Old Chicago
the best round in town.
A brand elevation built to support a price increase, without losing the customer who got them there.
Old Chicago, a lower-tier walk-in pizza and beer chain, brought Maycreate in as the company entered growth mode, adding roughly 50 new locations to its existing 300+, while overhauling its menu, ingredients, and store interiors.
Old Chicago was upgrading its food, but its brand still read as budget casual dining. To justify real price increases, it needed to feel like it had earned that shift, without alienating the loyal, price-sensitive customers already coming in.
We built two personas side by side: the current customer, who couldn’t be lost, and a more aspirational customer the brand wanted to reach. The strategy was finding a brand position credible enough to hold both, anchored by food that had genuinely gotten better.
We developed a full brand position and strategy, then created the tagline “The Best Round in Town,” paired with “Good is not good enough.” The campaign extended into new photography, print, outdoor, social, and video, plus in-store materials and redesigned menus.
To enhance internal communication and location ownability, we created a database-driven website menu system so each of Old Chicago’s 300+ locations displayed its own accurate items and pricing by zip code.
Advertising
Website
Video
Photography
Strategy
Copywriting
Brewery
Hospitality
In-store sales and margins increased, the price increase held, and the client reported strong feedback on the new menu and the look and feel of the new interiors. The campaign extended and we maintained the launch work double the anticipated time.
years of brand equity to carry forward, not discard
CWRB brands sharing the site architecture
disciplines delivered, brand to broadcast
“Gone was the kitschy art deco and the cheap-food-but-lots-of-it mentality. In was a modern look, crafted food, and beer.”