The restaurant industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurants initially resorted to take-out or delivery options to keep their businesses going but many have seen their sales drop 50% – 70%.
Fight For Restaurants is providing a Gift Card Soldier Poster “absolutely free” to independent restaurants to help them sell more of their gift cards now and when they fully reopen their dining rooms.
Marketing expert Scott Johnston created Fight For Restaurants because he saw the immediate need of his restaurant clients and was called into action to support them.
“If we can help a restaurant owner sell just one $25 gift card per day, that represents an additional $750 in sales per month. This immediately improves their cash flow and provides critical working capital,” says Johnston.
“The free soldier poster increases awareness since most customers don’t think of buying my gift cards when ordering a pizza,” adds Craig Dimes, owner of Hungry Howie’s in Seaford.
To build excitement for this effort Johnston created the official Gift Card Salute Challenge. This viral challenge encourages restaurant customers to show their patriotism, and proof of gift card purchase, by performing a salute while holding the gift card in their “salute hand.” To complete the challenge, a picture or video of their salute is posted to social media sites while challenging three additional people to do the same.
During the stay-at-home directive, Mr. Johnston has been assisted on the project by his family members to support their family of restaurant clients and the restaurant’s employees. For over 57 years his family has owned restaurants, managed, and worked in restaurants and provided advertising, marketing, printing, and consulting services to over a thousand restaurants locally and nationwide.
“As marketers, we know how important it is to upsell additional products and services, and our posters remind customers to help the restaurant owners fight by purchasing gift cards with their food orders,” says Linda Johnston.
“This pandemic has impacted everyone and moved our country to mobilize people and resources in a way that has not been seen since World War II. We are literally at war with an invisible enemy. This warlike effort has been the inspiration for the designs of our vintage war posters,” adds Johnston.
“Awesome posters. We appreciate your help and the support of our community who have continued to patronize our restaurants during this tough time,” says Shirley Baynum, owner of PK Restaurants.
“The restaurant business is typically a low-margin business and independent owners face many costs to fully reopen, including hiring back more staff, catching up on old invoices, replacing food supplies, etc. Additionally, due to social distancing requirements, many restaurants have been limited to opening their doors with only 25% – 60% of their dining capacity and this is economically challenging for most restaurants,” says Scott Johnston.
“Our restaurants have always served us. Now, it is our time to serve them,” adds Johnston. “Visit your favorite restaurant and buy a gift card today.”
Visit here for more www.FightForRestaurants.com.
