PR in the Restaurant Industry — GVSU PRSSA – Grand Valley State University Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America

As college students, most of us have had experience working for a restaurant. However, you may have not have realized the massive role that public relations plays in the restaurant industry. The majority of successful restaurants rely on the powers of PR to promote their brands, create positive relationships with the media, and when done successfully, advertise a great reliable brand. To give some insight into how the world of PR and the restaurant industry coincide, I’ve listed three major PR companies that work with some of the biggest restaurants in America.

Becca

Becca is a creative marketing agency that has offices in Chicago, LA, and New York. Becca is currently run by a team of all women and was created by CEO Becca Parrish. Becca had done PR for some major brands like Wagamama, Pizzana, and Health-ade Kombucha. The team approaches PR for restaurants in ten different ways- seeding, broadcast, print, online, social, video, events, marketing, photos, and consulting. Their focus is on finding clients (restaurants) that inspire them and telling their interesting individual stories. They then find the best possible way to bring that story to life. And suddenly, that story is being spread, shared, and appreciated all on its own.

Apron

Apron is a food brand PR agency rooted in Austin, Texas, with partners in New York and LA. “Apron combines years of food communication experience and deep digital expertise to deliver PR and marketing programs that generate media interest and catalyze social awareness. The Apron team works pasture to plate, serving agriculture and raw goods clients, consumer packaged goods companies, grocers and large-scale restaurants.” Apron has worked with some big brands like Whataburger and Whole Foods. They care a lot about brand protection, and work hard to ensure that the brands they represent are prepared for any incident. For example, when the Texan wine industry was faced with an unfair reputation of being “less than” other regions, Apron stepped up to protect the image of their client Texas Wine. Click here to read more about their story.

Baltz & Company

Baltz and Company is a PR firm working from New York, LA, Denver, and Washington D.C. They’ve worked with restaurants all across the country and also with tourism and travel brands. Baltz and Company’s roots within the restaurant business run 20 years deep, making them very experienced in the field. They do consultation work for restaurants that ranges from designing the menu to designing interior concepts. Baltz and Company have created an agency environment that values consistency and quality of work that they have been upholding for decades. Definitely check out their website to learn more about why Baltz and Company are thriving in restaurant PR.

These three firms are all super inspiring in their own unique ways. As you can see, the restaurant industry hosts a massive subsection of work done by PR professionals. Hopefully, you’re able to better understand some of the great opportunities all around the country in marketing for restaurants. And if you find yourself interested in brand consulting, and using social media to curate a brand’s image, restaurant PR could be for you.

About Shelby

Shelby Cassel is finishing her last few semesters at Grand Valley. She has been studying Advertising and Public Relations with a minor in Studio Art. She became involved in PRSSA and GrandPR in 2018 and has loved being apart of both organizations. She is excited to get involved in internships this summer and gain real-world experience. When she isn’t working on her school work, Shelby enjoys spending time with her dog, painting, and trying new coffee shops.