Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q – Brand Awareness In New Markets
Since its founding in 1985, Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q (Jim ‘N Nick’s) has mastered the art of slow-cooked, hickory-smoked barbecue with scratch-made trimmings. Focused on its local communities, the brand believes guests deserve a place to unwind and reconnect with family and friends. Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q has 47 restaurants across six states and is opening in new markets yearly. REED provides strategic public relations support for the brand through media, influencer and community relations efforts, along with award nomination management and event planning support for new restaurant openings.
Insight
Strategically positioning a brand as an industry leader increases awareness and success.
Strategy
Develop consistent messaging for the brand to promote the restaurant in new markets.
Activation
By understanding Jim ‘N Nick’s mission and goals, REED has created messaging to be utilized when introducing the brand to new markets, within the community, and in national publications to ensure the brand is at the forefront of customers’ minds.
To position the brand as a thought leader in established markets, REED has utilized relationships with national food and beverage trade outlets to announce timely promotions and showcase the brand as a top choice for consumers in the Southeast. REED has coordinated cooking segments for the brand in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia to highlight the delicious Jim’ N Nick’s menu items.
A large portion of REED’s public relations work includes providing support for new restaurant openings. The team coordinates with the local chamber of commerce, city officials and a charitable partner to attend the grand opening events. To enhance the celebration and relate it to the brand’s core values, REED has implemented tactics like torching the ribbon instead of cutting it and branding a cedar-wood plank with the Jim ‘N Nick’s logo for the opening staff to sign and keep as a souvenir.
We continue to bring brand awareness to established, new and national markets by showcasing traditions and non-traditional strategies to “cut through the noise” of the food and beverage industry.
Results
REED secured 225 pieces of coverage with over 282,670,828 impressions in 2023. Notable outlets include Nation’s Restaurant News, QSR Magazine, Country Living and Yahoo Finance. We have supported ten new restaurant openings, securing 164 pieces of coverage and reaching over 146 million people.