Some call it Synergy

Being a good publicist is all about contacts, and it's not just media contacts that matter. We recently introduced two new vendors to our client, Tender Greens. Not only are the new contacts providing great products for the TG customers, they are providing fodder for even more creative pitches for us.

The first contact came through a friend of mine. His cousin had recently retired from practicing law and started up a microgreens farm in his back yard in San Diego. "Perfect for Tender Greens San Diego!" I squealed. Even better, the cousin, Paul Reeb, and his microgreens business Green Castle Micros are located in Point Loma, almost walking distance from the restaurant. Tender Greens is buying up all the microgreens Paul can grow and BONUS! he also grows more than 70 varieties of tomatoes (all in his back yard), and Tender Greens San Diego is buying up every last juicy one.

The second contact came through a referral from my husband's boss for Margo's Bark, a tasty root beer which donates all profits to dog shelters. We picked them up as a client and referred them to our restaurant clients. Tender Greens immediately took a liking to the product and picked up the root beer for all three locations. Not only are they selling bottles of the brew, they're making unbelievably delicious root beer floats, which are already a huge hit in San Diego.

June is Gay Pride Month nationwide, which generally means that it’s a time for community-building festivals and parades and joyous expressions of pride in individuality and sexuality. But in California, celebrations are turning to protests as it was announced Tuesday that the courts will uphold Prop 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. For the lucky 18,000 who rushed to the alter during the brief moment gay marriage was legal in California, their marriages will stay intact, but for the countless other couples who hoped that the courts would reverse the ban as unconstitutional, more court battles and ballot initiatives await.

It’s amazing and inspiring to think about how far gay rights have come since the 1960’s. The Stonewall Riots in 1969 marked the very beginning of the gay rights movement in America and to commemorate the anniversary of the June riots, the very next year an informal, spontaneous march happened on Christopher Street in New York City, marking the first Gay Pride Parade. Images from these early Gay Pride Parades were captured by Hank O’Neal in his book Gay Days, with captions by Alan Ginsberg and an intro written by William Burroughs (heavy hitters!).

This month Tender Greens West Hollywood will unveil a new permanent photo installation featuring selections from O’Neal’s Christopher Street images (see photo above for sample). The images, which will wallpaper the restaurant, will be installed next week, and to celebrate the unveiling, Tender Greens will host a week of fundraising events benefiting the LA Gay & Lesbian Center June 8-14. All profits from the sales of Agent for Change wines that week will be donated to the Center and on June 11, 5% of all profits for the day at the restaurant will be donated. On the evening of June 11, a private fundraiser will be held at the restaurant, benefiting the LA Gay & Lesbian Center.

Hit of the Week: Chain Leader Magazine

Our restaurants are Twitter-pated! The hit of the week is another strategic placement on behalf of our clients about their use of popular micro-blogging service Twitter. Tender Greens and Maggiano's Little Italy are interviewed and featured in an article in the May issue of Chain Leader Magazine about restaurants "All A-Twitter."


JS2 Communications helped Tender Greens set up their Twitter account and walked them through a "Twitter 101" crash course. Tender Greens quickly learned what to tweet, how to tweet in their appropriate voice, how to generate the most meaningful followers and get the most value out of this direct-to-customer tool.

The result: Tender Greens is currently slightly above 800 followers who they can bounce ideas off of, give exclusive information about new restaurants openings, construction updates, specials and new products. The challenge with a restaurant's Twitter is how to quantify the tweets and followers into actual "butt-in-seats." Tweeting their daily specials keeps Tender Greens top of mind for hungry potential customers at their desks. Here at the JS2 Communications offices, daily specials are usually too tempting for us to resist and we end up going to the new West Hollywood location at least 3 or 4 times per week.

Maggiano's Little Italy's Twitter is managed by Michael Breedlove. He used creative contests and ideas to generate awareness among the Twitosphere about Maggiano's and gain more followers. They are currently doing a contest which if they can reach 7,500 followers by May 31, 2009 Maggiano's will grant a wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in honor of their Twitter followers, $1 for every follower.

This placement builds awareness for Tender Greens and Maggiano's as innovative leaders in their industry using Twitter in creative ways that benefit their business and poise them for further growth and expansion. The article offers 8 tips for savvy tweets recommended by Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens, Michael Breed of Maggiano's Little Italy, and yours truly of JS2 Communications.

Hit of the Week: Restaurants using Twitter in Reuters

As more people jump on the Twitter bandwagon, it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out in a crowded space. The goal, as media relations-focused PR professionals, was to figure out how to leverage our clients’ presence on Twitter to get them placed in a story that highlights them as being innovative and successful at what they do.

We worked with Reuters to develop a story about how restaurants are using Twitter to help boost their business, reach out directly to their customers on a more personal level and establish their brand. Inspired by the Kogi BBQ phenomenon here in Los Angeles, we gave the journalist a list of different types of restaurants and chefs who Twitter well, pitched how Twitter is a powerful direct to consumer communication tool for small business like restaurants, and hooked her up with some restaurant marketing and advertising gurus. The result: an amazing article that featured three of our clients - Tender Greens, Rush Street and Maggiano’s - alongside major companies like McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks as trendsetters and examples of restaurants that are creatively using Twitter.

Reuters is a business news syndicate that is distributed to 15.3 million outlets internationally. This article was picked up by more than 35 online business, technology, lifestyle and food outlets in the U.S. and internationally including Yahoo! News, Forbes, Money.CNN.com, WashingtonPost.com, Portfolio, ABC News, PC Mag and more. The story resulted in an instantaneous increase of followers for each of our clients, large amount of Twitter chatter, re-tweets with links to the article, and interest from other media and experts in the industry.

To read the Reuters article, click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE53I11Z20090420?sp=true

To see the Twitter chatter and people linking to the article click here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Reuters+twitter+restaurants

Posted by Christina Wong, Account Executive

Restaurant Bargain Dining For Savvy Recessionistas (Recessionistos)

On the bright side of the downward-spiraling economy, many local restaurants are thinking creatively and giving extra perks for their guests to take advantage of. I like to think of them as “the toy in your cereal.” It’s a small surprise, makes you smile and starts your day with a spring in your step. Savvy recessionistas (and recessionistos) can wine and dine at Los Angeles’ best restaurants for a major bargain if you can keep track of all the recession deals and plan accordingly.

Our restaurant clients are thinking outside of the menu to help everyone get through this downturn and drive business. Fortunately for us, it works out in our favor. Recession or not we still need to eat and eat well! I recommend keeping a Google Calendar of drinking and dining deals, that way you can keep all the various deals organized and know where to save your bucks on any given night. Here are some of my favorite recession-friendly dining deals from our restaurant clients that help save moo-lah while filling your bell-lay:

Grilled Cheese Workshop at Patinette at MOCA – Craft your own gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches for only $5. Choose your bread, cheese, extra and sauce. Choices include whole wheat bread, rye bread, walnut currant brad, fresh mozzarella, chipotle cheddar, Fontina, goat cheese, grilled onions, bacon, dill pickles, basil pesto, yuzu aioli or garlic aioli.


Pot Roast Sundays at Tender Greens – Old-fashioned pot roast dinners for $10 every Sunday. Coleman Farms beef short rib “roast” braised in red-wine sauce with Yukon gold mashed potatoes and your choice of side salad or vegetable.


Free passed appetizers during happy hour at RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen – If you can snag a seat at the bar for happy hour, Chef Mohan will send out a selection of passed appetizers for you to nibble on and try. The lacquered bqq ribs are worth fighting for.


Free valet during lunch at Maggiano’s Little Italy at The Farmer’s Market at The Grove – Everyone in LA knows that the parking situation at The Grove is bumper to bumper during lunch time, so Maggiano’s at The Farmer’s Market at The Grove offers their lunch diners free valet between 11:30AM and 3PM. Slip in a little lunchtime shopping while you’re at the Grove or catch a movie and woohoo free parking!

Bottomless mimosas during brunch and bottomless wine carafes everyday $15 at Ivan Kane’s Café Wa s – Bottomless = all you can drink! That’s $15 for all you can drink mimosas and wine carafes, best deal in Hollywood. Throw in a few canapés to soak up the drinks and meander over to ArcLight Hollywood afterwards to catch a matinee flick.

Hobo night on Mondays at Café Wa s, grilled cheese and French fries for $10 at Café Wa s – More grilled cheese and crispy French fries, my favorite comfort food. Another cheapo deal for delicious, gourmet grilled cheese. Add $15 bottomless wine carafe and you’ve got yourself a recessionista party.


Buy one entrée get second entrée for $1 at La Grande Orange Café in Pasadena on March 23 and 24 – $1!! I can’t even buy a pack of gum for $1. A dinner for two is basically half off for a delicious, fresh, organic meal.


Late night happy hours at CASA from 9PM to 12 midnight – Happy hour typically ends by 6:30 or 7PM and I never actually make it there before then. At CASA, their late night happy hour offers night owls a chance to take advantage of their discounted made-from-scratch margaritas. Uno. Dos. Tres. TEQUILA!


No corkage fee at all Patina Restaurant Group properties and at La Grande Orange Café – Corkage fee be gone. Another pesky fee that has been banished by the good folks at Patina and LGO, go ahead and enjoy your special bottle of wine without having to shell out extra bucks.


For more recession busting deals around town, check out the Los Angeles Times Food section’s Daily Dish blog and search for “recession busters”
(Link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/ )

Posted by Christina Wong, Account Executive, Foodie