An Investigation of Restaurant Week as an Effective Marketing Strategy

This paper investigated the effectiveness of using a Restaurant Week promotion to market a group of restaurants during a traditionally slow period in the calendar year for the city of New Orleans. A questionnaire was developed by the communications committee of the local restaurant association. The questionnaire included questions to ascertain why restaurants chose to participate in Restaurant Week. The results of the study showed that the Restaurant Week campaign was successful for the participating restaurants in several ways. Success was demonstrated in increase in sales, a better understanding of menu item sales, an awareness of the strongest days of promotion, and methods of making reservations. The majority of restaurants experienced an increase of sales up to 20%. For both lunch and dinner promotions, Friday ranked as the strongest day of the promotion. The use of Open Table increased as a means of making reservations during Restaurant Week.