Keeping it fresh

Having a great idea is not enough to ensure success. All great ideas need to be updated to keep them fresh for the consumer. How can a restaurant brand accomplish this, especially in an economic environment where consumers constantly have to tighten their belts?

A restaurant brand that has embraced this philosophy and got it right is Col’Cacchio, with its Col’Cacchio Celebrity Chef Series. The pizzeria’s sixth successful Series concluded at the end of November.

“The Col’Cacchio brand has always believed in doing things differently. This mindset led to it initiating its culinary charity event,” says national marketing manager Sheri Goldberg.

The Series brings together some of South Africa’s top chefs, who create a signature pizza that is featured in all Col’Cacchio restaurants countrywide. “Each month one chef’s pizza is sold and R5 from the sale of every pizza is donated to a charitable cause,” adds Goldberg.

This began six years ago and the success of that initial Series led to the brand adopting the Series as an annual event. “To keep the initiative fresh we work hard at ensuring we deliver something unique to our customers, so the Series has become more than just chefs creating a unique pizza,” says Goldberg.

This is one of the keys to the initiative’s success. “Though the theme has always been based on food and our chefs’ culinary journey, each year we try to bring in the look and feel of something relevant to that particular period. For example the soccer World Cup and #FoodWithaStory​.

This year’s initiative paired prominent sports people with chefs. “Because of the recent cricket and rugby World Cup events, it was only fitting that we gave our 2015 campaign a sporting twist.” 

The Series has allowed the brand to differentiate itself from other restaurants and pizza brands.

It also gives the Col’Cacchio team the opportunity to live up to one of the core values of the brand: innovation. “This enables the brand, together with the chef, to offer customers new and exciting pizza creations for them to enjoy.”

It is not just about branding and the brand, but also about social responsibility. “For every Celebrity Chef pizza sold, a donation of R5 went to the Children’s Hospital Trust, which raises funds to advance child health care through the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital to upgrade and expand their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,” she says.

“Our customers love the Series as they get to taste the creations of top South African chefs and, at the same time, support a worthy cause,” she adds. Since the inception of the initiative more than R1.4m in aid of worthy causes has been raised. This year’s donations are now being finalised.

The initiative ran from September to November 2015.

The Big Takeout: It is not enough to have a great idea. To maintain momentum, it is necessary to update the idea each year.