All companies want to support the communities they serve. At Bluegrass Hospitality Group, they’ve turned this desire to make a difference into an entire company culture of giving.
A perfect example of how giving back is part of the BHG brand came in the wake of the tornadoes that hit Kentucky early in March. Not only did BHG make a tremendous difference in the lives of those affected by the tornadoes, but they saw terrific engagement with their subscribers and a real benefit in public relations with the entire community.
“Coach Cal originally said, ‘I’m donating $10,000 and I challenge anyone else to donate $10,000.’ We stepped up and matched his donation of $10,000 and then challenged our rewards members to donate through a link that we set up on our online store,” explains Elise Menold, Marketing Director at BHG. As an added bonus, BHG gave members one reward point for every dollar they donated on their BHG Rewards Card, a loyalty program. Donations were tracked through the online store so rewards points could be distributed and donors were given one week to make a donation that received matching rewards points.
Here’s how the campaign worked:
Email sent to subscribers explaining the campaign.
First, an email was sent out explaining the donation match and reward point bonus. The email was designed using mostly text and was not graphically overwhelming. Subscribers who clicked on the link were taken to a landing page, which gave more detail.
“We had amazing public relations along with the campaign,” says Elise. “The day after the email went out we talked on air with WKYT and 98.1 The Bull, two partners with Kentucky Cares, the organization set up to help the communities affected by the tornadoes.” In addition, the campaign was visual through social media, including Twitter and Facebook promotion. “Coach Cal tweeted it; Kentucky Restaurant Association retweeted it; so did IMG sports marketing. That helped build the buzz.”
The results were amazing. “Within that week, our subscribers donated $22,056,” says Elise. A total of over $32,000, plus the $10,000 from Coach John Calipari with the University of Kentucky Wildcats, was donated to victims. That’s over $42,000 grand total. The Kentucky Cares campaign is ongoing, and on March 15th employees at Drakes and Harry’s wore Kentucky Cares shirts while serving customers in those restaurants. “We want people to know that even though our campaign is over, the need is still there,” explains Elise.
It has truly been one little campaign with big results.
BHG team members wore Kentucky Cares shirts while serving guests at Harry's in Lexington. All Harry's and Drake's employees wore Kentucky Cares t-shirts on March 15 to keep the campaign top of mind.
Kentucky Cares is not the only venue through which BHG promotes a culture of giving. “Giving back is a core part of our culture,” says Elise. In fact, the company just rolled out a new program, called BHG Family Fund which essentially allows all employees to contribute toward a fund to help fellow employees should the need arise. “We really do think of our team members as family,” she says.
Click Here to view the BHG Family Fund Poster to learn more about the program.
When it comes to giving back to the community, BHG sets up charity VIP nights at Drakes, and on opening nights of new restaurants offers a contest where customers can compete to win money for their favorite charity. Elise sums it up best: ”That’s our thing. We want to be a partner in the community.”
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