Unifying a legacy company under a new brand
Advertising, Brand Development, Brand Strategy, Budget Management, CMO for Hire, Content Marketing, Customer Experience, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Graphic Design, Marketing Audit, Marketing Automation, Marketing Operations, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Training, SEM/PPC, SEO, Social Media, Websites
Problem:
Mazzone Hospitality has been the top caterer in the Greater Capital Region for 30 years. The founder, Angelo Mazzone, has always been actively involved in the community and his name is the brand the company had been built upon. The company also developed other divisions that were treated as separate companies externally, creating confusion in the community. Over the past 10 years, they had also begun to face more competition with new caterers and many new catering venues.
During that time, Angelo sold the company to RA Associates, a division of Compass Group. He was still very involved, but he was looking to slow down. He could no longer be counted on to be the brand.
Mazzone Hospitality’s logo was outdated, their digital footprint was scattered, and their messaging was confusing. The relationship between their sales and marketing teams had become competitive, and their marketing team didn’t have the experience the company needed. The dissention and disorganization were taking a toll.
Solution:
We started with a Marketing Plan, talking to previous customers, employees, and the leadership team to understand the company’s perceptions within the community. We studied their goals, revenue sources, target markets, digital footprint, and all other marketing strategies and tactics.
Our research clearly showed that one of the most significant needs was a rebrand and began the work to develop a brand that better represented the company.
At the same time, we worked as their CMO for Hire, re-building and training the marketing team. We changed the negative culture that had developed between sales and marketing and positioned the marketing department as a key component of the team, involved with programming and operational planning and decisions.
During this time, the COVID pandemic occurred, and the hospitality industry was decimated. Mazzone Hospitality had to lay off 600 people. Rather than close, they decided to use the time to better organize their business and put numerous changes in place so that they would return stronger when the pandemic eased.
Throughout the pandemic, we focused on finding new revenue streams to keep employees working. We worked to automate as many internal tasks as possible. We changed and integrated sales and marketing systems, and further unified the sales, marketing, and operational teams. Simultaneously, we focused on the rebranding project, readying the company for the launch when the constraints of the pandemic lessened.
As the pandemic was easing and business began returning, the new Mazzone Hospitality was introduced. The brand launch included: 2 new websites, exterior signage, uniforms, internal communications, social media pages and paid ads, digital marketing, public relations, sales materials, and other branded items as small as the mints handed out at restaurants and events.
Results:
- The new Mazzone Hospitality is unified under one brand representing its dedication to providing exceptional quality and service. It reflects their energy and commitment to finding unique, trend-setting food and beverage experiences for their guests.
- The culture issues between marketing and sales teams are gone and they now work closely together as partners
- Time previously spent working on inefficient systems has been returned for use growing the brand and driving revenues
- Brand messaging is reflected through advertising, social media, sales materials, internal communications and training manuals
- The Marketing team is trained to work strategically, thinking through multiple possibilities before making decisions, and to prioritize needs in terms of what is best for the entire company
An experience like none other
Working with Rita has truly been an experience like none other for Mazzone Hospitality. In the midst of a very uneasy time during a global pandemic and an industry that was truly devastated we had to pivot quicker than we could keep; Rita helped us to keep our brand standards aligned.
She guided us through a complete rebrand of our company in which we refreshed who we have always been yet realigning where we were missing the mark. Rita’s attention to detail and leadership is a true asset to any organization.
It was a true pleasure to work alongside Rita and look forward to continuing our professional relationship into the future.