Helping Rudy’s get a pi’zza the York foodie scene

Launched in 2015 with a name inspired by the founders’ puppy, Rudy’s Pizza Napoletana has rocketed from a legendary backyard business to a fully-fledged High Street favourite.

Rudy’s now has 27 restaurants across the UK and a growing cult status amongst pizza lovers hungry for authentic Neapolitan pizza, served with Rudy’s signature laid back yet welcoming style.

When opening its new York restaurant, Rudy’s was keen to get to know its neighbours, become a part of the York foodie community and make a great first impression with a 3,000 pizza giveaway.

It was here that Aberfield’s great local knowledge of both the area and the media came into play, helping Rudy’s quickly get its feet under the table as a go-to spot for fuss free vibes and fail-safe pizza perfection in the York neighbourhood.

What we kneaded to do

Armed with an enticing 3,000 free pizza giveaway, we were keen to match the hype created by Rudy’s recent restaurant launches in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.

Ahead of the opening, we made a buzz around the giveaway across traditional media, social first platforms and Rudy’s own channels which resulted in sign-ups for the free pizza deal maxing out in record time when compared to launches across the country.

But that was just the beginning.

True to Rudy’s neighbourly spirit, they wanted to get to know nearby businesses and business owners to invite to the restaurant and collaborate with. Our knowledge of York and its business network helped us hook Rudy’s up with a tonne of influential business brains and cool collaboration opportunities to quickly help Rudy’s feel at home on High Ousegate, and showcase what the new kid on the block had to offer.

And the influence didn’t stop there. To really get Rudy’s on the map of York’s restaurant scene, we identified and reached out to 50 local influencers spanning food and drink, lifestyle, mum-fluencers and young professionals, welcoming them to enjoy a free meal and share their experience with their followers across Instagram and TikTok.

This matched with media invites across local, regional, print and broadcast channels enabled us to make sure Rudy’s was on everyone’s lips, literally.

And the results rolled in

Our six weeks of activity around the Rudy’s York opening delivered:

–            3,000 free pizzas claimed in record time

–            45 pieces of coverage… and counting

–            10 media bookings

–            40+ influencer bookings and tonnes of insta worthy pizza pics and vibrant social content for hungry followers to feast their eyes on

Topping things off with our positive influence

In a stellar first month of trading, Rudy’s Pizza Napoletana has welcomed over 8,000 guests to the new York restaurant, receiving rave reviews for its pizza, its pints, its people and more.

Following a recent visit, popular York food influencer Ben Thorpe, aka York on a Fork commented: “It’s great to welcome Rudy’s to the York foodie scene and our experience absolutely lived up to the restaurant’s hype. Comfy space, tasty pizzas and cold beer – a brilliant addition to York’s high street.”

Commenting on the York restaurant’s successful launch, Neal Bates of Rudy’s Pizza, said: “The streets of York are truly iconic, we’re really proud to be a part of them and to have been made to feel so welcome in such a short space of time. We’re already seeing returning customers and familiar faces, and can’t wait to get to know even more of the York community very soon.”

On working with Aberfield, Marketing Exec at Mission Mars, Francesca Moriarty said: “The team’s knowledge of York, from its media to its business network, was really valuable in helping us quickly establish ourselves as a part of the York high street and the influencers they selected produced some of the best social content I’ve seen on a Rudy’s launch. Throughout the whole process, despite a lot of moving parts, the team were well organised, flexible and super easy to work with.”

To find out more about working with Aberfield or to discuss an upcoming project you’d like our help with get in touch.