Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que

For two decades, Full Moon Bar-B-Que of Alabama has been hailed the "Best Barbecue in Birmingham." With four quick-serve locations throughout the state, Full Moon Bar-B-Que has served traditional Southern fare of ribs, steaks, pulled pork, and chow-chow to tourists and residents.

As the first step in a national expansion program, Full Moon partnered with Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis, to develop and open the first Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que. Located at The Can Company in Baltimore's Canton neighborhood, this full-service restaurant opened in February 2005.

Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que selected Profiles, Inc. to develop and activate a multi-faceted public relations program to introduce the restaurant to the Baltimore community and to support its operation post--opening. To accomplish this, Profiles worked on behalf of Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que as follows:

Grand Opening
The opening of the new restaurant was celebrated with a series of preview events for prominent business leaders, tourism and travel professionals, investors, and elected officials in the Baltimore community. To reach these targeted groups, Profiles researched and compiled a guest database that included more than 2,000 people; designed, produced, and distributed invitations for each event; accepted and tracked responses; and coordinated on-site logistics.

Media Relations and External Relations
An aggressive media outreach program targeting print and broadcast media locally, nationally, and internationally was initiated to introduce and position Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que as a top destination for tourists and residents. A special preview including a press conference and luncheon was held for press representatives. To encourage coverage and attendance, invitations were issued to 300+ media contacts, and media drops were produced.

On an on-going basis, Profiles manages a media and external relations outreach program through the development and implementation of special programs that help to consistently and strategically remind audiences (media, gatekeepers, business and community influencers) that Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que is THE place in Baltimore for the best Southern barbecue.

Results:

• The preview events (beginning four days prior to official opening) were attended by more than 1,200 people including Baltimore sports stars and legends, City Council representatives, business executives, and key community influencers. On opening day, patrons lined up an hour and a half before opening, and on that day the restaurant served 1,052 customers (30% higher than expected). Since opening, the restaurant operates on an average half-hour wait daily with sales 20% higher than expected.

• The media event was a resounding success with over 100 reporters, editors, producers, and on-air talent in attendance. Coverage was earned (often times with multiple segments) on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, Comcast, WBAL-TV, WBFF-TV, WJZ-TV, and WMAR-TV. Front-page feature stories were published in The Baltimore Sun's Today, Live, Sports section, Taste sections and readers also learned about the new restaurant from coverage in The Daily Record, Baltimore Jewish Times, The Afro American, The Baltimore Times, What's Happening?, SmartCEO, Baltimore Messenger, Owings Mills Times, and Towson Times. Furthermore, radio coverage aired on WOLB-AM, WBAL-AM, WWMX-FM, WQSR-FM, WERQ-FM, WPGC-FM, WRBS-FM, and WPOC-FM.
  
  In addition, news of the restaurant was covered in media outlets outside of Baltimore including ESPN-The Magazine, The Miami Herald, The Birmingham News, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Plain Dealer (OH), The Morning Call (PA), The Columbian (WA), The Detroit News, The State (SC), Black & White (AL), Carroll County Times, Restaurant Digest, WSMV-TV (TN), WKYC-TV (OH), and WVTM-TV (AL), and WAVY-TV (VA).
  
  Internet sites for ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Chicago Tribune, Sun-Sentinel (FL), The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Lexington Herald-Leader (KY), Baltimore Ravens, City Paper, Dinnerreviews.com, Big News Network, The Internet Tour Bus News Service, SaddoBoxing.com, Star-Telegram (TX), The Winnipeg Sun (Canada), Feedz.info, Black Sports Network, WWMX-FM, YES Network, The Daily Press (VA), Canes Time, Bernie's Insiders, Bengals Insiders, Steel City Sports, and Ravens Insiders also included news of the restaurant on their web sites.

• Since opening, Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que has gained additional media coverage with reviews by WCBM-AM, Baltimore magazine, City Paper, and The Baltimore Sun. Cooking demos were garnered for National Bar-B-Que Month (May) on WBAL-TV and WBFF-TV

Ray Lewis' Full Moon Bar-B-Que was a client from December 2004 to 2005