A good local example of PR

My favourite restaurant on Lamma Island, The Waterfront, had a kitchen fire a couple of months ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt but they had to close down the kitchen for a while. Meantime, they tried to keep business going by grilling steaks and salmon using an outdoor barbecue unit. This helped keep the interest of some of their loyal customers but about 75% of their diners disappeared.

They recently installed a new kitchen but diners did not return.

So last wednesday they decided to do something different to entice diners back. They had a curry night.They promoted the event on the island community blog http://www.lamma.com.hk/ and through word of mouth. Subsequently the restaurant was jam-packed on Wednesday. On the night, the owners also revealed that they were revamping their menu including introducing a regular bbq night on Monday's. And the owner, who we rarely saw before, came to each table and personally thanked everyone for coming back to the restaurant.

The Waterfront Restaurant through PR got their customers back. In simple terms, they had a crisis. They averted this crisis by making changes, they researched what customers wanted and delivered it. They then used the local online media tool read by their target audience to promote their new offering and thank their loyal customers. And then the owner engaged positively face-to-face with his audience on the night.

The food was delicious too.