give them interesting things to say. For example, Gibson’s has their own official USDA Prime certification, a fact that is not nearly as advertised as it should be. A sign inside the restaurant detailing this fact to those waiting for tables would give a brand advocate something to tell to their friends.
Stage two was to prime the outside audience for receipt of this message. This would be done through relatively cheap and ubiquitous radio advertising. Because radio ads are spoken, this would give the listener an audio cue to trigger a reaction when their co-worker started telling them about their date night at Gibson’s.
Our favorite part was the addition of craft beer to the menu. But not any craft beer, specifically Chicago craft beer. The craft beer industry is booming in Chicago, and since good beer pairs nicely with good steak, this would allow Gibson’s to put down even deeper roots in the community. It also differentiates Gibson’s as a Chicago steakhouse; you can get a good steak in New York or Texas or California, but it wouldn’t be the same, and this is one more reason why. It also gave us an excuse to break out some Half Acre beer, one of our favorites.
Engine of Ideas 