Officials for Cosi Inc. are crediting the fast-casual chain’s integrated-marketing campaign, including its first TV ads, for building momentum in a sales turnaround this year.
The 144-unit brand is in week five of a 14-week partnership with New York Nonstop, the digital channel of NBC New York. Cosi’s products are promoted on air and integrated into “Talk Stoop,” an Emmy-nominated talk show in which local leaders and newsmakers are interviewed on host Cat Greenleaf’s front stoop in Brooklyn. Segments of the show then are aired weeknights on New York Nonstop, mornings on NBC’s “Today in New York,” on the radio, and in NBC’s digital channels in subway trains, transit stations and taxi cabs.
The multiplatform approach, including Cosi’s first appearance on TV in any market, differs from the chain’s longtime strategy built chiefly on local-store marketing, said chief executive James Hyatt
“We’ve traditionally had grassroots campaigns,” he said. “But this is a good vehicle, and getting matched to all the outlets NBC has lets us talk to customers the way they interact with us: on the go.”
An integrated campaign also lets Cosi get more efficiency out of its first TV buy, Hyatt added.
“We knew that traditional TV was too expensive for us at this time, so we looked for more of an electronic way to compete,” he said. “This NBC opportunity with transit and bus stations and in taxis gave us a local umbrella to target our messaging where we had enough penetration.”
Hyatt added that the chain is in its fifth consecutive month of positive same-store sales. Cosi's sales and traffic fell hard during the economic downturn of the past few years, and the chain was notified Wednesday that its stock could be delisted on the Nasdaq exchange because its share price has closed below the minimum bid of $1 for 10 consecutive business days.
But Cosi has gained traction in sales this year and looks to maintain that momentum by changing its marketing strategy, Hyatt said. First, the brand updated its website, which allowed it to branch out into social media with people dedicated to managing that marketing aspect. Hyatt said Cosi plans to add online ordering and catering soon and is evaluating more integrated campaigns like NBC’s.
Cosi would be open to expanding the multiplatform approach to other cities where it has a strong presence — such as Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C. — and where NBC could tie it to a local program like New York’s “Talk Stoop,” Hyatt said. In addition to Cosi’s products having prominent placement on the show, posters featuring Greenleaf hang in every Cosi location in the city.
The point is to get Cosi’s message to consumers all over the city whether they’re at work, at home or in between, officials for the chain and for NBC said.
“We have the capability to push a client’s message to consumers no matter where their media consumption is taking place — at home via television, online from anywhere, while commuting via the PATH train or getting from location to location during the day via taxi cabs,” said Allen Blum, vice president of business development and strategy for NBC Local Media.
Blum cited as an example NBC’s exclusive agreement with the Port Authority that lets the network broadcast ads on a geotargeted and daypart basis, meaning that a Cosi ad could run at noon on the train and in the station at 23rd Street, with specific details about specials and limited-time offers at the Cosi at 22nd Street and Sixth Avenue.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Cosi operates in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].
