Rick’s Backyard Cooking in Bunnell, Florida run a little diner serving southern American cafe style food. Their delicious breakfasts, ribs, catfish sandwiches and country fried steak keep their regular customers coming back for more. Rick and Tee, the owners of Rick’s Backyard Cooking, wanted to change their brand in order to accommodate current customers and attract new one. They decided to niche market. How did they do it?
Revamping their menu using a rename game with Redneck menu names opened the door to revamp their brand and niche market their restaurant. Examples of the rename game has many great examples. Eggs became inside the chicken coop your way. Catfish sandwich became momma Tee’s pond cat sammich. Biscuits and gravy became Kiss my southern biscuits and gravy. Create and fun, the contest proved to be a winner in itself.
People from all over Flagler County participated in the great rename game. The contest was not only promoted by the restaurant, but by a local business center-Cornerstone Center. They posted the rename game in the Foodies of Flagler group on Facebook where all contestants had a chance to vote and rename a menu item. Each week, a new menu item was posted and voted on.
The winners of the contest received the menu item they renamed as a prize at the restaurant. All participants were then invited for Winner winner chicken dinner. Redneck Rick’s offered a barbeque chicken dinner for free with coleslaw, baked beans and a drink.
This is an example of how a local restaurant rebranded their name. Rick’s Backyard Cooking is now Redneck Ricks. Before starting the rebranding campaign, everyone called Rick redneck Rick. This simple move paved the way for the rebranding campaign.
Redneck Rick’s restaurant is carving out their space in Bunnell. They specialized their brand and products. This is called niching. Creating an original niche in an area helps to bring in new customers and expand their business in the area where they are working their business. Their customer base was already acclimated to “redneck”, and they didn’t lose any prior customers by niching and rebranding.
Local advertising and social media are great avenues for any company to rebrand. Redneck Rick’s took advantage of these low cost or free avenues to get their new name familiar with locals. Familiarity of a brand is not an easy accomplishment. They want their new logo, their new menu, and their new name in front of their customers. Even though the food they are serving is the same southern American cafe style food, it is placed in front of their customers with the rebranding and niching. Current customers and new customers enjoy the new vision of Redneck Rick’s, along with their tasty southern American cafe style food preparation.
This example of a successful rebranding and niching campaign should inspire all small business owners who want to shift the image of their business to be more original and creative. Creativity and originality help any small business stand apart from their competition. Customers love the originality and keep coming back over and over for the original experience. Creating a niche without alienating your current customers can be challenging. Niching should not chase your current customers away but open the doors for new customers who want to experience your small business vision.
