In order to gain extra cut through in Taiwan’s ultra-competitive dining industry, Outback Steakhouse, the world’s largest steakhouse chain, and Ketchum came together to develop a strategic PR plan to generate sales around the company’s sixth anniversary operating in the territory.

Ahead of the anniversary Ketchum first arranged a luncheon for key media to allow them to sample the food and distinctive dining atmosphere of Outback Steakhouse to boost the chain’s profile with a burst of quality coverage. To build the buzz further, Ketchum worked with bloggers on tryout articles and developed an anniversary website inviting 6,666 people to sign up for a voucher to claim one sirloin steak for only NT150 (US$6). Sharing news of the promotion via Facebook and plurk, all vouchers were claimed inside four days.

On the anniversary day, Outback hosted a media gathering featuring celebrity Sophia Pi to introduce their five signature “Classic Steaks” and a celebratory 30% discount. This was followed by a “$6 Steak” promotional consumer event which saw hundreds of steak fans queuing up outside the restaurant. Extensive TV coverage was secured through the event.

“Authentic American steaks” and “value beyond price” were highlighted as the critical ingredients which differentiated Outback Steakhouse from other American-style restaurants on the market. The positioning and consumer events certainly cooked up a lot of media attention which met the client’s expectations of making a strong statement for its anniversary. 53 reporters from 44 media outlets attended the launch event generating a total of 105 pieces of news coverage.