Cotton Patch Cafe
A Texas-Sized Win on Chicken Fried Steak Day
Situation Overview
Cotton Patch Cafe is a Southern, homestyle restaurant with 45 locations across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Cotton Patch Cafe proudly serves made-from-scratch Southern classics, including its famous Chicken Fried Steak. The dish has been a best-seller for more than 25 years at Cotton Patch, and the restaurant desired ownership of Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day (October 26) and exposure for their staff’s expertise in creating the dish.
Plan of Action
The Power Group developed a media relations plan targeting key outlets in Cotton Patch markets to fulfill the restaurant’s goal to be known for the best Chicken Fried Steak in Texas. Cotton Patch’s marketing team also set goals to drive greater visibility and in-store sales in struggling markets during the promotion. Emphasis was placed on executing broadcast segments were designed to showcase Cotton Patch’s unique “Chicken Fried Pride” employee training along with its tried and true preparation method.
Actions Taken
The Power Group crafted and distributed targeted pitches to broadcast stations across Texas and Oklahoma, the plan’s key markets. To present Cotton Patch as a master of this historic recipe, we offered Cotton Patch representatives to appear on-air and lead the broadcast anchors through a Chicken Fried Steak preparation while sharing facts about the dish.
In addition to broadcast, we delivered tailored pitches to food and culture-focused print and online outlets, garnering additional social shares and mentions of the holiday alongside the Cotton Patch name.
Outcome
The Power Group secured and coordinated four live broadcast segments in four key markets, which syndicated to 15 other key markets across Texas and Oklahoma. In addition to the successful positioning of Cotton Patch as Chicken Fried Steak experts, Cotton Patch Cafe’s in-stores sales saw a 28 percent on Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day. Every single market’s in-store sales were higher than usual on this day– even those that were considered to be problematic areas. The total amount of impressions from broadcast amounted to almost 500,000 impressions, and social media garnered another 3,000.