When you watch a Cincinnati Reds baseball game at The Great American Ballpark, behind the batter's box, plastered against the wall, are two rotating Penn Station East Coast Subs banners.
Subliminal marketing, perhaps, but Penn Station is one of many fast-casual restaurants looking to their home team to deliver a strong marketing message.
While the banner tactic might not work for Penn Station locations in Louisville, Ky., Indianapolis, or Charleston, S.C., it does bring to mind the power of local marketing campaigns and their impact on a brand and a region.
For the past 10 years, Penn Station franchisee Kevin Osterfeld has sponsored an athlete of the month program for students in the Dayton, Ohio, region where 13 of his 17 Penn Station restaurants are located.
Osterfeld said he started thinking about the program in the late 1990s as a way to give back to the community that has supported him for 20 years.
"I think a franchisee of any business that doesn't give back to the community they're involved in is really missing the boat on two fronts," Osterfeld said. "No. 1 it's just good business, and No.2 it's just good business."
Osterfeld partnered with representatives from several local media outlets that help select monthly nominated athletes — chosen as much for their academic achievements as their athletic ones. Each athlete receives a trophy and a party for 10 friends.
At the end of the year, Osterfeld hosts a banquet for the students and their families that is shown on live television. At that banquet, one student is selected as the athlete of the year and given a college scholarship.
Osterfeld said he spends a lot of money to make the program a success. In addition to the scholarship fund, collateral is created every month highlighting the student. A buy-one-get-one-free coupon also is made for every student at the athlete's school with a picture and brief bio about the athlete on the back.
Osterfeld said it's difficult to determine if the program increases restaurant sales.
"I believe in my heart it absolutely has, but there's no way to put a number on it," he said. "If they're introduced to our products while in high school, we believe they're a customer for life."
The grand scheme
Penn Station president Craig Dunaway said Osterfeld's program is the best example of how community involvement can impact a brand.
"It's amazing and impressive the support he gets from the community," Dunaway said. "That's a big example of taking it down to the local level and we believe the best marketing is at the community level."
Dunaway said Penn Station and other brands like it are not McDonald's in nature, making community involvement all that much more important.
"We're not trying to build our base through kids' meals and toy giveaways," he said. "We're trying to introduce the food and get involved in the community."
Other brands with the same message include Bruegger's and Panda Express, both companies that are involved in community-giving programs.
"Restaurant people are giving by nature," said Scott Hughes, Bruegger's vice president of marketing, in the Fast Casual article, 9 ways to share the love. "We are in the business of making people happy. Restaurant owners and operators enjoy socializing with guests and seeing them enjoy their food, and giving is a natural offshoot of that personality."
At the local level, Dunaway said Penn Station encourages franchisees to get involved with Little League and other programs designed to reach children early.
"Really, the way we look at it is we try to build our brand through several things," he said. "We feel like when we go into a new market and people don't know who we are, we have one chance to make an impression."
