Jack Astor’s is taking its menu to the streets. The SIR Corp-owned restaurant chain recently embarked on a 12-day food truck tour across select Southern Ontario cities, giving patrons free samples of new menu items.
According to Ari Elkouby, creative director of Zulu Alpha Kilo, the food truck campaign targets “young urbanites looking for a great eating experience,” with the aim of promoting Jack Astor’s restaurants rather than diving into Toronto’s food truck frenzy.
“We are not in competition with the food trucks,” said Zulu’s director of innovation, Cory Pelletier. “If anything, this is an homage to their innovation and ingenuity. This is strictly a marketing tool to get our items out there to the public.”
Pelletier added that the company would consider a summer food truck campaign, but insisted the operation—dubbed #TweetToTaste after its heavily promoted Twitter hashtag—is supplementary marketing, meant to get hungry people into their restaurants.
“This is a great cultural movement that’s going on. We are part of the food category—we are part of that narrative, but we don’t want to come in and be something we’re not,” said Pelletier. “We’re validating the insights that they already have, that this is something the people of Toronto like and want, but we’re not here to crowd things. We’re here to champion them.”
Jack Astor’s decided to plan stops at high-traffic locations throughout Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and London, and strategically set up within the vicinity of their brick and mortar locations. When customers get free food from the truck, they’re also handed a coupon to use at Jack Astor’s restaurants. Both Pelletier and Elkouby agreed that social media has been integral to the success of the campaign. In its first day alone, the #TweetToTaste hashtag reached 100,000 Twitter impressions.
“We strongly believe that these tools are important to staying connected with your consumer,” said Pelletier. “We didn’t have a lot of media money. All of the business we’re getting has been generated through our owned-and-earned territory.”
There’s also a social credibility factor at work, as people who lure the food truck to their workplace via Twitter have their names put up on a chalkboard outside. According to Elkouby, “#TweetToTaste is another way for us to differentiate our program from others. It’s a really cool experience for the person who gets responded to. It’s bragging rights for them.”
Bragging rights and a successful Twitter campaign aside, the Jack Astor’s food truck campaign boils down to one easy principle: “People love food,” says Pelletier. “People love free food.”
