DePalma's Italian Cafe

For over 20 years, DePalma’s has been treating Athenians to Italian entrées and fine wines in an eclectic atmosphere. Now, with 3 Athens locations and future plans to franchise, the restaurant came to Sliced Bread for help developing some cohesively branded materials, as well as an advertising campaign to stimulate business during the typically slow summer months.

The first step in the brand positioning and advertising campaign was to conduct a market study. Sliced Bread surveyed a selection of people from DePalma’s desired 18-30 age demographic in and around Athens on general dining habits and on their opinions of DePalma’s and how it compared to other Italian and non-Italian restaurants in the area.

Based on the results of this study, Sliced Bread developed a new tagline for the restaurant, “Your Italian,” and a kinetic type-driven advertising campaign which was carried out in print, online and TV. Wanting to separate DePalma’s from other Italian-style and general restaurant ads that show the restaurant or food and being mindful of budgetary constraints, the kinetic type solutions allowed for greater flexibility and creativity in both visuals and copywriting, as well as an infinitely expandable campaign.

General refinements were made to the DePalma’s logo, and menus for their catering services and beer & wine lists were produced, with plans to redesign the restaurant’s primary menus and signage to complete the branding overall. When it came time to initiate the DePalma’s franchising program, the owners would be ready, with fresh, cohesive branded materials.

The tagline “Your Italian” was developed for DePalmas’ as a short, powerful statement communicating that eclectic menu choices and a friendly, customer-centered atmosphere make the restaurant a truly personal dining experience, allowing the customer to create his/her own definition of Italian dining.

Ingredients

DePalmas Logo

A total of 17 print ads & 4 TV commercials ran for 3 months over the Summer of 2009.