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Staging a Promotion
February 17, 2009
2 Min Read
FoodService Director - Free Advice - Aaron Weaver - Washington & JEfferson College - Promotions
Aaron Weaver, general manager for Parkhurst Dining Services at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., knows how important special promotions can be for increasing participation. Weaver speaks out about how these promotions need to be carefully planned to be a success.
FoodService Director - Free Advice - Aaron Weaver - Washington & JEfferson College - Promotions
Special promotions can help drive sales, raise interest in campus dining and build meal participation, but to be successful, they must be carefully planned and executed. Aaron Weaver, general manager for Parkhurst Dining Services at Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., talks about how he plans a promotion.“Organization is the most important way to start planning a promotion. We do all our marketing plans six weeks out and print fliers and get them out three or four weeks before the event. Communication early is the key. We mail out monthly marketing calendars and post them on our Web site, too. We also send invitations to faculty and staff.
Within the unit itself, you want to make it look attractive. You figure out where your stations will be and do a room layout, looking at where the lines would flow. With the Traveling Chefs, we prep the food to help them. Dinner can be a big rush of people and then it kind of trickles off, so you need to plan for that.
The response to Traveling Chefs was very positive. We had great feedback and heard things like ‘fabulous,’ ‘wonderful,’ and ‘we should do this more often.’
These promotions break the monotony of cafeteria dining and show that we care about our clients’ health and about offering something that’s fun.”
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