Brewhouse Xtras

Working for Scotty’s Brewhouse provides you with much more than just a job. Continued training , health incentives, incredible opportunities for advancement and the chance to get involved and give back to the community through volunteering and other philanthropic initiatives are all part of the package.

“One of the things I love about working here is the opportunity to give back,” said Lauren Fiedler, Director of Promotions. “Going to visit a place like Riley (Hospital for Children in Indianapolis) and giving toys to the children there is an incredible experience.”

Delivering toys to Riley is just one of the many opportunities the company has offered to their 1200 associates as a way to give back over the past several months. From raising money for different area organizations to building houses with Habit for Humanity, Scotty’s tries to provide associates with various opportunities to give back.

“There is no requirement for team members to participate in these efforts however, at times, we have to limit the amount of sign up slots, because we will have so many volunteer,” commented Wendy Hantleman, Director of Human Resources.

One unique way Scotty’s recently raised money for local organizations was to offer a VIP event when they opened their latest location on the South side of Indianapolis. Guests were treated to an all you can eat dinner before the official opening with a $10 donation per guest.  One hundred percent of the donations were then split among three organizations:  Wheeler Mission (providing meals and shelter for the Indianapolis homeless), Back On My Feet (creating independence and self-sufficiency with the homeless through running to build confidence, strength and self-esteem) and Northview Church in Carmel, IN

“We wanted to try something a little different that worked out to be a win-win,” said Scott Wise, President and CEO for a Pots and Pans Production, parent company to all the Scotty's concepts and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company. “We were able to get guests in the restaurant in order for staff to practice everything before we officially opened, the guests were able to sample all the food they wanted and we raised over $3,000 for some great organizations.”

Over the past year, Scotty’s has given more than $50,000 in monetary and food donations to different organizations throughout the state. 

Last month, a team of dedicated staff members delivered toys that guests had dropped off at the stores to Riley Hospital for Children. This is one of two trips the company makes annually to deliver toys to the children who are patients there.

“I've helped deliver toys several times now and, to see how much it means to these children, reminds you how great it is to be in a position to help,” said Eric Schamp, Chief Operations Officer.

Two more big efforts just took place that provided new opportunities for associates to get involved. On Saturday, July 29th, a team took part in a Kids Against Hunger food packing event at Northview Church in Carmel. Volunteers at the event packed 90,000 meals to be used to help feed hungry children in the greater Indianapolis area.

Then, on August 3rd and 4th, team members put their handyman skills to the test as Scotty’s joined up with Habitat for Humanity and helped to build a house in Hamilton County.

“I always say our people are our number one asset and that we always try to hire the best,” continued Wise. “The way our associates come together to do these types of things just makes me believe we are, definitely, hiring the right people.”

In addition to helping out the community, Scotty’s growth also means good things for the state of Indiana. Employing over 1,200 people now, Scotty’s generates tax revenue of more than 3 million dollars, annually, that goes into the economy. Scotty’s also serves over 1.2 million customers a year at their 9 locations. “This is why it is so important for people support local businesses,” concluded Wise. “$0.68 of every dollar spent, locally, stays in that area. Not only are we employing 1,200 workers, we are also stimulating growth throughout Indiana with the tax dollars paid. We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without great customers who choose to dine at a locally owned restaurant.” 

The Pots & Pans family of restaurants raises money every year in support of breast cancer awareness, St. Jude's Hospital, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  They gather canned goods at each restaurant for local shelters, school supplies to help those who couldn't afford them otherwise and sponsor hundreds of other causes with in-kind monetary, gift card, apparel and food donations. They also have hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at their downtown location for the homeless each of the last two years.

"I heard someone once say, 'It is your responsibility, when you grow, to reach back and grab the hands of those less fortunate and help lift them up, '" said Wise.  "I believe God wants me to use my abilities and this platform of multiple restaurants across the state of Indiana to do good in our communities.  I believe the local community has supported me and continues to support me and it is my responsibility to give back.  It takes a lot of incredible people in all of our local communities to make many of our fund raising and toy-raising efforts a success and that allows us to do good."

If you would like to be a part of the Scotty’s family and help make a difference in your community, we are always looking for more great people. You can apply online here or, if you are on a mobile device, start with our quick app here.

Marketing has always been a huge focus at Scotty's Brewhouse. From the ads at your tables to the TV's in the bathrooms, there are marketing pieces everywhere within the 4 walls of the restaurant. On the digital front, Scotty’s markets on all sorts of social networks and sends e-blasts, weekly, to their database of over 40,000 members. When it came time to promote and advertise for the 2012 Olympics, however, the marketing department faced a huge obstacle. Unless you had paid large amounts of money to acquire the rights, you couldn't mention the words 2012 Olympic Games.

"Normally, when we create our marketing pieces, we just need to worry about the design and if the ads have all the info our guests need to know," said Rachel Redwine Nelson , Chief Branding Officer. "With the Olympics this year, however, we encountered an unusual obstacle; we weren’t able to use any obvious words that would let our guests know what we were promoting."

With all Scotty's locations having 50 -75 TVs that are constantly tuned to sporting events, the Olympics were something that guests would be sure to want to watch and so some advertising needed to be done to promote the event.

"In a world where we are constantly getting bombarded with marketing messages," said Scott Wise, President and CEO of a Pots & Pans Production, “it was a unique way to break through all the clutter with a fun message.  And, at the end of the day, our entire goal was to stay 'top of mind' when our guest was considering a location to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies."

Marketing has taken on a new life of its own in the new social world we live in.  This can be seen in Super Bowl ads that ask viewers to Tweet to be a part of the ad or scan QR codes to pick an ending to a storied ad or even crowdsourcing to generate ideas like the Old Spice commercial that started as a viral, online sensation only.

Our world may collectively have Attention Deficit Disorder.  Fast food is no longer fast enough.  And, how long do you stand in front of your microwave at home, aggravated that it is going to take another full 30 seconds to finish heating that piece of pizza?  Well, that same theory applies to marketing and the name of advertising game is, "what can I do in the few short seconds that I have your attention, to keep your attention and market our idea, promotion or event to you and not lose you in less than 140 twitterless seconds?"

Matt Gutierrez, Scotty's in-house graphic designer, came up with an idea after surfing the web the night before and seeing someone misspell one of the words in an Olympic ad. 

"I thought, what if we just misspelled everything, but did it in an strategic fashion?," said Gutierrez, describing the ad. "The mind is conditioned to see words a certain way and, even if they are slightly misspelled, they are still very simple to read."

With this idea in place, Gutierrez was able to create an ad without using any of the trademarked words, but still get the advertising message across.  Here is a copy of the ad that was used.

 

 

"He showed it to me and I loved it!," continued Wise. "It was one of the most creative ads we have done and I knew it would catch people's attention. However, I never anticipated the response we received."

Wise is referring to the flood of emails and tweets that came in after the ad was posted. Some of the comments were complementing the idea of the ad, but a large number of them were people pointing out that there were spelling errors.

"It was pretty funny," laughed Redwine Nelson. "We continued to receive email after email, with comments such as 'You should have run spell check' or 'Better hire a proofreader.’  We went back and responded, individually, to each comment and, politely, asked those who commented to read the entire ad and all the proverbial fine print.”

More comments came in the following day, when the marketing team emailed the ad out to their 40,000 plus e-club members.

"This really goes to show you how important the subject line of an email is," said Wise. "We purposely misspelled it in the subject line as well and so many people sent a first message saying we had goofed, but then followed it up with one a little later saying they were embarrassed because now they had read the entire ad. The whole thing was a lot of fun and I think help draw attention to our coverage of the Olympics."

The ad also got some national attention when the sports website, uni-watch.com, mentioned and displayed the ad.

“Penultimately, a bit of good ol’ American humor: Seems like Scotty’s Brewhouse in Indianapolis didn’t win their bidding war to secure advertiser rights at the Games. So, and to avoid any potential legal troubles, they have come up with a logo that is sure to evade the Olympic Branding Police. Awesome!”– uni-watch.com – 7/26/12

Scotty's will continue to show all the events throughout the Olympics on the restaurant TVs and hope many fans will come out and cheer the USA on to more medals. Closing ceromonies wil air Sunday at 4pm. 

Below is a sampling of some of the messages that were received after the ad was posted.  We’ve left off the names to protect the innocent. We would also love to hear from you. What’s your favorite ad that is out right now or your favorite Super Bowl ad of all time. Leave a comment below and we will be 3 random people to win a $10 gift card.

 

Comments from Tweets and Emails:

• Wow...how ridiculous you can't spell LONDON.
• Check your spelling!  London Olympics Good grief!
• London is spelled wrong! not LODNON
• Typo in the subject line!! (London is misspelled)
• You have NOTHING spelled correctly in this subject line!
• It's London, and not Lodnon. 
• Wow who typed the subject???
• Ya misspelled London!
• Is this a joke?
• Unbelievable:  “Spell Check”
• Is London meant to be spelled wrong?  
• Never mind.  I just now saw the other typos too.  I'm guessing you must have meant to make that many mistakes
• London........
• I am sure I am not the first correct you, but let me be one of many......
• You did mean London, right?!
• Nice spelling job on that subject line.
• What the heck is an "Oimplycs"?
• oh an intentiola tpyo!
• Love your Olympics marketing workaround in your latest email! Genius!
• Lodnon' is brilliant by the way.