Emil Villa's Original Hick'ry Pit Restaurants
Brand Value Research/Positioning

Emil Villa's Restaurants had embarked on a rapid expansion of its operations - growing from three to ten units in a matter of months, and expanding from its Northern California base of operation into the State of Washington.

While the older "legacy" units maintained their market share, the newer units failed to develop a following.

We participated in the design and analysis of brand-value research to identify the real divers of customer retention. We developed positioning and promotional activity to drive trial in the expansion stores. Our print, direct mail, and radio campaign, "When you get right down to real good food," resulted in a significant increase in customer traffic to the new units, and an increase in repeat-customer business in existing units.