Held January 7-12, 2007, the third annual San Diego Restaurant Week offered food aficionados a unique opportunity to enjoy a three-course dinner menu for $30 or $40 per person depending on the restaurant at more than 130 of San Diego County’s finest restaurants. Hired to direct all marketing, public relations and advertising efforts, SZPR established several goals for the event: to elevate San Diego’s reputation as a dining destination among local San Diegans and visitors alike, expose restaurants to new patrons, boost sales during a traditionally slow time of year, engage local community to explore new restaurants and maximize attendance during the event.
Initially, SZPR focused efforts on enlisting participation from as many restaurants as possible, succeeding in raising the number from 60 in 2005 and 105 in 2006 to 130 in 2007.
SZPR helped with sponsorship efforts which brought on four major sponsors including San Diego Magazine and San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, and was personally responsible for securing major sponsorships from Clear Channel and Haagen-Dazs. SZPR also procured a number of partial media sponsorships with local media, including NBC 7/39 TV, SignOnSanDiego.com, DiningOut Magazine and the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego county’s most high-circulated print publication. SZPR also partnered with online portals and worked with the San Diego Union-Tribune to create an exclusive Restaurant Week Blog.
An aggressive media relations campaign showcased restaurants and chefs from each of San Diego’s 12 communities, culminating in a press conference with Mayor Jerry Sanders to kick off Restaurant Week. 20 chefs previewed dishes they were serving during the event and stood behind the mayor as he discussed the importance of San Diego’s dining community. SZPR’s creative, proactive PR efforts resulted in 100+ positive feature stories, 30+ television and radio appearances, totaling over 500 million impressions.
During the six-day event, participating restaurants reported they were consistently sold out, and some even deciding to extend the event a few extra days to meet unprecedented demand. Over 250,000 diners participated in San Diego Restaurant Week in 2007, which was an increase of 130,000 patrons from 2006. Due to the tremendous success of previous years, San Diego Restaurant Week will be held twice in 2008 – once at the end of January and again in June. More information is available at www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com
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