THE GAMEKEEPER RESTAURANT
Scenario: Husband-and-wife chefs and restaurateurs create delectable cuisine in the kitchen of their unique eatery. But after five years, business at their fine-dining restaurant begins to stagnate.
Goal: Keep local and loyal customers satisfied and satiated while finding ways to attract more affluent tourists to the restaurant. The restaurant owners also desire a new corporate identity that reflects their young, energetic personalities and the uniqueness of their restaurant. They also seek to grow their catering business to improve revenues and profitability.
Results: A new corporate logo, stationery, menus and signs are created to convey the sophistication of this one-of-a-kind restaurant. These images are employed in a new print advertising campaign, targeted to sophisticated North Carolina travelers, and on the restaurant’s new and dynamic Web site. These tasks are undertaken in conjunction with other marketing efforts, including outreach to existing customers, public relations, and alliances with local inns, hotels and bed-and-breakfasts.
The Story Behind The Solution: The stars lined up for Ken and Wendy Gordon in 2000 when they purchased the Gamekeeper Restaurant in Boone, N.C. Housed in a 1920s stone cottage on a winding mountain road, the restaurant was already a favorite among locals and frequent visitors to the North Carolina highland towns of Boone and Blowing Rock.
Ken and Wendy enjoyed success in their first five years as co-owners, co-chefs and co-proprietors, spurred by loyal repeat customers and their growing reputation locally for a unique dining experience in modern mountain cuisine. But business soon reached a plateau, and Ken and Wendy had difficulty reaching out to the thousands of affluent and sophisticated tourists who visit the area every week.
Too busy with the daily pressures of running a restaurant to manage their own promotional efforts, Ken and Wendy turned to LPI Business Solutions to create structure for their marketing program and to identify and reach new audiences and markets.
LPI’s creative team began the transformation of the restaurant’s marketing program with a visual identity and positioning that reflected both the restaurant’s and the owners’ very distinct personalities.
Early changes included a new corporate logo, stationery, menus and signs. A new print advertising campaign launched in July 2006 in Our State Magazine, which is targeted to sophisticated North Carolina travelers. The Gamekeeper’s new Web site (www.gamekeeper-nc.com) launched in August 2006. Hunting lodge images were replaced with more whimsical themes, and the softest hues from an earthy mountain palette were used to underscore the sophistication of this one-of-a-kind restaurant.
Other initiatives include a database marketing program to drive customer retention, new strategic alliances with area innkeepers and bed-and-breakfast proprietors, and a regional media and public relations program.
Visit this site often to watch them grow.
The Deuterman Law Group
The Gamekeeper Restaurant
Jensen McGrath Podgorny
New Garden Friends School
Dana Holliday, Artist
The Home Aide Care Company
Landmark Learning Inc.
Kids' Chance of North Carolina
Matthews CPA, P.C.
Ken and Wendy Gordon inherited the look and feel of The Gamekeeper’s Web site when they purchased the property in 2000. The site’s original hunting lodge images and bold graphics did not reflect the whimsy and sophistication of this unique modern mountain dining experience. We created this new Gamekeeper Web site design that takes its style cues from the softest hues in an earthy mountain palette, underscoring the sophistication of this one-of-a-kind restaurant.