"The certificates are more professional than ones from another company." "The restaurants absolutely love them and think they really represent their particular business well."
R. Berry, Promotion Management Group

Promotion Management Group, Restaurant Gift Certificates

Design Task From Client

Promotion Management group had an existing gift certificate program that they were using with clients. They wanted to take the gift certificate program to the next level to be able to command more of the market and have a better income stream. The program they came up with was one they setup all across the United States in most of the major cities in different states. Recruit local restaurants and create certificates for them to promote their particular restaurant was only one part of the overall plan. They needed certificates that had a professional look and feel to attract high end clients as well as high profile restaurants. Copy and logos would be supplied along with entree shots when available. Other shots would be needed or found thru stock photography sources to represent the particular restaurant.

Design Solution Created

These certificates needed to stand out to attract high end restaurants and have a look that the restaurant would be proud of and use to promote their particular business. I went over all the details with the client and the problems they usually face when creating and using them. It was decided to use an oversize certificate to stand out from the rest. We also decided to use a glossy format on a heavy cover stock to give it that professionally created appeal. To save costs we had then printed in full color on the front side and in black and white on the back with only the fronts having a gloss coating applied. This saved on paper costs since we were printing 2,000 of each certificate at a time in groups of 10.

Once a restaurant agreed with the promotion, I interfaced with them to coordinate the look of their particular certificate. From receiving logos and shots of the particular establishment and main entrees, to getting sign offs on the final art and faxing of approval forms. Coordination of over 200 restaurants was a large project but was easily accomplished with keeping everything in a well organized fashion on my servers as well as organization of email contacts in an orderly way that would allow instant referencing when needed. When I received all the information and photos from restaurants, I would create their particular certificate. This would usually require some heavy photo retouching as well as finding other supporting photos. The back layout was rather common from one to the other except the menu listings would change out with each different certificate. Once approved, I would send the files to the printer for printing via hires pdf thru ftp and they would then distribute them.

This project led into other items created for promoting the program. Web sites for registrations and online printing of the certificates gave the program an even larger edge in the market.

Design Conclusion

These certificates were very well received by not just the public but also restaurant owners. Some of which have contacted me outside this program and I am now creating promotional items for them directly. This certificate program for Promotion Management is still going on and being used to create a large income for their business. Restaurants are calling in on their own to get into the program. This project took approximately a month to get going with coordination of restaurants and to the get the first certificates out. This is an ever continuing project that also brings in a new client every once in a while.