Restaurant PRs

[Lreda]

Oh boy,

You really are a lurker. I look forward to talking soon. Your post was very informing.

Lou

Edited June 16, 2003 by Lreda (log)

[Jinmyo]

Wow, Karen. That was very informative. Thank you.

[Fat Guy]

I can't tell you how many times we've been called in to a new restaurant, and after meeting with their team, we schedule a dinner.  Too often, the meal barely hits mediocre.  And we have to look at the owner & say, you know what?  Every parent thinks his baby is the cutest on the block - but you might want to rethink a media campaign!

Unfortunately, there are many less scrupulous publicists out there who will happily take a client's money in exchange for performing useless tasks. I get so many press releases, mostly from the larger agencies, for restaurants that are totally middle-market and unremarkable -- you can tell it just from reading the press release! -- and that will never get reviewed in any serious media outlet. As in the legal profession, in the PR profession you have true professionals and you have hacks. The hacks always outnumber the true professionals. The trick, as a client, is to look past the short-sighted consideration that a hack may at first seem cheaper and more accommodating, because in the end a true professional will put out more value than you put in, while a hack will just consume your money and deliver little in return.

We've tried to create an agency that's all about longterm, trusted relationships with both media AND clients.

That's one reason why good publicists don't have any bad clients: they know it takes years to build up a relationship with any serious food media person (writer, editor, producer, whatever), but it only takes one shitty pitch to wreck that relationship. They know that above all else a good product has to be a good product, and that the role of the publicist isn't to sell crap to the media but, rather, to present a good product in the best possible light. And the relationship, on the media side, extends far beyond the simple immediate task of promoting a given restaurant or special event. Good publicists maintain their media contacts in many ways, including ways unrelated to any of their clients.

Bad publicist: I have literally had this exact conversation, at a media preview dinner . . . Me: How is this place going to make any money; the location sucks; the food is unremarkable . . . Publicist: Beats me. We were only hired to do the opening and arrange the media dinner. We got them their mentions in New York Magazine and the Times. We did our job.

Good publicist: Publicist: Hey, Steven, I noticed you were writing stories for Elle. Have you considered doing something on career-changing women in the culinary profession, like model-turned-sommelier, dancer-turned-restaurateur, etc.? Me: Interesting idea. Do you have any names to suggest? Publicist: Yes, here are four . . . Me: Do you represent any of them? Publicist: No, but I can find out who does . . . Me: That would be great, thanks . . . Publicist: Hey let's have lunch soon; I have some new clients you might want to hear about . . . Me: Great, pick a day.

[Bux]

I'm the Karen of Diaz/Schloss that FG and Rosie so kindly referred to earlier (thank you both).  I'm finding this thread really interesting  

...

In my experience, Bux is (again) correct

I trust no one here believes that affects my response.

Phew!  I hoped to be helpful here, not opportunistic.  Thanx for reading ...

Thank you for posting an insider's view. Thanks also for posting with the professsional understanding that everything one says may be a double edged sword. I think there are a few restaurant and food industry people who are reluctant to post, less out of fear of saying the wrong thing, than out of fear of offending by appearing to be an opportunist just by posting. I don't think it's a well grounded fear and we welcome the honest post by a professional willing to identify him or herself.

I think we have a reasonably sophisticated audience here and most of them can separate the self-serving propaganda from the honset reply. If not, Fat Guy is here to help sort it out.

[Steve Klc]

I find rhubarbz very revealing and very compelling:

"A chef may have great culinary ability and a restaurateur may have great intentions ... but far more often, they're not experienced marketers. And in this economic climate, if you're not a smart marketer, it's very hard to succeed."

"We don't necessarily judge success by how long (for example) a client's restaurant is in business. A restaurant is a highly collaborative effort and its success or failure may be due to half a dozen elements - only one of which may be the lack of a branded presence in the marketplace."

Some chefs and restaurateurs are lucky to have developed their own media contacts and network--with and without publicists--some younger chefs are fortunate to have come up through those situations and learned themselves. Other chefs seem like their own worst enemies. And what brig and invento have unintentionally revealed is that even the most established chefs like Trotter go out and beat the bushes, keep their name out there, seek exposure charitable or otherwise, like agreeing to slap their face on a glossy Hawaiian Vintage chocolate ad and there's really no need to try to peek behind the veil for some kind of altruistic motives or determine who contacted who first. Your actions in and out of the restaurant build your brand--gosh, even invento with his "I'm not hiring a publicist-word of mouth" philosophy is trying to distinguish himself in the media marketplace, promoting his nascent brand and engaging in media relations and public realtions on this very thread! Before he discovered eGullet remember the excited feeling you got reading about Patrice Demers talking about his restaurant Les Chevres and how they arrived at their philosophy, how they introduced us to their new chef--now an eGulleteer himself? He was sharing with friends here, yes, but that was media relations, was it not, that was the beginning of his (and Claude's) brand development, no? I believe it landed him a spot on that Food Network show about new restaurants opening. Grant Achatz was defining his brand here better than his publicist could--though you know other channels are being handled by her because, well, Grant just has so much time. None of it is sinister and as rhubarbz and Bux have said--someone has to do it whether you're on the phone or you engage a publicist externally or not--and it us usually collaborative in nature even if someone is on retainer.

At some point, no matter how controlling your nature, even most control freak chefs realize they can't manage all this stuff themselves; and some even realize that there are designers and stylists and business planners and agents and publicists that know more about design and style and business and deals and media relations than they themselves do, so they hire them, work with them and it is win-win. What's that business adage--focus on your core, you stand to gain most by doing what you do best? I like to look at who chefs collaborate with, who they choose to work with (Thomas Keller reached out to Mark Furstenburg--what does that tell you even if you know nothing about bread?) and who they choose to work for them, from their photographers to vendors to publicists to... All that can help you navigate your way through the culinary thicket and it is a fact of life that you have to figure out how to navigate the culinary thicket.

Sometimes that can happen without hiring a publicist if you can cultivate your own relationships with marketing and media types but then those types are not working for you and their loyalties are, well, somewhat divided and at least inherently conflicted. Sometimes as a chef doing good work is enough, sometimes not. But there is no doubt that publicists can and do play vital roles in the success of so many ventures and brands, in and out of New York. You think the food writers in NYC are setting up their own lunches at all the stylish places around town? Most are not. Most know precisely who to call.

And as rhubarbz lays out, it's not just or even mainly issuing press releases. If you are ever lucky to sit on the other side of the fence, and write or hang around with some food writers, well, let's just say that many a helpful article in the media, especially involving name chefs, has been nudged along by your friendly publicist, and it may have begun with an offhand comment at a media dinner or luncheon, maybe muttered casually as an aside: "say, I heard you were working on a story about tobacco in desserts, you know, you should really try the brand new tobacco-infused creation by Pierre Reboul at Vong, which he coincidentally just put on the menu last night!" or "Have you tried that amazing warm white chocolate cake by Bill Yosses at Citarella--I think you'll find it unique compared to all the molten dark chocolate cakes around town!" And even Beard journalism award-winning articles have been given big assists by publicists.

Good publicists are worth whatever retainers they are getting, so, too, are good photographers, writers, sous chefs, pastry chefs, web designers, beverage directors. We are all part of what the larger whole is--chef.

[Fat Guy]

I heard back from Jennifer Baum at Bullfrog & Baum this morning, and there is indeed no such person as "Bullfrog." It is apparently a nod to her beloved late mother-in-law, who was a frog-memorabilia fanatic/collector. I've also alerted her to this thread, so who knows, she might show up here at some point.

[Oceangroveguy]

Fascinating exchange, and I'm looking forward to more about it, but as for FG's comment

"As in the legal profession, in the PR profession you have true professionals and you have hacks. The hacks always outnumber the true professionals. "

I seem to remember that FG is, or maybe was, a lawyer, and maybe his experience was different than mine. In more than 20 years of lawyering, I've run across plenty of hacks, but by no means have they outnumbered the conscientious and honest practitioners. Like I said, maybe it FG's experience was different but I think it was just a cheap shot.

[Fat Guy]

In this week's Crain's there's a brief interview with Karine Bakhoum, president of KB Network News (a major restaurant-PR firm in New York):

http://crainsny.com/industry.cms?industryId=201

[Suzanne F]

I found it interesting at the start of this thread that people seemed to confuse advertising with PR. What I remember from business school is that there is a huge difference, just as there is between sales and marketing.

Advertising is what you pay for to get people to know that you exist. PR should get you editorial coverage. Anyone can buy an ad. It takes a good PR firm or person (internal or external) to get editorial coverage, which imparts much more information to your potential customers.

Think about the NY Times ads for Lutece that have been running for months now. That's advertising. Feh. Lutece is throwing away money, as far as I'm concerned. They should instead be spending it on PR, having someone write articles informing editors and other food writers of what there is new and exciting (or retro and exciting) -- not showing us how cute the chef is.

On the question of BAD publicists: a chef I worked for in several different restaurants had one (maybe he still does). I literally had to push her out of the kitchen one day, because all she was doing was telling him how important the people were he was cooking for and making him incredibly nervous. BAD publicists know nothing about how a chef works, or how he/she thinks, or how a restaurant does what it does.

[Fat Guy]

Most restaurant operations are not large enough to benefit from a bifurcation of advertising and public relations. A restaurant PR firm will typically handle both on the restaurant's behalf.

[higgins]

One thing's clear: you don't get into Page Six and the like regularly without a PR firm (if that's the kind of restaurant you're running; I tend to flee places mentioned in Page Six). You need somebyody

But you don't need a publicist to get reviews or even minor coverage. But you've really gotta work it. I have one friend that put together a slender press kit, called a few reviewers and mailed. He ended up with an NYT review (Asimov), that then got recycled three more times in the following six months. Same with another that sent a menu to Grimes and got a Diner's Journal followed by an Asimov review (unfavorable, however).

It seems much easier for a new restaurant, because NYC is a town that loves new restaurants and there's a number of outlets (NY Mag, Time Out, the dailies) But how does a mid-range restaurant get press later when there's no star chef involved? Seems to be easier on the high-end places than, say, United Noodle, Salt, OG, Miracle Grill, Pearl Oyster Bar, Chez Michallet or Japonica. How would you go about promoting a place like that??

[Fat Guy]

United Noodle, Salt, OG, Miracle Grill, Pearl Oyster Bar, Chez Michallet or Japonica. How would you go about promoting a place like that?

If you're the owner of, say, Pearl Oyster Bar, you can try to write a book that demonstrates the uniqueness of the restaurateur. Then you can have your publisher's publicist shop advance copies of the book around to the various editors and journalists who might be able to provide coverage. If you're lucky, someone will find your pitch compelling and you can get a page or two in a high-circulation magazine. ( http://www.elle.com/inthemag/articles/apri...ain/main_01.asp ) Rebecca Charles has always done well with the media: Pearl Oyster Bar was reviewed in Gourmet, and often gets mentioned in New York Magazine et al. What it all boils down to is that she has made a compelling case for her restaurant's uniqueness. Without uniqueness, it's virtually impossible to conduct an effective media marketing campaign. You might be able to get a review and a few notices early on, but unless you offer something to distinguish yourself from the 20,000 other restaurants in New York, and you continually renew that offer over time, you're going to dip under the media's radar and never emerge.

[Michael Laiskonis]

As this is on the New York board...

For those chefs and restaurants outside of New York, arguably the nerve center of both the media at large, and the food media in particular, how important is it to have their representation based in the city? Coming from anywhere else in the country, breaking into that epicenter can be challenging. Is the greater proximity and access a benefit? Does this just reinforce, with a few notable exceptions, that "if it ain't happenin' in NY it ain't worth noticing?"

What is the general nature and "culture" of the NY press and PR relationship? Can the same relationship exist with PR firms out in "the sticks"?

[Fat Guy]

Is the greater proximity and access a benefit? Does this just reinforce, with a few notable exceptions, that "if it ain't happenin' in NY it ain't worth noticing?"

It's a mixed blessing for a restaurant to be in New York. Media access is easier, but standards are high and competition is cutthroat. Many restaurants go unnoticed in New York that could be top-10 restaurants in a smaller city. If you can cook at the two-star New York Times level you can be a top restaurant in, for example, San Diego. You'll get a four-star review or whatever is the local critic's highest rating (either that, or they'll hate you for serving "weird food"). Your chef can guest in the local newspaper food section, appear on the local morning shows, and otherwise dominate the local media. And when it comes time for Gourmet to do top restaurants by region, you're going to get in while much better places in New York don't even register. It's also easier to get a Beard Award, etc. At the same time, it's very difficult to get editors and writers from the New York-based magazines to come eat at your restaurant or to care much about you at all, unless you make a huge splash or have a super-interesting story to tell. Depending on where you are and what you're trying to accomplish, however, there may be limited utility to national media attention. For example, if you're in a place like Edmonton, where there just isn't a whole lot of tourism, you're mostly wasting your time by trying to get into the high-circulation glossies. Whatever resources you devote to that effort would likely be better spent on local and regional promotion.

What is the general nature and "culture" of the NY press and PR relationship? Can the same relationship exist with PR firms out in "the sticks"?

Most food writers in New York work well with publicists. Some (especially some of the New York Times people) keep publicists mostly at arms' length, some get too close (and are therefore overly influenced by publicists), but most participate in a proper symbiosis. A PR firm in a town like Vancouver is likely to have more powerful media connections than a similar-size firm in New York would. There's no one publicist I know of in New York who has strong connections at every major outlet in this market. Somebody has an in at the Times, somebody has an in at Food & Wine, somebody has an in at the Post, etc., but nobody has them all. In small media markets, however, things can get highly centralized and borderline incestuous. A local publicist is likely to know every single journalist and editor working the food/lifestyly/entertainment beat in every medium. There is some of that in New York, but the size and scope of the market prevent any real consolidation. For example, if I go to Vancouver I can hook up with the local CVB (Vancouver Tourism, they call it) and they can hook me into every local restaurant publicist in two seconds. They'll have a media relations specialist (or several) dedicated to that task. Try calling the CVB in New York (NYC Visit) with a similar request. Forget it; they're working on mega-projects like Restaurant Week; they just don't provide that service for journalists.

[Nick]

If you're the owner of, say, Pearl Oyster Bar, you can try to write a book that demonstrates the uniqueness of the restaurateur. Then you can have your publisher's publicist shop advance copies of the book around to the various editors and journalists who might be able to provide coverage. If you're lucky, someone will find your pitch compelling and you can get a page or two in a high-circulation magazine. ( http://www.elle.com/inthemag/articles/apri...ain/main_01.asp ) Rebecca Charles has always done well with the media: Pearl Oyster Bar was reviewed in Gourmet, and often gets mentioned in New York Magazine et al. What it all boils down to is that she has made a compelling case for her restaurant's uniqueness. Without uniqueness, it's virtually impossible to conduct an effective media marketing campaign. You might be able to get a review and a few notices early on, but unless you offer something to distinguish yourself from the 20,000 other restaurants in New York, and you continually renew that offer over time, you're going to dip under the media's radar and never emerge.

FG - Interesting you mention that. Rebecca Charles was just on NPR's Weekend Edition with Liane Hansen. Audio available after noon today. Here's the link.

[rhubarbz]

Just came back from the Fancy Food Show, where i spoke on a two-hour panel on PR, Promotion & Marketing in the food business. The moderator said something we loved, which kind of sums it all up. Said she heard it once before at another seminar: "Advertising is what you pay for; PR is what you PRAY for!"