Perhaps the last thing a restaurateur wants to see on opening day is the town’s entire fire department and several bright-red trucks, but at Frankie & Fanucci’s Wood Oven Pizzeria, an upscale-casual pizzeria that opened in Hartsdale, N.Y., in May, it was all according to plan.
Co-owners Angelo Viscoso and Brad Nagy treated the village’s firefighters to a buffet of pizzas, wine and beer to draw attention to the wood-burning oven feeding one fire they wouldn’t want to hose down. Getting the firefighters around the oven was a good photo op, Nagy said, but there was an ulterior motive.
“They’re a good customer base,” he said. “Firefighters love pizza and beer, and what better way to develop an affinity with an influential group in town?”
Viscoso and Nagy also courted the rest of the Westchester County town with a massive grand-opening food giveaway, using the restaurant’s outdoor signage to draw customers to Frankie & Fanucci’s website, where they could print vouchers good for one free pizza.
Independent operators may be apprehensive about a free-food promotion, Nagy said, but such grand-opening events are the way for small restaurants to generate word-of-mouth and succeed.
So far the strategy to build customer visits has worked. Traffic has remained brisk at the 2,000-square-foot, 80-seat restaurant ever since, Nagy said. The average check has hovered between $12 and $15, including alcohol.
Sitting in a booth, sampling the restaurant’s wood-fired pizzas and meatball sliders, he discussed how he viewed the pre-opening marketing initiatives as a crucial investment on par with the oven.
“The strategy was, first, to get the buzz going,” Nagy said, “and second to develop an e-mail list out of that, and three, to get trial.”
In all, Frankie & Fanucci’s gave away 800 pizzas, and the check averages were higher than expected during the promotion. While the owners worried initially that everyone would redeem their free pizzas, drink water and never be seen again, they soon were pleasantly surprised.
“The amount of press we got for doing this giveaway was phenomenal,” he said. “Do you know what it costs us to make a pizza? It’s about $2. I’ll give you $2 to try it, and then if you buy a soda, I’ve about broken even.… I think it’s going to be very hard for any independent to open in today’s climate without having a well-thought concept, without a good marketing game plan to let people know you’re there.”
While the industry average for marketing spending is around 2 percent of sales, Nagy and Viscoso want to shoot for between 2 percent and 4 percent.
“Otherwise, you get lazy and stop the marketing, and then you watch your sales tail off,” Nagy said. “You should be forced to spend that money and find something to do with it, and view it as an investment.”
His plans to build upon the marketing momentum involve a continued blend of old and new media, like the prior pairing of outdoor signage and e-mail coupons. He’ll continue to generate word-of-mouth through public relations and events, and will try using Facebook and Twitter. Because Frankie & Fanucci’s is steps away from the commuter train station, Nagy is considering text message alerts for commuters during rush hour and deals where train tickets can be redeemed for discounts.
He’ll also try “Firefighter Fridays,” where uniformed firefighters get a discount. Limiting the discount to one night a week, rather than a standing deal whenever, ensures a sufficient incentive to come. Fridays are already busy, but Nagy doubts that trying to drive traffic to a slower night would work.
“You can’t buck the trend, and you need to go with the path of least resistance,” Nagy said. “In the restaurant business, people want to come out and eat on certain days. If I have people coming on a Friday, and I can get more people to come out, I’m not against that. Otherwise, you’re pushing on a rope trying to get people to come out on a Monday night, and nobody wants to. Why waste your time and money? I’ll just create a bigger line if I have to, or I’ll expand the restaurant.” — [email protected]