Restaurant-quality food at a gas station? For five years a local service station tried unsuccessfully to market its top-notch food options. The problem: Customers viewed them as only a gas station.
The goal was to attract more customers who lived and/or worked in eastern Montgomery County to think of Horsham Sunoco Deli & Grill as the go-to spot for catering, homemade soups, a variety of sandwiches and comfort food staples like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, lasagna and more.
Katalinas Communications reviewed the business’ Facebook page – its only online communication – and developed a strategy to transform its image.
Instead of projecting Horsham Sunoco as a convenience store with gas and food items, we worked with the owners to shift the focus primarily to food. A new cover photo depicting several slides of mouth-watering food options was subbed in for the gas station photo. An updated full-color menu with catering and everyday choices was added as well.
Since the business offered regular weekly specials on Wednesdays (Pot Roast Sub Day) and Thursdays (BBQ Day), those were added to the page as weekly events, providing additional reminders for regular customers and their friends alike.
Once the Facebook page was redeveloped with a food-first focus, Katalinas Communications wrote the story of how Horsham Sunoco came to serve up restaurant-quality food. A public relations campaign spurred media coverage of the station’s head Chef, Chris Forlano, a 35-year foodservice veteran.
A flood of new customers came in to sample the food station’s eats. Quickly becoming regulars, this influx of new patrons helped the food station sell out of its weekly specials.
To keep the momentum going, Katalinas Communications created an Instagram account and shared Facebook best practices with Horsham Sunoco page admins, including sharing mouth-watering food photos, more behind-the-scenes meal prep and posting more videos. The page has grown dramatically in terms of followers, engagement, comments and messages.
Katalinas Communications offers marketing, public relations and social media strategy and management services for projects both large and small and for clients with varying budgets. To learn more about how we can help your business or organization, email Theresa to arrange a no-obligation consultation.
