We’re proud that the “Expense-A-Steak” Campaign for Maloney & Porcelli has been included in this year’s Ad Age Small Agency Awards 2010.
We’re proud that the “Expense-A-Steak” Campaign for Maloney & Porcelli has been included in this year’s Ad Age Small Agency Awards 2010.
News Flash: The Maloney & Porcelli expense-a-steak site just won a bronze cyber lion in Cannes: http://www.canneslions.com/work/cyber/index.cfm?award=4
The MTA is rerouting the LIRR to Grand Central, and they’re digging the hole right in front of Maloney & Porcelli. It’s supposed to take a LONG time, and we want to be sure that it a) doesn’t take any longer than it has to, and b) that people still come down the block to the restaurant despite the giant hole. This campaign incentivizes the workers to keep digging and the patrons to bear with them. Every time they hit a milestone on schedule, Maloney is hosting an open bar, and if they finish the entire thing on time, there will be a huge beefsteak banquet for the entire construction crew. A series of cherry picked phone kiosks alert pedestrians to the program; a big sign in the window keeps the workers encouraged; and a microsite (complete with a crater cam) keeps patrons abreast of the progress.
Our Expense-a-steak campaign was mentioned in Bob Garfield’s farewell column this week as one of his favorites of all-time. See it here. Garfield reviewed a bunch of our work over the years, and it was always a thrill to see whether he loved it or hated it (it was a mix of both). Good luck, Bob!
On the Wall Street of today, cold hard cash is an increasingly rare commodity. With the 2009 bonus season ushering in a new era of stock-only bonuses, bankers are struggling to maintain their cash intensive lifestyle. Smith & Wollensky is ahead of the curve in this regard, and will now be accepting NYSE and NASDAQ stock certificates as payments. This full page New York Times ad ran on February 2nd, 2010, and attracted quite a bit of press. Coverage has included CNN, Money Magazine, Dealbreaker.com, Eater.com, New York Times, Ad Age, and Wall Street Journal to name a few. CNBC’s “Power Lunch” did a little math and figured out that 2 Goldman Sachs shares will buy 4 filet mignons, 2 Citi shares: 1/2 order of creamed spinach. Of course, you can do this math yourself on our handy converter at www.steakforstock.com.
One of the biggest casualties of the financial crisis has to be the expense account meal. With the financial industry in turmoil, and unemployment higher than it’s been in decades, it’s easy to understand why those who still have their jobs are hesitant to appear brazen with the corporate card. Upscale steakhouse Maloney & Porcelli sits at 50th and Park, in the heart of expense account country, footsteps away from the likes of Citigroup, Blackrock and Morgan Stanley, and is working hard to help. Their clientele has always considered them a top spot to enjoy a 24 inch steak but with CFOs keeping tabs on every cent, it takes guts to turn in a receipt from a huge meal.
Enter the Maloney & Porcelli expense report generator (expenseasteak.com), a website that makes it easy to turn a decadent meal into a responsible expense. Simply enter the cost of a meal, and the generator will create a printable sheet of expense report-friendly receipts (office supplies, business how-to books and taxis) exactly totaling the amount of the meal. See it here.
And that’s not all we’re doing to help. Maloney & Porcelli is also famous for basketball sized pork shanks that are nearly impossible to finish. This poses its own unique set of problems since coming back to the office with a doggie bag emblazoned with a Maloney & Porcelli logo might raise a few eyebrows. Taking a cue from luxury boutiques who began offering their customers plain white shopping bags earlier this year, M&P’s doggie bags are utilizing a unique form of camouflage - the logos of other, less pricey restaurants. That way, as a small paragraph on the back of the bags reads, a customer will be “free to roam wherever you please, completely invisible to the watchful eyes of the etiquette police.”
Outside the restaurant, if you happen to be passing by - we’ve provided a long list of messages that will help people remember that there’s nothing like a good steak, even if times are tough.
