7 pivotal trends for restaurants in 2021

It goes without saying that 2020 was a nightmare of a year for everyone around the globe. Our industry – the restaurant industry – has been, and continues to be, decimated by the pandemic and political leadership. Just because the calendar popped into a new year, doesn’t mean the challenges stop. yes, the pandemic is […]
The major thing missing from most restaurant brands

In my time at the helm of Vigor, I’ve encountered many restaurants from small startups to large multi-national behemoths. In these encounters, the conversations inevitably end up in the golden question, “How do we get more traffic and sales?” As if it were a magical switch in a dark room that someone only needed to […]
Job Opp: Jr. Copywriter & Social Strategist

Do you fight to dedangle participles, and disarm subject-verb disagreements? Do you harbor pet peeves about prevalent grammatical mistakes? Are you convinced the term “Grammar Nazi” is rude and unfair for a cause as noble as elevating one’s command of the English language? Do you dream of brunches and revel in delicious lunches? Well, we’re […]
Quit skinning the ‘Skins. This was the right move.

In response to cultural and political pressures, the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, decided to finally change their name. And the people cheered. Then a few weeks later, they announced a temporary name for 2020-21 season – drumroll – the new name for Washington’s football team is “The Washington Football Team.” Cue the […]
Three benefits of strong social media marketing for restaurants beyond sales and traffic

More often than not, when I get into a conversation about social media marketing for restaurants, there are numerous pushbacks. “Social doesn’t drive sales and traffic” and “what good is engagement if sales don’t increase” are usually top responses in a mix of many other perceptions that devalue social media’s role in the restaurant marketing […]
Natalie Suarez, Art Director/Designer

Natalie joined the herd at Vigor back in 2018 as a designer. She brought with her an array of design and creative talents that immediately added a positive impact on key client accounts. Her thinking and unique approach to absorbing strategy and developing brand identities and marketing creative has influenced or lead many of Vigor’s […]
Pastry Arts Magazine: Pastry Summit is Open!

This past May, I had the utmost honor of participating in Pastry Arts Magazine’s virtual summit. The summit features 60+ demos, presentations, and interviews with dessert professionals on a variety of topics through an on-demand streaming platform. I took the reins on discussing “Components for Building a Successful Brand.” In my talk, I discuss the […]
Shut up and put up: How to build authenticity in restaurant brand philanthropy

I debated writing about this topic considering the state of our nation. But as we interact and consult with our clients, the same questions keep coming up. It compels me to share our approach to developing and guiding genuine philanthropy for restaurant brands. I want to make clear that this is in no way a […]
5 critical errors in building hotel brand toolkits and playbooks

In working with some of the world’s largest hotel brands (InterContinental, Delta Hotels, Even Hotels, etc) we’ve seen many toolkits and playbooks with varying degrees of effectiveness. These tools are so profoundly critical to brand success, it’s surprising to us how many fall so short of remarkable. It’s almost as if the agencies who created […]
The number one reason why advertising agencies are the wrong choice for brand toolkits & playbooks

In my experiences with advertising agencies over the last 17 years, I noticed they all had one thing in common: they are notoriously enamored with awards. The problem with that? TV spots win awards. Toolkits and playbooks do not. How often do you see an ad agency that touts their toolkits and playbooks for the […]