As a new, independently owned restaurant, Greensquare Tavern would have to carve out its own competitive space in a very crowded market. And it would have to do so on a very limited budget.

The bad news was, their modest budget would have to include everything from gut-renovating the restaurant’s space (the former Schaffer City at 5 West 21^st Street) to creating all marketing materials, from the logo to the website to advertising.

The good news was, this would give us the chance to craft a new brand around the physical space and realities of the restaurant, rather than trying to retrofit around any existing design or color codes.

By building the restaurant’s brand from the bricks outward—from the look of the dining room to the placement of the bar, to the look of the logo and the colors we used– we stayed true to a single vision and maximized the value of every dollar spent.

For Greensquare Tavern to stand out from the pack, it would have to stand for something more than just local ingredients and an organic manifesto.

Partners Larry McIntyre, Leon Bell and John Marsh were open to creating a brand personality than was more irreverent than earnest.  They also wanted to encourage a brisk bar business! We wrote the restaurant’s tagline, EAT LOCAL, DRINK GLOBAL, as the rallying cry that would unite all future efforts.

Before (left) and after.

Old bar with eel tank (left), and new bar.

Back dining room with skylight before (left) and after.

Old banquettes (left) and new high bar tables.

Old bar area (left), new bar area.

To create an inviting space without major investment, we made strategic decisions that would exploit the original beauty and character of the interior, without adding costly new materials.

The existing space had a lot of old, dark wood, large banquettes, captain’s chairs, and maroon tablecloths. The bar was not visible from the street

But there were also gorgeous old brick walls and spectacular vintage tile from the 1920′s.

Another huge asset was our contractor, Mirik Pollak, who was one of the restaurant investors. He and his team worked tirelessly and were tremendously resourceful in helping us save time and money.

The first design decision Florence made was to rip out everything that blocked the beauty of the tile and brick. All those big, heavy banquettes had to go. We sold the captain’s chairs on Craig’s List for $1,000, which helped pay our new ones, which were sleek, black, and graceful—a perfect foil for the aged brick walls and vintage tile.

The beautiful old tile.

All the old dark wood was painted over in a light, bright shade that would pick up the lovely blue and teal of the original tilework.

We expanded the bar area and removed the partition that blocked it from the big front window. Now, passersby could be drawn in by the sight of a well-stocked, vibrant bar.

While renovating, we discovered that the old bar was dry-rotted. Working with Florence, Larry McIntyre designed the new bar out of light natural beech to reflect the airy, contemporary feel of the new restaurant and showcase the beauty of liquor bottles lined up on well-lit glass shelves. The bar was built by Craig Palmer (craigpalmernyc@yahoo.com) in record time.

The beautiful tiles also informed our brand’s color codes. This was a huge asset in helping us stand out from other farm-to-table restaurants.

The existing farm-to-table restaurants in NYC, for the most part, had brand personas that were rustic or retro, with brown and green color codes. Using those colors would have literally camouflaged us into the category. So we embraced the teal and gold of the tiles.

Our print ads and other promotional materials reflected our more irreverent approach to eating local.

Now that we had a strong design scheme, we needed décor—but by now had nearly exhausted our budget. Fortunately Florence has strong ties to the local photography scene, and turned the restaurant’s spacious brick walls into a gallery for fine art photography. She partnered with Duggal, the premier photo lab, to offer rotating photography exhibitions hosted by guest curators.

Now Greensquare Tavern was a restaurant that supported local farmers AND local photographers—with a vibrant brand image that helps it stand out from the category.

greensquaretavern.com

Everyone has feelings. Even business people like you. And us.

Sounds funny to say it like that. Yet so many business-to-business campaigns are written and designed as if business decisions are driven by logic alone.

We believe all purchase decisions are motivated, at least partially, by emotion. In fact, some researchers believe emotions drive the entire decision – but buyers subconsciously search for rational reasons to back it up.

“Perfect printing in an imperfect world.” An integrated campaign that engages the emotions.

]]> http://fnkpartners.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/lets-acknowledge-that-we-cant-solve-all-your-problems/feed/ 0 Adopting Knowledge 4993340613_imperfect imperfect world_cards for blog http://fnkpartners.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/lets-get-photographers-to-love-canon-printers/ http://fnkpartners.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/lets-get-photographers-to-love-canon-printers/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:00:13 +0000 Florence and Karen http://fnkpartners.wordpress.com/?p=139 ]]>

In partnership with a marketing technology consultancy, we created a multi-touch campaign of direct mail, personal URLs, and social media to forge an emotional connection between alumni and a new generation of St. Ignatius men:

“I AM IGNATIUS because I believe in giving back. Because my generosity can open doors, hearts, minds and futures.”

The theme of personal responsibility resonated so strongly that the school raised 12% more funds in 2009 than in 2008.

“FnK did a great job integrating the various electronic and print touch points that are critical to success.” Steven Amiel, CEO, MMI Solutions

When Partizan Entertainment invited us to pitch the creative assignment for Oprah Winfrey’s NO PHONE ZONE public service campaign, we knew we faced stiff competition. We also knew there could be no better judge of emotion in advertising than Ms. Winfrey.

We resolved right away to avoid the lurid shock value of many PSAs in the category. Scary commercials grab people’s attention, but they also trigger a protective reflex. (We call it the “it can’t happen to me” effect.)

Instead, we endeavored to share the experience of texting and driving — to put the viewer behind the wheel and show how, even while watching the road, they simply cannot drive safely when they are distracted by their phone.

Every year, 6000 Americans die because they — or other drivers — think they can call or send texts while they drive. But sometimes 6000 voices cannot be heard as clearly as the silent heartbreak on one grieving mother’s face.

Winning this assignment, and producing the spots with Harpo Productions, Partizan Entertainment, and film director Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) was a one-month marathon from concept to completion, to meet the deadline of April 30 — NO PHONE ZONE day.

(from left) Karen McIntyre and Florence Buchanan (FnK), Keisha McClellan (Harpo Productions), Lisa Cholodenko (director), Laura Morris (producer).

We translated the product benefit (these chips are baked, not fried) into the universal language of emotion: the lightness and joy of breaking free.

Even cardiac surgeons are not immune to sex appeal. Especially when it winds its sultry way around a sleek new polymer that can improve patient outcomes.

Ostene is a synthetic implant material that surgeons apply to the cut edges of the rib cage to stop bones from bleeding during open heart surgery. It is far superior to the bone wax surgeons conventionally use, which can increase the risk of dangerous infections, and actually impede healing.

Even within the rigid restraints of FDA-approval, we found a way to set Ostene far apart from its competitors.

Our amazing client, Ceremed, is not only a medical technology leader, but also a highly enlightened marketer. Working with their marketing and sales professionals, we coined the phrases biodissolvable and The Ostene Advantage to appeal to the cardiac surgeon’s drive to be a rock star — to have the best and be the best for their patients.

Take a look at this video and see just how sexy molecules can be.

Speaking with Ceremed’s sales team, we unearthed an insight that now informs their marketing: the surgeons who used Ostene only chose it for high-risk patients. We calculated that if those doctors used Ostene regularly, the company could meet its sales goals without even attracting new business.

This led to Ostene’s new tag line:

Ceremed cutsheets and brochuresCeremed tradeshow booth

Please don’t be reading this in your car!

F and K signed Oprah’s No Phone Zone pledge on location in Fort Collins, Co. Please go to oprah.com and sign today (332,356 people have signed it so far!)