As a caterer, restaurateur, chef, or hotel cook, you want your guests to remember their experience with you as one of the best dining experiences they ever had.
But in this day and age, it’s hard to stand out like that.
People have finite brain space for remembering things and a lot to process every day. You have to be extremely unique and clever if you want to claim any territory in your customers’ overloaded brains.
Thankfully, there is an easy way to pep up your food presentation and make it memorable - a custom branded skewer or toothpick! A logo skewer is one of those little details that can stick out in your customers’ minds.
But there’s more:
Custom skewers can also be used as a simple marketing tool that will help build your brand!
Yes, a simple branded skewer can help you build a memorable, well-known brand. To make it even easier, we’ve compiled a list of ideas for ways to use custom branded skewers to build your restaurant brand.
Ready to see your brand popping up on Instagram and facebook?
Let’s find out how you can do it!
Building a brand and getting your name out there isn’t easy. If you are an entrepreneur, you know it takes hard work.
But it doesn’t have to be complicated.
There are lots of small, cheap ways that you can promote your brand. Be on the lookout for opportunities! Post pictures on Instagram, print some bumper stickers or hand out business cards.
Or use a custom branded skewer to promote your business.
Let’s look at some practical ways you can use branded skewers to promote your brand and gain publicity.
Use custom skewers on all your burgers
A burger is the quintessential American food. For lots of people, they are the default menu item to order. Americans eat almost 50 billion burgers a year, which would be 3 burgers a week for every single American.
If you sell burgers, they are likely one of your most popular menu items. When topped with a custom branded skewer, each burger you sell will be like a little billboard promoting your brand.
Plus, if you make thick burgers with all the toppings, a skewer is the perfect way to hold it all together and keep it from falling apart. Nobody likes a messy, disintegrating sandwich. Your guests will thank you!
Use cocktail skewers in your drinks
What’s a party without a great cocktail? Making a classy signature cocktail catapults any simple occasion to a celebration.
A wooden logo skewer makes for a perfect stirring stick for a cocktail! It’s also great for decoration. You can stick the various fruits or vegetables that go with your cocktail on your skewer to add a nice finishing touch.
And when guests post pictures of their classy drinks on social media, your brand name or logo will be there, loud and proud.
It’s great publicity, and you don’t have to do a thing for it! Just sit back and watch as people pull out their phones to snap pictures of their awesome drinks.
Use custom skewers on all your club and specialty sandwiches
Like a burger, a club sandwich is a go-to for many people. And, like burgers, they are sometimes thick and want to fall apart.
But not with a custom skewer! Use a cool skewer to hold your specialty sandwiches together and delight your guests simultaneously. A skewer is both practical and decorative at the same time.
With this kind of service and thoughtfulness, your guests will be coming back for more!
Use a custom skewer for an appetizer satay or meatball lollipop
Satay is an Asian dish consisting of grilled meat, often chicken stuck on a skewer and served with a spicy peanut sauce. It has a fascinating and unusual mix of sweet, spicy, and peanuty flavors.
When served in small quantities on a short skewer, satay makes a great savory appetizer!
But it doesn’t stop there.
There are lots of different ideas for meaty, savory appetizers served on skewers. Here’s how to make a meatball lollipop:
- Use some bought meatballs, or if you are feeling motivated, mix up your own.
- Stick your meatballs on a skewer to make a lollipop.
- Provide lots of different sauces for dipping!
People love to eat food in unique, novel ways, and they will be fascinated by meatballs on sticks, especially if there are lots of delicious sauces to try with them.
And if your skewers are custom branded, your savory appetizers will be even more memorable and delightful, and you will have one more way to get your brand in front of your customers' eyes.
BONUS
As a bonus, here are some more ideas for savory appetizers on skewers:
- Italian meats, cheeses, and olives
- Bacon-wrapped little smokies with brown sugar sauce
- Chicken fajita skewers
- Antipasto skewers
And that’s just the beginning! There are countless other appetizers on skewers that you could try. The sky is the limit!
Charge more for the menu item to cover the cost of the skewer
This one is very clever.
Have you ever shopped for something on Amazon and found two similar items from two different brands? Which one did you decide to buy - the cheaper one or the more expensive one?
You may have waffled between them for a few minutes and then decided to go with the more expensive one.
Why?
Because you assumed that if it cost more, it was probably better quality.
We often assume that a higher price means higher quality. Sometimes we place a higher value on expensive items simply because they are expensive. So while it’s counter-intuitive, we often go for the pricier option because we want quality.
This is called the “marketing placebo effect,” and it’s why we like expensive things so much, even if they aren’t really any better than cheap ones.
And how can you use the “marketing placebo effect” to your advantage?
To cover the cost of your custom branded skewer, you can simply charge a little more for the menu item. The higher price will insinuate a premium quality, and people will place a higher value on your item.
Also, when people buy expensive food, they often experience a placebo effect that makes them think that the food actually tastes better than cheaper food. So people might even like your menu items better.
And your custom branded skewer will make it look as unique and professional as people expect for the higher price!
Post images of your menu items with logo skewers on social media and review sites
Snap a picture of your gorgeous burger with a logo skewer, upload it to Instagram, and - voila! Ready-made marketing!
A photo is great, but a photo that clearly shows your brand name or logo is better. Now everyone who looks at your post will instantly know who made that burger or drink.
Photos on review sites are great too. People trust other people’s experiences, and many people say that recommendations from family or friends highly influence their decisions on where to eat or hang out.
Having a strong presence on sites like Yelp or other review sites will help people trust your business before ever visiting it. Be sure to put lots of pictures and information about your business out there for people to look at.
Add images of your menu items with logo skewers to your website or app
A great website is another way to get people to trust your business. Trying out a new restaurant, cafe or caterer is a risk, and most people don’t like big risks and would prefer to go with a safe option.
A well-designed website with good pictures and information will let people know that your business is quality and trustworthy. It will let people know that they are in for something good if they visit your business.
An app is a handy tool for convenience and publicity.
Adding images of your menu items with custom branded skewers to your app or website will help people get more familiar with your brand and remember it better.
It will also make your food look polished and appealing!
Use images of your menu items with logo skewers in your email marketing
Let’s face it.
Emails can be pretty boring.
And if they are boring, people won’t read them. To make your email campaign effective, you have to make your emails interesting and lively.
A great way to do this?
Add some vibrant, colorful pictures of your menu items - with logo skewers in them, of course!
This will spice up your marketing emails and catch people’s attention. Plus, if people don't read the email, they will at least be tantalized by the pictures of beautiful food. We are much more likely to look at a picture than read an entire paragraph.
And your logo or brand name will be there for all to see. There will be no doubt about who made that drink, appetizer, or sandwich, and the picture of food will be much more captivating than simply a photo of your logo or signage.
Create a Limited Time Offer using a logo skewer and hype it up
Nothing motivates people like a sense of urgency or the fear of missing out!
Create a special sandwich or drink - maybe a seasonal flavor or an unusual combination of ingredients - and sell it as a Limited Time Offer (LTO).
Then order a custom branded skewer for your LTO to make it even more special. Your skewer can even help to hype up your LTO. Print a word like “special,” “limited” or “this week only” on your skewer and it will incite a sense of urgency in your customers, encouraging them to buy your LTO.
People love to feel like they are getting something special and unique - something they may never get again. Scarcity immediately makes an item’s value skyrocket.
That’s why things like gold and diamonds are valuable - there is a limited supply of them. Limit the supply of your menu items, and their value will go up.
Create a signature cocktail or burger using a logo skewer
People love something fresh and original!
Create a signature menu item, like a drink or sandwich that is all your own. Then brand it with a custom skewer. People will think it’s so cool! The skewer will add that finishing, distinguishing feature that it needs to make it memorable.
Then, people will learn to know you by your signature items. They will keep coming back to get that drink or sandwich or specialized entre they can’t get anywhere else.
Make sure you get the word out about your signature specials by posting lots of pictures on social media.
Create a contest that customers can engage with (and maybe win!)
Spice life up with a little anticipation and uncertainty! Everybody loves a competition.
Mark one of your skewers with a special mark. The person who gets that skewer gets a prize - maybe dinner on the house, all you can eat shrimp or a date night for two.
Then hype up your contest and watch guests excitedly check their skewers to see if they won!
Or, to make winning more attainable, you could mark one out of every 5-10 skewers and give out smaller prizes like free ice cream or drinks.
Communicate to your staff and customers that you now have eco-friendly skewers
In this day and age, people are becoming more and more concerned about being kind to the environment and preserving the earth.
It could be good to adopt these values. People like to patronize responsible businesses that care about current issues.
Buy custom branded skewers that are natural and biodegradable, then communicate to your customers and staff that your utensils are eco-friendly. People will respect you for caring.
Show your brand pride - make your team proud!
You want a culture of strong team pride and identity at your business.
You can create this kind of atmosphere through little details. The little things add up and go a long way.
Small things like name tags with your logo on them, matching uniforms, logo visors, customized napkins, and branded skewers will cultivate a culture of team spirit and brand pride.
Your team will be proud to serve beautiful food with custom branded skewers in it to show everyone who they are!
In Conclusion...
By now, you can see that details go a long way.
While promoting your brand isn’t easy, you can accomplish a lot by doing small things.
There are lots of easy, creative ways to use custom branded skewers to get your name out there and promote your business. And it’s so simple, not to mention cheap!
As a foodie and entrepreneur, you need to be memorable if you want to stand out from the crowd. That takes a lot of work these days!
But it doesn’t have to be complicated!
If you would like to try out some of these ideas in this article, consider some products from Pick On Us. We have toothpicks in every shape and form - including custom branded ones.
The best part is that all our products are eco-friendly and biodegradable. By making responsible choices, we do our part to preserve the earth for future generations.
Contact us today! We look forward to hearing from you.