SMOKEY BONES

BRAND EVOLUTION / WRITER | CREATIVE DIRECTOR

In December 2019, I was contracted by Dunn & Co. to lead the brand evolution of Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill. I worked on-site and remotely with their creative team to develop an award-winning, loyalty building, revenue generating 360 campaign based upon the brand position and tagline I authored, Meat Is What We Do.™

The Challenge

Smokey Bones was lacking a unique value proposition, giving consumers no reason to go there when weighing their options. Industry, consumer and community research spoke the same truth – they were trying too hard to be everything to everyone.

The Solution

We created a distinctive identity “Meat Is What We Do.” based upon the core of their essence, Masters of Meat, and leaned into it with everything we had.

The Components

Logo • Tagline • Manifesto • Digital • Social • Video • Website • Email • Point-of-Sale • Menus • Collateral • Swag • Activations

The Results

The campaign launched weeks before the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. The authenticity of the brand remained, but retail efforts quickly shifted from “We’re different now.” to “We’re in this together.” The combination of authenticity and ingenuity helped rebuild brand trust and loyalty that paid off then and now in the forms of increased sales, brand preference, and a feast of national branding and advertising awards.