Dead End BBQ LOCAL BBQ DONE RIGHT

Since 2009, Dead End BBQ has been building its fanbase of families, community members, and area visitors by serving boutique-style barbecue in a Knoxville restaurant rich with local history and neighborhood cookout vibes. After initial success with projects in 2012, the Dead End team returned to Asen in late 2020 seeking comprehensive support in a crowded foodservice market.

THE BRIEF

When Dead End BBQ first partnered with Asen, the team sought mainly project-based help with collateral and brand assets. Later, like many restaurants in the post-COVID market, their team faced a critical make-or-break point when sales dropped in 2020. That’s when Asen stepped in as a full-service partner ready to provide multi-channel marketing and brand strategy.

Dead End needed more buzz in the local community to gain more foot traffic, rebuild awareness in a competitive Knoxville market, and ultimately bring sales back up. However, our team recognized an immediate need to modernize the brand before driving more customers to it, so that’s where we started…

With creative audience engagement
& award-winning BBQ, long live
the neighborhood cookout vibes!

THE SOLUTION

First, our team worked to enhance the brand’s visual identity with a bold new website and custom photo and video assets. From there, we started managing the Dead End’s social media, utilizing regular “content grabs” to cost-effectively produce fresh material. To keep the brand top of mind with its audience, we also implemented digital and email marketing, as well as a dedicated strategy for aligning Dead End with local influencers and community groups — an approach well-suited to the brand’s values of connecting and giving back to the community.

Since then, Asen has helped Dead End plan and promote multiple collaborations and community events, including the annual Ultimate Bologna Showdown, which draws in national and global attention. Multiple competitive eating world champions flew in for the showdown, including the winner and top-ranked American eater, Joey Chestnut.

With the help of Asen’s creative marketing strategies, Dead End has since gained a fresh competitive edge that continues to drive sales for the business. In our first year as their team’s dedicated marketing partner, the brand’s cross-platform social media reach increased by approximately 825% over the previous year. Thanks to a paid social media plan, SEO-driven content, and a strategic marketing approach, the brand was able to reach more users (aka potential customers) than in previous years, leading to higher sales, an above-average email open rate, and active blog readership in an industry that doesn't see that as often.

“Asen listened to our needs and stepped in to handle our website design, social media, photography, and anything else we threw at them. We are so grateful for our relationship!”

— George Ewart, Co-Owner of Dead End BBQ