Domino’s Paving For Pizza

Some companies may modify their brands in order to keep up with the current times while other create a nation-wide campaign.  Creating a campaign for your brand helps to bring it more to life.  That campaign will do wonders for the story you are trying to present to your audience.  People always love a good story to hear, so its important to write up a great one to tell.

Earlier this week, IHOP unveiled their PR stunt with International House of Burgers.  This PR stunt presented a new story for the IHOP brand with some tasty burgers on the menu.  Meanwhile, Dominoes initiated an interesting campaign for their brand.  Domino’s newest brand campaign involves the work of…filling potholes?

That’s right folks – Domino’s Pizza is paving potholes all across the country.  It’s all under Domino’s newest ‘Paving for Pizza’ campaign that initiated on Monday.  The campaign allows customers to nominate their town for pothole repairs.

Customers can nominate their town by entering pavingforpizza.com and entering their ZIP code.  If your town gets picked, then you will be notified about your city receiving extra funding to fix the potholes.  While you won’t see the Domino’s branded trucks coming by to do the work, your town will get some much needed essential resources.  So far four towns were provided with the funding which include Bartonville, Texas, Milford, Delaware, Athens, Georgia, and Burbank, California.

The gist of Domino’s PR campaign is so that pizzas can safely make it from their locations to their destinations.  As simple as this idea seems, it also makes for a great strategy to advertise their carryout service.  By scoping in on one downfall about delivery service (with this case, it’s the potholes!), Domino’s seized this opportunity to highlight the option of carrying it out with you.  So not only did Domino’s create a brilliant campaign, but they also showcased their carryout option during the process.

This says a lot about American businesses when a pizza company is offering road repairs for certain towns.  It’s a bizarre look into how our society is run.  Politicians usually deal with things like fixing up potholes, yet a popular pizza chain like Domino’s is easily providing the funding necessary to do just that.  Who knew that a pizza chain would be fixing up potholes all across this nation.

Nevertheless, Domino’s brilliant PR campaign already has a huge following on the internet.  Many customers are taking to the site to have their roads paved, all in the name of pizza.  Your pizza will be saved, but your roads will be improved as well.

This is the kind of campaign we need here in America.  Businesses like Domino’s are solving some the country’s major annoyances, one day at a time.  They may not be catastrophic problems, but they still need to be fixed in the long run.

Time to start being like Domino’s and pave for pizza.

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#420BostonPatioEvents

Happy Hump Day readers!  We’re only just a mere week away until Summer starts.  Summer solstice is happening on the earth, creating longer days and shorter nights here in the country.  Longer days means more time spent heading to amazing events around your area.  Cities like Boston are rolling out outdoor vendor events so that many audiences can enjoy the beautiful summer weather.

On Monday we dived into cannabis-themed LGBTQ events that were happening in San Francisco.  While Boston will have to wait a while until LGBTQ events start mixing with cannabis, there are other ways the city could cash in on that PR gold.  And the key tactic for this opportunity can happen right outside.

Rooftop bars are all in the rage here in Boston, providing cold beers and magnificent views.  People come up after their work day to soak up the last few hours of sunshine before heading back home.  With cannabis legal in Boston, the next step in the strategy would be to create 4/20-themed rooftop events (which you can dive back into here).

But why stop there?  Are rooftop events the only marketing tactic for cannabis?  Why not further expand the marketing mix of opportunities that are presented to us?

And ironically enough, these answers were right in front of us the entire time.  They were there before you make it up the rooftop, even before you step onto the elevator.  Cannabis events should open within…patios.

Patios make for a perfect spot for events outdoors.  Now that the warm weather is here, people will want to be served at a table on the patio.  They want to enjoy their food and cold beers outside with their friends or family.  It makes for a simple, yet entertaining event for everyone.  After spending three months escaping the bitter cold winter, now is the time to soak in this amazing weather.

These events on the patio are great and throwing cannabis into the mix will provide for a HIGHER positive experience.  You can’t really smoke cannabis indoors in many places, so having a designated smoking area is a must for this to happen.  Providing a special designated area will keep people around longer without feeling paranoid.

Think about this – you got a cannabis-themed networking event out on the patio.  Many of these professionals want to enjoy their cannabis during the event.  Why not make it easier by mixing cannabis and networking right on this special area.

In other words, let the people have their cake and eat it too.  Let them meet up to discuss things happening in the cannabis industry all while consuming the very product they enjoy.  They spent their time and energy planning to attend the event, so it’s only fair that they spend that time wisely.  It may seem complicated, but the ending results would be incredible.

This may take a while to figure out the legality kinks throughout this process, but it’s something that CAN be done.  Cannabis-themed patio events are something we should definitely look into in the near future.  Recreational shops are opening in almost a month and these will present a lot of magnificent ideas for the city of Boston.

Patios, as well as rooftops, are some of a few places we could utilize within the marketing mix.  As human beings, we owe it to ourselves to become closer with nature.  Having cannabis-themed events indoors is great but providing them outdoors makes for a more monumental experience.

Let’s start brainstorming 4/20-themed patio events for a HIGHER experience.

IHOB: International House of Burgers

Brands are being modified every year with unique changes.  Sometimes they merge with other companies or other times they alter their name to introduce something eye-catching for their audience.  Companies must adapt to the ever-changing landscape every year if they want to stay ahead of their competition.  In some cases, these changes revolutionize the brand in an entirely new way; but in other cases, the change falls flat and ends up becoming a PR nightmare for months to come.

One prime example that happened recently involves the famous breakfast chain restaurant IHOP (International House of Pancakes).  IHOP underwent a major brand change in the past week, changing their iconic brand name to IHOB.  What’s the new name change, you might ask?  International House of Pancakes is being flipped to become… International House of Burgers.

IHOP is temporarily changing its brand name to International House of Burgers.  A tweet was released yesterday to reveal the answer to the question that was on every fan’s mind.  Many fans speculated that the ‘b’ would stand for ‘bacon’ or ‘breakfast’.  One user joked about how it should stand for ‘International House of Brunch’ so that they would start serving mimosas.

The idea was a PR stunt to showcase the line of burgers being released for the menu.  Specifically, the IHOB campaign is for the ‘ultimate steak burger’ product.  Not only that, but a burger-themed IHOP will be opening in Los Angeles this year.  While a new IHOB restaurant will be opening, this PR tactic won’t be applied to all 1,700 IHOP locations.

A major reason for this plan was to capture customers for the day and early evening.  Almost half of the customers enter IHOP during breakfast time than any other time.  There is a typical lunch/dinner menu for IHOP, but most customers come in for breakfast.

As intriguing as some of the fan’s guesses were, International House of Burgers seemed like a great name idea for the PR tactic.  IHOP was always known for their various pancakes and now they are promoting more burgers on their menu.  The company has been in business for 60 years and it was about time they start shaking things up with a funny name change.

This right here is a prime example of a company shaking up their brand in an interesting and entertaining way.  IHOP took to social media to create this ‘IHOB’ campaign where users had to guess what the ‘b’ would stand for.  Many users didn’t get the right answer, but they were still impressed with the new roll out happening in the future.  It was an entertaining PR tactic and we even learned about a few releases coming from IHOP.

If you want to learn about how to revolutionize your brand in unique and entertaining way, look no further than IHOP.  IHOP successfully flipped their branding name all while keeping their audiences in the loop during the process.  All it takes is a fun guessing game and you have thousands of twitter users by storm.

Whether you are for IHOP or IHOB, one thing is for certain– IHOP flipped many heads through their incredible PR tactic that was launched on their social media.

Rooftop Recreational Cannabis Events

We are just a few weeks away from summer, being that the rooftop bars are opening.  Rooftop bars provide patrons with drinks up on the roof of a restaurant.  Once the weather gets warmer, employees open up the rooftop or patio area for the season.  This marketing tactic rings in tasty beers, more audiences, heavier foot traffic, and even some entertainment along the way.  It’s the perfect way to get the crowd together to drink some tasty brews all while enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

Days are getting much longer, so it’s a perfect time to take advantage of the rooftop bars.  But besides the minor benefits, the obvious one is the fact that you can consume alcohol outside.  While you can’t consume in public around the city of Boston, you can enjoy your drink on the rooftop deck of a restaurant.  That’s the intriguing loophole that helps both restaurants and patrons alike.  Customers want to drink outside on a lovely summer day and businesses want to offer those drinks as well.

But alcohol isn’t the only product we can offer for entertainment on a rooftop; with recreational cannabis dispensaries opening this summer, it’s definitely HIGH time to add cannabis to the mix of rooftop events.

Rooftop cannabis bars would make for an incredible and entertaining idea.  It would be a great social event where cannabis enthusiasts come together to consume cannabis out on a rooftop or patio.  Audiences from around the Boston area could come together to network about all things cannabis.

Best part about this tactic?  Patrons are able to consume OUTSIDE…on a glorious summer day while the sun is still out.  Whether it’s a pipe or pre-rolled joint, cannabis enthusiasts will appreciate the benefit of consuming cannabis within a confined space.  Consuming in public is still illegal in MA, but these rooftop cannabis events would create a safe and designated area for consumption as well as provide some outdoor entertainment.

You are practically getting the best of both worlds with this nifty idea.  Add some cornhole toss or other activity into the mix and you got yourself a successful event.  Even when the sun goes down later on at night, there’s still some time to roam around the city.

This would make for an amazing idea.  I certainly would love to see cannabis-related events on a rooftop or patio area.  The weather is getting much nicer, so I would definitely take advantage of these outdoor events when possible.  Rooftop bars with alcohol are one thing, but cannabis-themed rooftop events would be a whole other level of entertainment.

If we want to do more for the cannabis industry, we should definitely consider holding events on a rooftop or patio area.  Being outside is one of many components of the place within the marketing mix.  Rather than establish events taking indoors, we can hold them outside on a nice day during the summer.

Let’s start establishing cannabis events on the rooftop for a HIGHER entertaining experience for everyone.

Chocolate Hummus for Chocoholics

Every now and then, I find some unique food product while at the supermarket.  Whether it is a new flavor of granola bars or some tasty drink, there’s always something that catches my eye.  Supermarkets carry thousands of food items and I still manage to find something different to try.  My newest selection I have been buying is Joseph’s Chocolate Hummus.

For the record, I have had hummus for quite some time now.  I first tasted hummus at a Mediterranean restaurant the night before the PRSSA Conference in Washington D.C.  After dipping it with pita bread, I instantly fell in love with it.  The texture tasted smooth and flavorful throughout.  A few dips of pita bread later and it instantly became my new favorite type of snack.  Since then, I have been buying different flavored hummus during my trips to the supermarket.

Joseph’s Chocolate Hummus is basically hummus mixed with chocolate.  This product is served in an 8 oz plastic container to dip into.  You can dip all kinds of food into it – vegetables, fruits, crackers, pretzels, and even pieces of candy.  It may act more as a desert than an appetizer, but it is still healthy to eat.

I have been eating Joseph’s Chocolate Hummus for a while and so far I truly enjoy it.  What I love most is that you can dip a lot of food into it and it will still taste delicious.  So far I have dipped in Belvita biscuits, bananas, and even apples into the hummus.  All of these selections ended up tasting so amazing.  It seems as though you can dip a lot of food into Joseph’s Chocolate Hummus and it will still taste good.

Being a writer means trying out new things in life.  Even the greatest ideas can come to light after purchasing something like chocolate hummus.  It is things like Joseph’s Chocolate Hummus that keep my ideas cranking each day.  I mean, right now I am currently writing about this product after buying at supermarket earlier today!

Even if you don’t like hummus, the point is to purchase something new that you may like.  That chocolate hummus led to another random topic of the entertainment scope.  Purchasing the chocolate hummus was well worth the money, being that it tasted great and it led to an amazing blog post for today.

If you are looking for an interesting treat, be sure to pick up Joseph’s Chocolate Hummus at your nearest supermarket.