No contest or price cuts but plenty of 'heroes' as Bugaboo Creek unit celebrates 10th anniversary

Gregg Cebrzynski

ATLANTA -- Bugaboo Creek Steak House recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its unit in Bangor, Maine, but it chose not to bask in the spotlight of its own success.

Instead of throwing a big party for itself as many brands do to mark an anniversary, Bugaboo Creek honored 10 "Hometown Heroes" in a promotion that chain executives believe benefited the brand more than a traditional contest or discount would have done.

Bugaboo Creek, which has 30 steakhouses in the Northeast and Southeast, looked at the traditional options to celebrate an anniversary--a VIP program, a price rollback, an instant-win contest--but decided that "everything felt a little self-serving," said Kim Jensen-Pitts, vice president of marketing.

"The whole point was to thank the community for our success," she said.

Bugaboo Creek held similar promotions in Portland, Ore., and Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to celebrate the 10th anniversaries of units in those cities, and will do the same for its restaurants in Newington, N.H.; Newark, Del.; and Milford, Mass.

But it's not the type of promotion that would work everywhere, Jensen-Pitts said. The three markets where the Hometown Heroes program was held "are the right kind of communities," she said. "They're a city, but they have a small-town feel."

The program probably wouldn't work in the Boston market, where Bugaboo has 14 locations, she said.

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Hometown Heroes differs not only as an anniversary-related promotion but also as a traditional relationship-building tactic. Such chains as Krystal and White Castle have halls of fame to honor customers who are frequent product purchasers. Bugaboo's program is not based on purchases. It's designed to honor citizens who have helped their communities, not those who have eaten at the restaurant year after year.

What the chain does with Hometown Heroes is similar to what Firehouse Subs does with "Firehouse Heroes." Earlier this year, the 296-unit chain put on beverage cups the photos of five firefighters and a young boy who were chosen for their courage in the face of danger.

One of the firefighters pulled a family from their burning car. Two others working as a team suffered lung damage when they rescued a family from a burning home. The 6-year-old boy roused his family as their house caught fire.

"This is another way to tie in with our brand and what we're all about," said Cecily Sorensen, the sandwich chain's director of corporate communications. Franchisees chose the first round of heroes, but the chain is now accepting nominations from customers because public reaction to the program has been "tremendous," she said.

Other chains honor their own designated heroes. The 16-unit Country Cookin in Virginia offers free meals once a year to emergency services workers, and the 478-unit Golden Corral has held Military Appreciation Monday for the last six years to offer free meals to anyone who has ever served in the military.

Bugaboo awards gift certificates to its heroes, but they also receive plaques at a dinner and awards program.

"They don't get a whole heck of a lot even from us for doing what they do every day," Jensen-Pitts said. "It's amazing to see the range in backgrounds and ages and occupations of the people who are doing countless good deeds in the community."

One of the Bangor heroes is a 13-year-old boy with type-1 diabetes who created a DVD for children with newly diagnosed diabetes. Others are a nun who comforts hospital patients and a 74-year-old woman who works with the Maine Special Olympics.

Winners were nominated by Bangor residents and chosen by a panel of judges.

The Bangor restaurant did see a "positive affect on business" during the promotional lead-up to the awards ceremony, Jensen-Pitts said, "but that was probably due to a lot of different factors."

Some store managers have asked to promote Hometown Heroes even though their units are not celebrating an anniversary, but Jensen-Pitts said that would dilute the promotion's value.

"The point is to do it as a special occasion so it's not a canned, generic thing," she said.

gcebrzyn@nrn.com

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