Red’s True Barbecue is turning its annual US research trip into a multimedia event, rewarding customers with exclusive online content and menu specials.
The digitally savvy barbecue brand, owned by James Douglas and Scott Munro, will take a 10-strong team, including FHM magazine, to film and document the 12-day, 4,000-mile trip through Brooklyn, St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Austin.
Each day from Friday 13 March, content will be updated on a dedicated ‘Pilgrimage’ page, including blogs, interviews, food stunts, Instagram videos, tweets as well as an interactive map.
Whilst there, the team will encourage customers to sign up to its loyalty programme for a chance to vote on which dishes should make the final cut.
And, on return, the restaurant will host a month of road trip-inspired dishes across its four sites and invite registered customers to order from the secret Pilgrimage menu.
Commitment to research
Douglas said: “This is now our fourth year of the US pilgrimage. This relentless commitment to research remains one of our most valuable competitive advantages; no one else goes to such lengths to ensure authenticity.
“Every November we completely overhaul our ‘Good Book’ with new dishes, drinks and techniques discovered from the trip. Last year we hosted a menu preview week and had over a thousand people a day scramble for tickets online.
“This campaign is our chance to capture that huge interest in the food and involve our customers right from the start of our research, all the way through to what’s on their plate.”
Red’s True Barbecue is using the content to create an online TV show, which will accompany its new menu launch later in the year.
Red’s, which recently picked up the Best Emerging Concept at the Retailer’s Retailer Of The Year awards, is set to open a further two sites this year.
The Pilgrimage can be followed here