The Downtowner Bar & Kitchen was a well-known, locally owned bar and kitchen in the heart of downtown New Braunfels. Owner Chad wanted a more intentional marketing approach built around two Wildly Important Goals: grow sales and deliver a consistent customer experience. Miller Marketing Group began working with The Downtowner in 2019, and the relationship continued through the restaurant’s closing in 2023.
Building a Strategic Marketing Approach for The Downtowner Bar & Kitchen
A long-term marketing partnership connecting strategy, creative direction, hands-on execution, and the customer experience.
The Downtowner Bar & Kitchen
The Challenge
The challenge was not simply a need for more marketing. The pieces of the business and the marketing needed to work together. Weekly and monthly promotions needed consistent communication across channels. Staff needed visibility into what customers were seeing and hearing. The restaurant needed to rebuild trust around the kitchen and introduce a new Chef. And the marketing budget needed to be used intentionally to support the business’s goals.
The opportunity:
connect the marketing promise to the experience customers actually received.
The Strategy
We started with analysis. MMG reviewed the website’s back end, social media insights, existing marketing tools, available data, promotions, and customer touchpoints to establish a baseline and identify opportunities.
From there, we developed an integrated marketing and promotional strategy around sales growth and customer experience. The plan connected brand storytelling, social media, Facebook advertising, radio, email, website, Google Business Profile, reputation management, promotions, branded visual content, and internal communication so the channels supported one another instead of operating independently.
STRATEGY WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
MMG stayed involved in planning, creating, coordinating, executing, and evolving the marketing as the needs of the business changed.
Strategy + Deliverables
Marketing Strategy + Measurement
Business and marketing analysis; competitor research; review of website and social performance; assessment of existing tools; baseline reporting; promotional planning; and ongoing measurement.
Hands-On Social Media Marketing
Manual management of much of The Downtowner’s social media marketing, including content planning, brand storytelling, promotions, customer-facing communication, and ongoing engagement.
Branded Photoshoot Strategy + Creative Direction
MMG identified the need for original branded photography, sourced and brought in a qualified professional photographer, and developed the branded shot lists for each shoot. Shot planning covered craft cocktails, draft beers, food, and menu offerings so the resulting assets could support social media, the website, advertising, and other marketing channels. MMG did not perform the photography.
Website Strategy + Redesign Oversight
Oversight of two separate website redesigns during the partnership, helping ensure The Downtowner’s digital presence continued to support the business and reflect the evolving brand.
Paid + Traditional Advertising
Facebook audience development and advertising strategy, plus direct meetings with The Downtowner’s radio representative to plan campaigns and coordinate radio advertising with the broader marketing calendar.
Google Business Profile + Reputation Management
Ongoing management of the restaurant’s Google Business Profile along with review response and online reputation management to support an accurate, active local presence.
Brand + Customer Experience Alignment
Brand-story refinement, kitchen repositioning, Chef storytelling, and an internal communication schedule designed to keep staff aware of current promotions and help align the customer experience with what was being marketed.
A Long-Term, Hands-On Partnership
What began as a need for a cohesive marketing strategy became a multi-year partnership. From 2019 through 2023, MMG worked alongside The Downtowner as its needs evolved – from day-to-day social media and promotional planning to branded photoshoots, radio campaigns, Google Business Profile management, reputation management, email marketing, and two website redesigns. The job was to keep the marketing connected to what the business needed next.
